Religious persecution
Salonica became the Jewish center of the Ottoman Empire after 1492. At this time, the Spanish Inquisition began in Spain and Portugal and Jews were forced to convert to Christianity or emigrate. Religious persecution caused many Sephardic Jews to immigrate to Salonica and make up a majority of the city's population. In Salonica, Jews lived in communities around Synagogues in which, “Jewish organizations provided all the religious, legal, educational and social services”. The concentration of Jews in the city as well as the binding social capital provided by Jewish organizations allowed Salonica to become an “almost autonomous” zone for Jews to flourish in.