page_title: Great fire of Smyrna
section_title: Non-contemporary sources
hierarchical_section_title: Great fire of Smyrna / Sources claiming Greek or Armenian responsibility / Non-contemporary sources
caption_attribution_description: Ελληνικά: Το καμπαναριό της Αγίας Φωτεινής στη Σμύρνη Français&#160;: Carte postale illustrant le clocher de l'Église St. Photinie English: Postcard depicting the belltower of Saint Fotini church in Smyrna
context_page_description: The great fire of Smyrna or the catastrophe of Smyrna destroyed much of the port city of Smyrna in September 1922. Eyewitness reports state that the fire began on 13 September 1922 and lasted until it was largely extinguished on 22 September. It began four days after the Turkish military captured the city on 9 September, effectively ending the Greco-Turkish War, more than three years after the Greek army had landed troops at Smyrna on 15 May 1919. Estimated Greek and Armenian deaths resulting from the fire range from 10,000 to 100,000.
  Approximately 50,000 to 400,000 Greek and Armenian refugees crammed the waterfront to escape from the fire. They were forced to remain there under harsh conditions for nearly two weeks. Turkish troops and irregulars had started committing massacres and atrocities against the Greek and Armenian population in the city before the outbreak of the fire. Many women were raped. Tens of thousands of Greek and Armenian men were subsequently deported into the interior of Anatolia, where many of them died in harsh conditions.
  The subsequent fire completely destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city; the Muslim and Jewish quarters escaped damage.
caption: Belltower of Greek orthodox cathedral of Saint Fotini. It was intentionally blown up with dynamite after the fire (15–20 September) by the Turkish authorities[106]
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