The city of Thessaloniki before the Great Fire of 1917 was one of the most modern and most important cities in Balkans, but on the (5th) 18th of August 1917, the Great Fire meant to change for ever the physiognomy of the city. The fire was burning for 32 hours and left behind 70,000 homeless, 9,500 houses destroyed and the majority of monuments, stores, hotels etc in an area of 1 sq. kilometer.

There are two stories of how this fire started.

The first story speaks of a fire that started at 15:00 in the kitchen of a small poor house at 3 Olympiados Street in the neighborhood of Melvane in the center of Thessaloniki.

The second version of the story of how this great fire started says that it started my accident from the campus of the French soldiers that were in the city.

Due to the strong winds, lack of water and the indifference of the authorities, the fire spread very fast.

No matter which from the two stories is true, only a few days after the fire the Greek Government announced the foundation of the “International Committee for the New plan of Thessaloniki” with the French architect and archaeologist Ernest Hebrard as chairman.

A completely new urban plan was developed, but unfortunately it was only applied in a small area (Aristotle’s square) due to the pressure of landowners of large land plots.