20 
Land & Water 
May 
iO, 
1918 
developed. Notliing appeals to the Oriental mind inure than 
the building of a city. With them, city-building is the 
highest po.ssibic enterprise, and I may add that the Greeks 
everywhere are delighted that we British were''asked to t'dvO 
so important a part in this work. 
" In what way." vou may ask, "does the rebuilding o[ the 
city offer such great opportunities?" To begin with; it is 
surely clear that the rebuilding and extension of a city upon 
which there will be expended at least twenty millions sterling, 
provides unhmitcd opportunities for the supply of e\ery 
kind of building material which has to be imported into the 
countr\'. The Greek Government, however, are anxious 
that we should take a much more prominent place in the 
rebuilding of the city than this implies They desire 
British contractors to finance and build important sections of 
the city, and they are prepared to make special terms and 
i-onditions to attract this 
enterprise. 
Still more important con- 
tracts will be given for the 
new dock and harbour exten- 
sions, new railway terminals, 
and goods yards, a connecting 
underground electrical rail- 
way between the east and 
west terminals, and a bold 
and comprehensive system of 
tramways, all and each of 
which provide opportunities 
for still larger concessions, as 
will also the ne\v waterworks 
and main drainage system, 
which form parts of the plans 
submitted to the Govern- 
ment by the City Planning 
Commission. 
The new Salonika, which 
will become one of the most 
important cities in the Orient, 
will, in addition, possess 
those qualities of permanence 
and stability which should 
encourage manufacturers to 
lay down factories, and the 
necessary plant for the pro- 
duction of all those commo- 
dities, whether of machinery or 
fabrics, for which Macedonia 
and the Balkan States provide 
so great a market. In this 
connection we must alwaj's 
remember that Salonika is the 
natural gateway to the Balkan 
States, and that at the end of 
the war Serbia will ask for, and 
probably c/btain, a free port 
near the city. All these 
factors will ensure a rapid growth in the population, which 
at the present time is 220,000, but which in twenty years 
may be well over half ^ million. 
As to the climate of Macedonia for purposes of residence, 
this is perfectly delightful for eight months in the year, 
though during the remaining four months malaria is prevalent, 
but with the drainage and proper irrigation of the Varda, 
t Mikra, Langaza, Struma, and Dorian marshes, this scourge 
will, it is said, rapidly disappear. Indeed, conditions in this 
respect are already greatly improved. In other respects, 
Salonika will be one of the most beautiful seaports in the 
world, a city in which parks, gardens, and boulevards will 
provide ample shade and recreational spaces, a city in which 
intellectual pursuits will become a pastime, and in whirh 
opera and good music will flourish. To the historian and 
archaeologist and artist, the city will possess great attractions, 
for every archaological treasure will be preserved, and in it 
the new architecture, tliQUgh following local tradition, will 
equal in design and beauty the best modern work fn anv 
European city. So much M. Venczelos is determined to 
realise. In the business and residential quarters there will 
be good schools and a well-placed and well-equipped Univer- 
sity, a fine opera house and theatre, a permanent exhibition 
ground, and a unique sporting and yachting centre at Mikra 
point, now the site of our British base hospitals. 
From a strategic point of view, Salonika will have good 
railway connections with the Balkan States and Western 
Europe, with Constantinople and Athens, the latter railway 
(which is just completed) adding greatly to the convenience 
and popularity of Salonika as a centre for tourists. 
Even now, in one respect at least, Salonika is unique. 
The Whi 
The most popular C.ifc; centre 
for it has no municipal debt, and does not need to lev}- a 
rate for maintenance. 
To those who have visited this ancient port the following 
notes on our initial plans may be of interest. Hue Egnatius 
will be the main central longitudinal boulevard through the 
city. It will be straight from end to end, and have a width 
of one hundred and twenty feet. At the Porte Varda end 
there will be placed the great union terminal railway 
station, with an electric underground railway connecting the 
stations with another railway terminal at Kalemaria, or the 
east end of the city. Prom this station a new railway will 
eventually run to the Gulf of Oiphano. The width of Rue 
Egnatius permits of a central boulevard of trees, with tram- 
lines on either .side, then two lines of vehicular traffic and 
wide tree-planted sidewalks. Above and below this main 
axis there will be three other longitudinal axis, or seven in 
all ; two will include Rue St. 
Demetre and the Qua}'. 
The main cross axis starts 
at the Ouay, and extends to 
the minaret of St. Demetre. 
This is the main cross artery 
of the city ; it will be 150 
feet in width, planted with 
four lines of shade trees, and 
have, in addition, a central 
parkway. On -either side of 
this boulevard and north of 
Rue Egnatius there will be 
erected in large open spaces, 
the new city hall and Law 
Courts, which, together with 
the new St. Demetre, should 
make a very fine architec- 
tural composition. 
Rue Venezelos, so well 
known to British .soldiers and 
nurses, will be widened and 
paralleled by another road of 
equal width and importance to 
the west. At the base of 
these two roads, and near its 
junction with the Quay, the 
central block between these 
two parallels is carried back 
for one hundred yards, thus 
forming a square, to be called 
Liberty Square. Around this 
square will be erected the 
great Post Office and the 
principal banks. 
The great Quay is to be 
widened by about 40 feet, and 
divided into lower and upper 
Boulevards, the latter about 
4 feet above its present level. 
The docks are to be deyeloped 
westwards, and the \Vhite Tower, at the east end, developed 
as *he great social centre for the city. Here will be built the 
new opera house and theatre, and the great city cafes. 
The east; or Kalamaria end of the city, will increasingly 
become the residential quarters for the official, professional, 
and merchant class, and Mikra point the residential area for 
the rich. Here also will be developed the bathing and 
recreational centre, with a great yacht club. 
The area west of Porte Varda is "to be developed on garden 
city lines as residential quarters for the industrial classes. 
Here they will be near the dock and factory areas, and in 
tins section will be laid out the exhibition ground, where 
international sports will be carried on. 
The existing picturesque Turkish quarters north of Rue 
St. Demetre will be preser\-ed along with every feature of 
historic or archaeological interest, but certain slum quarters 
are to be cleared out to make way for an improved system of 
n)ads and the provision of playgrounds and gardens" 
The new University,, in which the Greek Premier takes so 
miich interest, and which will eventually consist of a large 
group of fine buildings, is to be erected on the site of one of 
.the Turkish cemeteries, in a direct hne with Rue Egnatius 
Withm the central part of the city therein be 
many beautiful town gardens. One of these will extend 
from the Cathedral of St. Sophie to Rue Venezelos and 
forward to the proposed French Cathedral at the end of 
Rue r ranee. 
One great feature of the city will be the new bazaars, 
which are to follow the best tradition of Byzantine archi- 
tecture, and planned in large groups on a system which will 
prove a great convenience to both seller^ and buyers 
te Tower 
wh'ere British officers foreg.tther 
