Image: The oldest photograph of Thessaloniki

Description: This photograph of Thessaloniki was taken by the Hungarian photographer Joseph Székely (1838-1901) and was rediscovered in 2000, after a whole century into oblivion. It was shot during an expedition funded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the then ottoman Balkans, led by the scholar and diplomat Johann Georg von Hahn. The Székely archive, in the National Library of Austria (Östereichische Nationalbibliothek), includes five shots of Thessaloniki, two of which can be connected together into a row yielding this impressive panorama of the city. The two-piece photo is unique in many respects: it is documented in 1863, the earliest to day photograph of Thessaloniki: it is taken from the area of Besh Tchinar, a privileged spot for taking panoramic pictures of the city up until 1885; it reveals, for the first time, lost parts, such as the seaside defense wall, the Quay Tower, and the Gate of the Twelve Apostles monastery. It is identified with a known wood engraving, which was initially used as an illustration of a book in English, published 1867. Today, thanks to the rediscovery of Székely's picture, it is clear that engraving was based on this picture, in an era when the transfer into engraving was the only way to impress a photograph onto common (non photographic) paper in order to circulate widely. Thessaloniki is depicted as she was shot before the advent of modernization, which was heralded by the demolition of the seaside wall and the inauguration of the railway in 1870-71. For fifteen centuries the city had been restricted in her historical center, with almost no other settlements outside the enclave of her walls. The area of Besh Tchinar was a wasteland, marked by the currents of Dendropotamos and the moat of the western wall. Some years later, the landscape will dramatically change with the advent of the modern era, which will transform the area completely into an industrial zone, before being included in the premises of the port of Thessaloniki.
Title: The oldest photograph of Thessaloniki
Credit: Cultural Center of the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation in Thessaloniki
Author: Josef Székely
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No