THE TURKISH DOMINATION

In 19th September 1383 A.C.,Serres was occupied by the Turks. The Turkish historian Seatentin Mohamet, who wrote the "Crown of Histories", described in detail the events of the city's occupation. After Serres' conquest the Sultan Mourat I passed the city and founded Eski-Tzami, which was preserved until the first decades of this century. Also, the Turks demolished the wall and the castle of Serres, so they wouldn't become pockets of resistance, in case of revolutionary movement of the enslaved Greeks.

Around the end of the 18th century, the Byzantine wall was completely destroyed and the city was surrounded by a new wall, half of which was built by the people of Serres for free and the other half with the money of Ismail Bey, the governor of Serres at the time, who was afraid of an attack by Ali Pasa from Joannina. Ali Pasa was a terrible enemy, who, at that time had invaded Macedonia.

However, Ismail Bey's wall was quickly destroyed because of the improvisation that was built. The new carriageway which started from Ahmet Pasa's temple and ended in the northern cafes in kiosk (Exohon Rd) and had been traced around the end of the 19th century, contributed to the destruction of the wall.

The Turks treated the Greek people very badly. The conquest of Macedonia was followed by captivity, enslavement, exile, change of faith, looting, disgrace, murders and anything that a human mind can think off.

The Strong Turkish yoke forced the Greeks (bondsmen) to emigrate to countries of central Europe in order to be able to taste the "air of freedom". Looking back at the Hungarian census list of 1769, we can see that the first emigrants were people from Meleniko, starting from 1629 and the people from Kozani followed.

Eventhough the Hellenism of this northern Greek part of the country suffered more than could be described, it kept its national conscience pure and its main vision was a panhellenic rebellion for national reinstatement.

During the Turkish domination, Serres enjoyed great trade prosperity and became a big international trade centre, where you could find traders of all different nationalities, dealing with goods such as silk but mainly cotton. There was also a central position in the new city, where the bargains were taking place. In Serres, there were representatives from European and bordering on the Danube countries, who had established many companies and stores. Among, them, there was the Commercial Venetian enterprise Rotto, Vianello & Cia, which was operating under the protection of the Venetian consul of Thessaloniki. A host of Turkish Emirs swarmed the city, who were buying large quantities of cotton, in order to export it to Poland and to the countries of the Black Sea.

In the beginning of the 19th century trade reached its peak, a real period of "revival". The person who contributed a great deal to this "Revival'' was the visionary Governor of Serres, Ismail Bey, who managed to strengthen the conditions of basic security in trade. That was also the time that the annual trade fair of Serres, called "Kervani" , started taking place. Finally, native industry was really thriving and that's why all the corporations were very profitable.

It is mentioned that around the middle of the f 9th century, about 30.000 cotton packets, and also "maroquin" made in the country were exported. On the other hand, the imported goods from Germany were jewels, fabrics and particularly felt, essential for the villagers' clothing which were parcelled out all over Macedonia. The people of Serres, however, used to keep large quantities of cotton for their industries. As a result of that, they were producing industrial products, mainly fabrics. The suggestion made by the French Consul in Thessaloniki, is very well documented, concerning the process of gun powder in the provinces of Serres. That information shows us the level of industrialization of raw materials in the province of Serres.

This huge development of trade contributed to the establishment of agencies and branches in the large trade centres abroad, covering the needs of the traders in Serres. As a result, the people of Serres were steadily increasing in the Macedonian colonies in Austria-Hungaria and Vlachia and especially in Vienna. The records of Vienna's commune for the Greek Orthodoxes show that in the second ballot for St. George church's church-wardens on 20th November 1815 only 6 people from Serres voted, while this number went up to 32 people in the general meeting on 17th March 1816.

During this time of trade bliss, Emmanuel Papas, a great businessman, who later become the leader of the Macedonian revolution, came to Serres. His intelligence and business acumen found a suitable place here. Soon, he became the only wholesale merchant and banker of the area, to such a degree that blocked the lending policy with all the Beys in Serres.

The end of the 19th century is the time when trade in Serres gradual and later total declined, which then moved to Thessaloniki. The development of quicker transportation by steam boats brought the end of commercial bliss in Serres. Moreover, the big development of European industry was the cause of Serres' excellent corporations elimination.

During the "dark" centuries of Turkish domination the city of Serres had made the most pioneer move, compared to the rest of the Macedonian cities, in the systematic development of the Greek language, under the leadership of very well educated teachers, who "enlighted" many generation of Greek children. Serres had become a real cultural centre in Eastern Macedonia. That's why the Turkish geographer Hatzi Calfa called Serres "the city of wise". According to the professor Gustav Weigand "the role Serres has played for Hellenism was the same as the one of Ahrida's for Bulgarianism, as a political, national and ecclesiastical centre.".

Great teachers of that period, such as Anastasios Papavasilopoulos (1699 - 1702), Anastasios Popas (1730), Constantine Economou (1808 - 1815), Minas Minoidis (1815 - 1819), Adamos Zapecos (1818-1821), John Pantazidis (1858-1861) andmany more, taught in the famous School of Serres.

The "Macedonian Educational Club"was founded in Serres in 1870. The chairman of the club was the doctor John Theodoridis, who, with his own initiative, founded the famous Male College of Education (1871). Headmaster of the College of Education was Dimitrios Maroulis, a very well educated man. The College of Education of Serres was the first one that was founded in a Turkish dominated area and showed national zeal while it was operating.

However, from 1880 all the schools started being reorganized and the city not only had Primary Schools but also Higher Girl's School and High School. As a result of that, Maroulis' College of Education started loosing a lot of ground until 1885 when it closed down for good. Because the College closed down, Maroulis left Serres and moved to Athens, where he died in 1892. Many other remarkable teachers, such as John Dellios and Anna Triantaphyllidou, taught in Serres, after Maroulis.