Greek Taxi Jewish Community

Thus dawns 1492, the fateful year for the Spanish Jews. A royal edict on March 13 of that year, forces all Jews to either convert to Christianity, or leave the country by the coming August at the latest. It is estimated that around 50.000 Jews were nominally baptized and remained in Spain. The rest, more than 250.000 strong, opted for the road to exile. Some went north, to France, England, the Netherlands. Others chose Italy or Northern Africa. However, the majority settles in areas under Ottoman jurisdiction.

Sultan Vayazit II, at the instigation of Chief Rabbi of Istanbul, Eliyia Kapsali, allowed their entrance into the realm, and ordered local commanders to extend a cordial and warm welcome, and to help them settle down. Thus, the Spanish Jews, the Sephardim, will settle in all the large urban centers of the Ottoman Empire. Most of them, around 20.000 will prefer Thessalonica, which still had'nt recovered from the destruction incurred during its conquest by the Turks. Maybe they were attracted to the city' s strategic location as a key port in the Eastern Mediterranean. Alternatively, the Sultan, seeking to re-populate the deserted city with a fresh, dynamic, urban population, may have encouraged them.

With their arrival, the deserted city wakes up from its torpor and gradually becomes again a first class financial center, comparable to that of the Roman and Byzantine years. The Sephardim gave commerce a new push, and exploited the mines of the Gallikos River and those of Sidirokapsa. The immigrants, around 1510, established the first printing shop in Thessalonica.

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