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Fire, Smyrna 1741

Συγγραφή : Shariat-Panahi S. Mohammad T. (24/11/2002)
Μετάφραση : Velentzas Georgios

Για παραπομπή: Shariat-Panahi S. Mohammad T., "Fire, Smyrna 1741",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=10015>
Πυρκαγιά στη Σμύρνη, 1741 (21/4/2008 v.1) Fire, Smyrna 1741 (11/9/2009 v.1) 
 

1. Outbreak and Spread of the Fire

On July 9, 1741, around 3 in the morning a fire broke out in a house in the Jewish quarter of Smyrna. There are different versions concerning the cause of the fire. Some said that it started because a maid had carelessly left a lamp burning in the house. Others believed that the kadi of the city was responsible for the fire because he was allegedly displeased with the complaints of Jews, Orthodox and Armenians against him. This version, although fictional in all probability, was supported by the inability of the kadi to provide substantial help for the extinction of the fire.1

All night long the fire, helped by northern winds, spread widely burning down the Jewish quarter before it dispersed to other quarters as well.

2. Fighting with the Fire

The European inhabitants of Smyrna hurried to put the fire out with fire pumps, but their efforts were not coordinated as each of them tried to protect their own property. The people wanted to save their belongings through the sea. Some of them, including the merchants, hired all kinds of vessels to load their most valuable possessions and merchandise. In the afternoon of the same day the Muslim quarters surrendered to the fire and, as a result, the flames approached Frank Street in the area of St George. The fire had become so great that the flames and the smoke were visible even from Chios and Lesvos.

The people were terrified. Some of them abandoned their houses and left the city. Others remained there and hoped for a miracle. Many children died of thirst and hardship while following their families that had abandoned their houses and had escaped to the countryside or the mountains.

All the houses and shops in Frank Street were crammed with homeless women and children. Buildings that housed inns and shops (han), karavansarays, yards and streets were full of Muslim, Jewish, Greek-Orthodox and Armenian families. Everybody would seek shelter in Frank Street because they thought that the consuls would prevent the fire from spreading there. Besides, there were lots of stone houses there, such as the fort of St. Peter, the bezesten, the Vezir han and the Armenian han.2

During the fire there was rampage and looting. It is reported that some Janissaries robbed the women that were running with their babies to escape the fire.

3. Destructions

The mansion of the kadi was burned and the official escaped to the Vezir han. The most luxurious Ottoman buildings were destroyed. The consuls of France and Holland with their pumps, helped by their compatriots and the sailors of the ships anchored at the harbour, constructed barriers in order to prevent the fire against spreading to the side of St George. All day long on July 10 they would work hard on the side of the fort and the Armenian han. But the fire was spreading helped by the wind and all efforts were in vain. Destructions continued throughout Saturday and the wind soon dispersed the fire beyond Mount Pagus (Kadifekale) to the side of the Muslim cemetery and the soap factory. Eventually, around 3 o’ clock in the morning of July 11, the fire stopped there after burning for 48 hours.3

There was tremendous damage. Two thirds of the city were devastated. According to estimates of the time, the flames burned 8 hamams, 42 caravansarays formerly housing poor families, 45 mosques, 14 synagogues, 32 hans and about 3,000 shops. It is also reported that the fire burned down the Çarşı (market) and the Misir Çarşı (Egyptian market) as well as 13,000 houses. There were lots of casualties. Nine out of the twelve quarters of the city suffered irreparable damage from the fire.

4. Help to the Victims

On Sunday July 11, the inhabitants were in a tragic condition. The metropolitan, helped by a French merchant and the Orthodox merchants, gave money to the victims of the fire who had been deprived of their properties. On July 12, Neophytos, the metropolitan of Smyrna, ordered that bread be distributed at Ano Machalas (Upper Neighborhood). On July 13, the metropolitan himself carried bread on horseback and gave money raised from merchants to the inhabitants of Ano Machalas.4

It should be noted that in that period the city was suffering from both the fire and he tplague that had broken out in May 1741. After the end of the fire no other plague cases were reported: the fire had apparently destroyed the most important plague spots.

1. Φάλμπος, Φ.Κ., Μάρκου Αντωνίου Κατσαΐτη: δύο ταξίδια στη Σμύρνη, 1740 και 1741. Εισαγωγή, μετάφραση, σχόλια, πίνακες (Athens 1972), p. 175.

2. Φάλμπος, Φ.Κ., Μάρκου Αντωνίου Κατσαΐτη: δύο ταξίδια στη Σμύρνη, 1740 και 1741. Εισαγωγή, μετάφραση, σχόλια, πίνακες (Athens 1972), p. 176.

3. Φάλμπος, Φ.Κ., Μάρκου Αντωνίου Κατσαΐτη: δύο ταξίδια στη Σμύρνη, 1740 και 1741. Εισαγωγή, μετάφραση, σχόλια, πίνακες (Athens 1972), p. 180.

4. Φάλμπος, Φ.Κ., Μάρκου Αντωνίου Κατσαΐτη: δύο ταξίδια στη Σμύρνη, 1740 και 1741. Εισαγωγή, μετάφραση, σχόλια, πίνακες (Athens 1972), pp. 180-181.
     
 
 
 
 
 

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