The Abbott House

This very nice house has been built in the "Franks Street" by George-Frédérick Abbott. His son John Nelson, called "Djeckis", was born here in 1806.  Djeckis built his fortunes on the trade of bloodsuckers, of which he had the monopoly. Unfortunately his fortunes fell down owing to the competition with the trading firm Allatini but also because of the liberal lifestyle of Djeckis. The house was then sold to the Imperial Ottoman Bank, certainly in 1864 at the opening of its Salonica agency. On the 29th April 1903 the house is totally destroyed by an explosion heard all over the town. Mr Letayf, the manager of the agency, who lives whith his family at the second floor, survives. The documents of the 30th April report that some Bulgarian activists arrived in three cars killed the clerks, penetrated into the bank, switched off the gas lights, then opened again the taps and threw some bombs that provoked a big fire.

The new building is re-built in 1904 by the Itaian architect Vitaliano Poselli, one of the most architects of the city in those times. The bank operates in this house until 1938. From 1951 to 1978, the Greek social insurance IKA operates here. In 1978 part of the house damaged by an earthquake is being restored. At present this classified building hosts the Salonica's Musical Conservatory.