or Saloniki (anc. *Thessalonica*), a town of European Turkey, Macedonia, capital of an eyect of the same name, at the head of the Gulf of Salonica, the ancient Thermaic Gulf, 315 miles W.S.W. of Constantinople. From the noble and almost land-locked bay, up the side of a steep hill, rises the town—domes, minarets, and cypress trees,—encircled by lofty whitewashed walls, to the seven-towered citadel on the summit. From this point two ravines diverge in a semicircular direction, and stretch down to the sea, inclosing the city between them. The walls, which are built on ancient Cyclopean and Greek foundations, are about five miles in circuit. The interior presents that wretched and irregular appearance that is characteristic of Turkish towns; hovels of unburnt brick, and bazaars consisting of long narrow streets, shaded with vine-covered trellises and branches of trees, or obstructed Saloniæ with projecting wooden sheds, stand side by side with the large and magnificent piles erected in ancient or mediæval times. A long street intersects the town from east to west, spanned at either end by a triumphal arch. This is the ancient Egnatian road, the highway between the western and the eastern capitals. Some of the mosques are very ancient, and have witnessed in successive ages the rites of pagan, Christian, and moslem worship performed within the same walls. One of these is circular, like the Pantheon at Rome, and covered with mosaics on the inside. Another was originally consecrated to the Thermaean Venus; and did not the modern arrangement of the building somewhat conceal and disfigure its beauty, it would stand out as one of the most perfectly-preserved monuments of antiquity. A Corinthian colonnade, surmounted with large and beautiful figures in high relief, is supposed to have been the entrance to the hippodrome, and has received from Jewish superstition the name of *Las Incantadas*, on the idea that these are human figures magically turned to stone. The hippodrome or race-course itself is a large area near the middle of the town. Of mosques, originally Christian churches, one bears the name, and is built after the model, of St Sophia at Constantinople, though of smaller size; and another, the former metropolitan church, is lined in the interior with marble, and adorned with pillars of *verd antique*. There are several Greek churches and convents, one Roman Catholic church, Jewish synagogues, baths, and *khan*. Salonica is the seat of a general governor and of a Greek archbishop. The manufactures of the town are of considerable importance, including weaving, dyeing, carpet-making, silk-spinning, the manufacture of hardware, &c. But the introduction of European goods has proved detrimental to the industry of the place. As a commercial town, Salonica is, among Turkish ports in Europe, second only to the capital. Corn, cotton, silk, and tobacco are the principal articles exported. The following table exhibits the navigation and trade for each year from 1848 to 1851:

| Year | Entered | Imports | Cleared | Exports | |------|---------|---------|---------|---------| | 1848 | 643 | 70,565 | 332,782 | 578 | | 1849 | 566 | 65,103 | 345,638 | 548 | | 1850 | 514 | 62,964 | 318,879 | 550 | | 1851 | 509 | 59,756 | 427,920 | 522 |

In 1856 the navigation and commerce of the port was thus divided among the various nations:

| Flags | Vessels | Tonage | Imports | Exports | |---------|---------|--------|---------|---------| | Greek | 266 | 15,667 | 33,400 | 27,200 | | Turkish | 150 | 11,528 | 52,000 | 46,500 | | Austrian| 90 | 32,098 | 732,500 | 388,800 | | British | 62 | 21,078 | 221,000 | 640,500 | | French | 46 | 11,922 | 51,800 | 241,000 | | Sardinian| 31 | 5,682 | 8,600 | 27,000 | | Tuscan | 7 | 2,688 | | 2,500 | | Dutch | 3 | 543 | 2,500 | 5,300 | | Russian | 2 | 656 | | 9,000 | | Norwegian| 2 | 438 | | 2,900 | | Total | 659 | 101,680| 1,101,800| 1,400,700|

The country about Salonica is exceedingly beautiful. Amid groves of cypresses and other trees stand many elegant residences of the consuls of foreign countries; and the view over the gulf is very fine, the snowy heights of Olympus rising in the distant west. Near the town are sulphurous springs. Salonica was very much injured by conflagrations which took place in 1856 and 1857. Nearly half of the inhabitants are Turks, the rest of the population being nearly equally divided between Greeks and Jews. Pop. about 70,000. (See Thessalonica.)