In the East side of the city there is an urban block surrounded by Dimitrakopoulou, Ploutonos, Cheronias and Georgiou Papandreou streets, which is called Ouziel complex and it’s probably the most beautiful neighbourhood in Thessaloniki.
In 1927, David Ouziel, one of the main stockholders of the Tramway company, built a complex of 28 detached houses, designed by Moshé Jacques, a famous architect at that time. The complex was built for the accommodation of the Tramway company’s employees. In 1984, the complex was declared a protected monument by the Ministry of Culture.
A walk in the cobbled alleys of the complex will be a time travel experience for you and will remind you of the sweet past of the city. Every time that I walk through the complex, I travel to an old, fascinating and mysterious Thessaloniki in my mind.
The wooden window frames, the decorative elements beneath the roof, the spacious gardens full of orange trees and rose bushes are the main components of the complex.
Most of the houses are still inhabited yet I noticed that some of them are abandoned and neglected, which makes you wonder who owns a house like this and is not eager to maintain it!