I. City 2. Jewish demography and heritage
The ethnic composition of the neighbourhoods of Monasir changed following two fires in 1863 and 1868. This was a turning point for the Jewish population. They were living until the middle of the 19th century for the most part in cortijos, a type of oriental “ghettos”, the Jews dispersed themselves afterwards into other districts and mixed with other communities without moving away from the city centre.
In addition, according to the data of D. Lévy, we know that seven cortijos escaped these fires: Basehan, Benvenisté, large [cortijo], small [cortijo], Rillo, Talmud-Tora and Medrassé. For David Lévy, these dwellings were primitive, isolated and a shame for the image of the Jews in the city! These cortijos were inhabited by 600 families, or half of the Jewish population in the city. There were around 6000 Jews in Monastir, which made of them a minority group against the Greek (35 000), and Muslims (around 20 000). Finally, it did not take long, until these neighbourhoods disappeared, since 300 families of cortijos, suffered a terrible fire. The relief that came from the Ottoman Authority and the Central Committee of the Alliance Israélite were remarkable and the policies led to the construction new buildings for the victims, for 72 families out of 300, in the periphery. This is how the gentrification project was carried out involuntarily.
As for the Jewish heritage in Monastir, unfortunately there are no traces left today. D. Levy cites eight synagogues, three of those ancient. Among which, those of Aragon and Portugal denoted fairly well the Sephardic origin of the Jews in Monastir. Then, two AIU schools were built up in the late 19th, early 20th century. Nowadays the most tangible legacy of this community, which decimated during the Shoah, is the Jewish cemetery located in the northeast of the city. This is the subject of a memorial project which aims to be become the “Memorial Park” in Bitola today.