Macedonia in the last two centuries of Ottoman domination was the second center in craft production after Epirus. It produced all types of popular art and guilds. The main productive and commercial activity in Macedonia however, began in 1865, when the French Consulate was established in Thessalonica, thus establishing commercial transactions with Marseille, France. During 18th and 19th centuries the major industry in the area was textile. The workmanship of silver was developed in north-western Macedonia using mainly the techniques of Filgranou and Savatiou. The center of copper plating was Thessalonica and Kastoria became the famous center where the art of fur making was developed.
During the period of the Ottoman dominion and mainly around the 17th century AD, the Macedonian architecture became quite distinct. The houses of Macedonia were distinguished by certain basic characteristics. The walls of the ground floor were made with stone and they were tied up with timber, while the walls in the remainder floors were wooden. In the ground floor we have few and small windows, while in the remainder floors the windows were numerous. The spaces are constructed around a big central space and interconnected with wooden colonnades or with doors. The interior was built with timber.
