This significant settlement in the Ottoman period, the center of the Muslims of the region, declined after the 18th century to the extent that today only two mosques resemble its former glory. Besides the Turkish administrative center, Genisea evolved and developed into a well-known tobacco production center, and the famous tobacco of Xanthi was advertised in Istanbul market as Genisea tobacco. In the early 19th century Greek traders took control of the trafficking and smuggling of (...)
tobacco. As a result, the rural land can was concentrated by Muslim beys. In Genissea, there is also a significant number of warehouses and laboratories of tobacco processing, which seems to have been built in the first half of the 19th century. The buildings of tobacco in Genissea present a peculiarity which is not found elsewhere and therefore they need legislative and systemic protection.