The three-story building was built in 1887 according to designs by Vitaliano Poselli. This particular building was intended to house one of the municipal educational establishments which were founded, mainly at the end of 19th century, in the capital cities of the prefectures of the Ottoman state for the education of government servants and to prepare students for the entrance exams which would get them into the higher schools. After 1912, the Idadiye of Thessaloniki housed the military hospital and after 1927 the University. It was used again as a military hospital between 1941 and 1944 and subsequently reverted to the University. Today it is the main building of the Philosophical School of the University of Thessaloniki (Aristoteleio Panepistimio).

The appearance of the building today is the result of successive additions and extensions, mainly between the wars.