Turkish
One of the oldest settlements in the world, Anatolia has a different style among the cities that has the smell of history. Historical houses in Izmir are waiting for a hand to reach them.
While a significant part of the old buildings have disappeared in İzmir, which dates back to 8,500 years ago, the remaining few buildings are about to share the same destiny …
Historical buildings that date as much as the day-to-day are of great importance in İzmir, which had been subjected to numerous fires from 1825 until the liberation of Izmir, and lastly given fire by the Greek Army in the War of Independence. Most of the remaining structures consist of works built in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In these structures, as well as the Greek architecture, the change in the architectural understanding of the Ottoman Empire, which entered the westernization process, can be seen.
The old buildings, which are mostly located in areas known as Kadilikale and Basmane districts known as Tilkilik and Namazgah, are known as İzmir’s oldest known buildings.
Mostly the houses that consist of two floors have exterior sofa design. In these historic houses, the main rooms are supported by wooden chopsticks, outwardly protruding, basement is reserved for storage function and the bedrooms are mostly built on the second floor. Almost all of the houses have a courtyard at the entrance, merlens in the courtyard to enter the house, niches in the walls, fountain pools and wells in the middle of the courtyard.
The floors of the houses are composed of ‘selamlık’, and the upper floors are composed of two separate sections as ‘haremlik’. Wooden fringes, wooden joists, beams, palanquins, wooden houses and balconies with glass walls are noticeable. They are made of stone up to a certain height, and the upper parts are made of wooden carcass.
The fact that a detailed inventory of the structures around Basmane, which bear the traces of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods and which is very rich in terms of archaeological reasons, is still a big problem.
Especially after the restoration work of Otasla Street and Uşakizade Köşkü which is a house where Latife Hanim is living in this street, he played a big role in receiving the “Urban Transformation Award” of İzmir. However, after the last fire, the pavilion is being turned into ruins, only the front pillars are covered and the fountain of the famous pavilion is abandoned.
Recently, some buildings have been damaged more seriously with Beşikçi and Dönertaş Sebili in the fires coming out of streets where historic buildings are located.
As the buildings become almost invisible as a result of rapid and unplanned construction around the historical works in the historical area, sensitive residents of the city are waiting for an urgent protection and rescue project in order to protect the history of İzmir.
