Townscape and Building Complexes in Medieval Western Anatolia under Turkish-Islamic Culture
By Çağla Caner
Power and culture: Identity, Ideology, Representation, edited by Ann Katherine Isaacs and Guðmundur Hálfdanarson (Pisa University Press, 2007)
Abstract: This study aims to explore the contribution of building complexes to urban development and the evolution of important town centres in Western Anatolia between the 14th and 16th centuries. Until the 14th century, this part of Anatolia was home to ancient and subsequently Byzantine cultures. During Seljuk rule in Anatolia, for security purposes petty dynasties were encouraged to settle in this border region between their territories and the Byzantine lands. After the collapse of the Seljuk Sultanate in the early 14th century, the Principalities and later the Ottomans declared their rule in these lands. The architectural and urban development of this era was shaped by these changes in political power and the overlap between early settled and newly settled cultures in the region. Members of the ruling institution initiated the construction of building complexes, the so-called külliyes, which contributed to the establishment and development of the urban fabric in Western Anatolian town centres. Using the town of Tire as a case study, this chapter explains how the urban milieu in Western Anatolia was transformed through building complexes founded under the rulership of a new Turkish- Islamic cadre of governors.
Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)
Townscape and Building Complexes in Medieval Western Anatolia under Turkish-Islamic Culture
By Çağla Caner
Power and culture: Identity, Ideology, Representation, edited by Ann Katherine Isaacs and Guðmundur Hálfdanarson (Pisa University Press, 2007)
Abstract: This study aims to explore the contribution of building complexes to urban development and the evolution of important town centres in Western Anatolia between the 14th and 16th centuries. Until the 14th century, this part of Anatolia was home to ancient and subsequently Byzantine cultures. During Seljuk rule in Anatolia, for security purposes petty dynasties were encouraged to settle in this border region between their territories and the Byzantine lands. After the collapse of the Seljuk Sultanate in the early 14th century, the Principalities and later the Ottomans declared their rule in these lands. The architectural and urban development of this era was shaped by these changes in political power and the overlap between early settled and newly settled cultures in the region. Members of the ruling institution initiated the construction of building complexes, the so-called külliyes, which contributed to the establishment and development of the urban fabric in Western Anatolian town centres. Using the town of Tire as a case study, this chapter explains how the urban milieu in Western Anatolia was transformed through building complexes founded under the rulership of a new Turkish- Islamic cadre of governors.
Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)
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