Disappearing from Istanbul’s Shoreline: Sarayburnu Tıbbiye-Yedekciler Masjid/Degirmen Ocagı Mosque

Abstract

Located on the outer part of the seawalls of the Topkapı Palace, the area around Sarayburnu was permanently changed with a new development plan implemented in Istanbul between 1956 and 1960. Urban practices in this period aimed to modernize urban space but resulted in a permanent transformation of the city’s shoreline. In order to ensure the continuity of cultural transmission, this research aims to remind historical places that disappeared as a result of the demolitions under the development plan and discusses the exploration of the buildings that disappeared from the shoreline of Sarayburnu by utilizing visual archive sources. This case study uses a selection of historical photographs as research material for areas outside seawalls that form the border between the Historic Peninsula and the sea. Document analysis of historical photographs revealed the photographs of the Sarayburnu Tıbbiye-Yedekciler Masjid/Degirmen Ocagi Mosque that does not exist today. Case study research, one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred to examine this building. The research findings provide information about history, location and construction of the building as well as its traces in the contemporary urban space. In the context of the relationship between architecture, city and history, one of the forgotten memory places that are important for cultural transmission has been explored.