CONSERVATION ISSUES OF MONUMENTAL BUILDINGS IN TURKEY IN PRACTICE, CASE STUDY: HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM AND FATIH MOSQUE IN ISTANBUL

Abstract

Monumental historic buildings arc a small portion of Turkey's built heritage and deserve to be protected with care. However, when examined through a chronological view starting from 1923, it is observed that the conservation activities in Turkey have often failed to succeed in preserving their authentic features. One of the fundamental problems lies in the fact that there is discordance between state institutions responsible of the decision making process for cultural heritage and the ones responsible of controlling the practice on site. This article aims to investigate the reasons of this discordance and while doing this, it first sheds a light on the development of architectural conservation in the republican period briefly, focuses on the different shifts and tendencies in time and highlight the events and institutions which have been influential in triggering these changes. The limited conservation activities in the founding years of the republic took a rise in 1930s with the first national listing and documentation studies and in 1950s after the establishment of the High Council for the Protection of Historical Monuments the legislation became the primary step in conservation. While the urban development projects had a destructive impact on Istanbul's historic fabric in late 1950's, many monuments were restored for the celebrations of 500th year of the conquest of the city. The rise of the population of big cities; rapid urbanization and new legislative decisions for the protection of cultural heritage have each had impacts on the conservation field during 1960's extending to 2000's. The restoration processes of two symbolic buildings, chosen as case studies, Hagia Sophia Museum and Fatih Mosque, introduce the controversy between the decision making process and the restoration practice. In the article, the reasons behind these problematic restorations are highlighted and discussed. Finally, this essay classifies some of the issues related with cultural heritage in Turkey, in regard of decision making process and restoration practice and evaluates the main reasons behind these problems.