TOURISTIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF HISTORICAL TOWNS:

THE REFLECTIONS OF SPACES IN TRADITIONAL DİYARBAKIR

ARCHITECTURE
Assist. Prof. Dr. Can Tuncay AKIN
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mücahit YILDIRIM,
Dicle University
Engineering and Architecture Faculty,
Architecture Department 21280
Diyarbakır/ Turkey
Email: ctakin@dicle.edu.tr
Email: yildirim@dicle.edu.tr

ABSTRACT
For the sustainability of historical towns and traditional buildings those are no longer
feasible, an adaptive use must be given. This adaptive use must be convenient with socio-
economic and cultural structure of the historical site. The most popular way for the
maintenance of the historical site is tourism activity.

The case study held on for this reason is the historical town of Diyarbakır. The main civil
architecture examples inside the walls are the traditional houses which are relevant with
user requirements, desirability; habits of users connected with socio-economic and socio-
cultural values. Social experience, visions, believes, ethical principles are sourced from
nature and living styles have affected the traditional Diyarbakır housing architecture. The
reflections of culture and civilization with integration of environment and material in
physical space can be seen in traditional Diyarbakır houses. Climatic conditions and social
structure have played an important role in the forms of the interior and exterior spaces of
the traditional Diyarbakır houses. There are few examples of restored houses in the old
town. Some of them have become museum being due to the birth place of very popular
writers and poets in them. The large houses which oriented for the patriarchal family style
lost their function in the contemporary life style. Some of them can not be conserved as a
house as before because of being too large for a small family.

The aim of the study is to preserve those structures for a sustainable conservation and the
very convenient way to do it is using tourism. In order to give an adaptive use for these
structures the analysis of the existing structures has to be made and the requirements of the
tourism innovations have to be considered.
1.Introduction
The region of Suriçi of Diyarbakır which shows a medieval town style became a slum area
because of being a settlement for the marginal groups migrated from rural and being left by
the real owners. The historical town is far away to provide the contemporary comfort
conditions related with the user requirements. The high population pressure causes
deterioration in the traditional houses. For the sustainability and regional development, the
cultural heritage in the historical town must be preserved and transfer to the future. One of
the tools of the sustainability is the tourism.

From globalization-localization perspectives, tourism has become a significant tool in

regional development processes and increasing interest has turned toward making it
sustainable especially in main destination areas. The report of the EU Commission
mentions that transportation, energy, industry, and tourism are the effective key sectors for
the quality of urban environment and sustainable development (CEC 1992).

The religious structures in the historical town can be preserved more easily because of the
belief. The traditional houses due to the civil architecture are going to be disappeared
because of the lost of using values. One of the activity which is going to help to make the
historical town as a charming center is a restricted tourism activity.

2.Cultural Heritage Preservation and Tourism

Cultural heritage management is a global phenomenon governed by a series of
internationally recognized codes and charter including the Venice Charter -ICOMOS,
1994-and the UNECO World Heritage Convention which takes care to maintain the
cultural values. Cultural heritage assets can be combined into cultural tourism products
around the theme of building heritage. In recent year heritage tourism has increased.
Heritage tourism is an economic activity that makes use of socio-cultural assets to attract
visitors. It embraces folkloric traditions, art and crafts ethnic history, social customs,
cultural celebrations and traditional architecture as well. It provides an economic supply
for the citizens. Built environments such as historical houses, castles are the definitions of
heritage and the most popular destination of cultural tourism. Cultural tourism which takes
as the object of its desire some kind of “traditional” cultural form is said to be on the
increase (Boissevain1996; Richards 1996; Urry 1990; Weiler and Hall 1992).
In fact the literature contains two main approaches to the precise phenomenon under study.
The first and most common is to regard it as tourism in places categorized as heritage or
historic places.

3.Physical Structure of the Historical City

The black basalt wall is perfect examples of the mediaeval architecture. Although some of
the wall was from Roman, and even earlier times, the present walls date back to early
Byzantine times. The town is surrounded by old city wall.

Although it is not known that when the historical city has established, the inner castle is
thought to be the first settlement due to A. Gabriel. In the south part of the inner castle
there was an amphitheater dated to VI century which does not exist now. Although the
domed basilica in the inner castle reflects the architecture of VI. Century, there is no any
evidence of its authentic architecture.

The most important structure defines the character of the historical city is the wall. The two
way axles reached today which connects to the four gates intersects at the center of the city
and forms the city plan of Hellenistic and Roman (Fig1). This city plan has changed in the
Byzantine and Islamic civilization times and reached to today as a two way axles.

Fig.1. Map of the historical city Diyarbakır Suriçi shows the city plan remaining from the
Hellenistic Era.
Near the intersection point of these ways, a square of religion, trade and education center
has formed as in all Ottoman cities. These structures are the Great Mosque, Hasan Pasha
Inn, the Madrasah of Mesudiye and Zinciriye.

The Great Mosque has been researched widely in Turkey because of including the
structural elements of antique Christian Era, assumed to be a church and with the thought
of being the remaining of a palace dated to 1. Century B.C. The closed plan of the mosque
repeats the plan of Damascus Emevi Mosque.

The arc profiles on the arcades of first floor are common in the traditions of Islam and
Christian structures. Zinciriye Madrasah is at the south west part of the Great Mosque and
also known as Sincariye Madrasah. The structure is due to the Great Mosque Complex and
assumed to be the structure of complementary of Mesudiye Madrasah. The arcades
surrounds the courtyard is due to the Syrian structure traditions. Mesudiye Madrasah has
recently restored. The two storey Hasan Pasha Inn which has spaces behind the arcades is
also in the opposite side of the Greta Mosque. The structure recently restored by Mr.
Yildirim, has three entrances, one of them from the west to the Gazi Street and the others
from the east and south to the Jewelers Bazaar. The simplicity is coming out in the
Ottoman Era Inn structures and the relations with outside is redoubled. The form of the Inn
is far away from a form of a castle and there are shops outside of it. The structure is used
for the trade activity also. It differs from the inn style of Seljuk inns with the parameters of
proportion and elevation architecture. The spaces get smaller for the benefit of human.

4.The Architectural Features of the Traditional Houses

In the 12 and 13th centuries, due to the political and cultural relations with Iraq and Syria
the architecture of Southeast Anatolia has effected from these countries architecture. The
region has created a stone built architecture beginning from the era of Hellenistic, Roman,
Christian and early Islam. In the traditional Diyarbakır houses (figure 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6),
water, semi closed spaces and the shadow forms the main design principles. The recess
with pool, water channels, the semi sunken basement floor are the priorities of the hot dry
climate. It is the way of protection from the hot with the thick wall against the hot summer
and cold winter.

In the Turkish house the rooms are the spaces responds the multiple functions. In each
room, the activities of sleeping, eating and seating are realized. In the first floor, some of
the rooms extend to the street with a console called Cardak. The winter side has generally
one storey and oriented to the south. There is not any fire place in the room. The only
fireplace is located in kitchen and the winter house is near the kitchen. The flooring of
winter house is brick dust mortar (horasan).

Figure 1. Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Museum, Poet, M. Yildirim

Figure 2. The Section Elevation of Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Museum Poet, M.Yildirim
 Figure 3. A view from the Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı House

Figure 4. A house in Kurşunlu Cami Street, M.Yildirim

Figure 5. The Section Elevation of the Figure 6. A view from the house in Kursunlu
house in Kurşunlu Cami Street. (M.yildirim) Street
Generally the openings of winter rooms are oriented to south and seasonal parts of houses
are oriented to west and east. The most preferred place for use is Iwan (Eyvan) that is
surrounded by seasonal parts and opened to courtyard with a big arch or arches. It is
constructed 2 or 3 sectional arcades (figure 7,8). It can be also located in first floor and it is
the most preferred place of household especially in summer. The other characteristic of
eyvan is a semi open transition element between courtyard and spaces.

Figure 7. Esma Ocak House Figure 8. Ziya Gökalp Museum

5. Proposals for the Sustainability and Regional Development of Historical City

It is very difficult to reuse the whole of some of big houses that is constructed in
patriarchal social order as house again. For this reason it is needed to re-function except
housing. In this way, some social spaces that is needed for historical region will be solved
in existing buildings.

The proposed new functions can be such as production and sale of handcraft and souvenir,
rehabilitation centers for children, youth center, those are suitable for housing usage as
well. While some adaptive uses have given, some issues must be taken into consideration:

• gaining these 100-150 years buildings which lose partly their function world
tourism and world cultural heritage, by giving new functions to them
• conservation of these buildings providing new usage,
• conservation of historical environment,
• by distinguishing different functional groups according to necessities considering
location and size of the buildings in the historical town by means of building
determination work
 • economical evaluation
• The necessity of giving new function to buildings those do not meet the need due to
changing social environment

6.Conclusions
The fundamental principle in conservation of traditional buildings is to provide the usage
continuity. This usage continuity can be provided by compensating contemporary user
requirements within existing traditional buildings. Some additions and finishing will be
obligatory as a result of evaluation of user requirements of today in buildings. The
buildings must be arranged for providing possibility of reuse. The analysis of requirements
of region must be taken into consideration while these arrangements have done. On the
other hand, it must be remembered that tourism factor has a positive and negative effects
(figure 9) on citizens and buildings as well. Although the positive impacts on economy and
culture, positive and negative impacts can be seen in socio-economic, sustainability of
buildings and social structure so these negative and positive effects must be optimized as
well.

Positive
Positive Economic
Socio/Economic
Negative Impact
Impact
Socio/Economic
Impact

CULTURAL
TOURISM
Positive/Negative
Social
Impact

Positive / Negative Positive

sustainability Cultural
Impact Impact

Figure 9: The negative and positive effects of cultural tourism

The reuse of the buildings by relevant techniques can not be applied only in building scale
also in historical town scale. The other structures that have already lost their original uses
and no longer feasible in the medieval town are the hamams, the inns and old bazaar where
the hand crafts production are made must be preserved. For example, by means of
production of some touristic handcrafts and selling them inside, restaurants or hostels in
those traditional houses in order to get the authentic atmosphere.

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