GCRIS

This paper aims to decipher the 19th century spatial characteristics of Ildırı which overlaps the archaeological remains of ancient Erythrai. This period corresponds to the Ottoman Empire’s last century when Ildırı was inhabited by Orthodox-Rum community. Ildırı experinced serious alterations and destructions during and after the population exchange. Due to both these changes and destructions as well as recent illegal construction activities, the original settlement pattern is almost disappeared in Ildırı. Increasing tourism pressure of recent years in an other factor that accelerates this disappearance. For this reason, in this paper, the spatial characteristics of 19th-century Ildırı is deciphered like a jig-saw puzzle; by tracing the clues about the place from different sources. This settlement puzzle based upon supporting the limited traces coming from the place with oral history studies and narratives of archaeologist travellers. The mentioned oral history studies composed of the narratives of both existing Turkish and former Rum inhabitants. The narratives of Rum inhabitants who experienced the pre-exchange period were obtained from the Centre of Asia Minor Studies in Athens. Interviews with Turkish inhabitants who witnessed the post-exchange period were conducted by the authors at different times between 2012 and 2014 in Ildırı. As the conclusion, the importance of oral history studies is emphasized in understanding the place, its recent history and spatial transformations of the settlements like Ildırı that experienced major transformations as well as a sharp social interruption with population exchange.

Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage / Kültür Varlıklarını Koruma ve Onarım

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