SULEYMANIYE HAUSES

 

The metamorphosis of an historical city: from the Byzantine city Argyropolis to the Ottoman neighborhood Süleymaniye


Anatolia, which has hosted many civilizations since the early ages, is historically very important. While the majority of the settlements of these civilizations have still been in where they were founded, there are some historical cities that have disappeared or moved to another place; while some are known with their names only in old sources, the ruins of some of them are found, and some continue to exist in other places because the original places of foundation of the cities were deserted. One of the cities which sought its continuity in another place is Argyropolis. The city which was founded on a sloping area with rich silver mines and which was spread along heights of 1400-1500 meters, moved to a valley of a height of 1150 meters and some 4 kilometers away from its original place of foundation because of the loss of its socio-economic power. In its original place of foundation, the city was called as Argyropolis and Canca respectively. After the city was left it was called Eskişehir (Old City) and Eski Gümüşhane (Old Gümüşhane) respectively; and when it lost its status as a city and reduced to the status of a neighborhood it was called Süleymaniye (The City of Suleiman). The names given to the old city before it reduced to the status of a neighborhood and to the new city refer to the ‘silver mines’, which were an indication of the economic condition of the city. The closure of these mines was to the desertion of the city what the running of these mines was to its foundation and development.
Although the city witnessed different periods and hosted different civilizations and although it spread out on a rather large area, this actively-used part of the city which was reduced to the status of a neighborhood from the status of a rich city houses historical buildings that belong to only two different periods – Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The scope of this study is limited to this neighborhood because of the fact that we have only the traces of the other neighborhoods.
The study consists of four sections; 1. Introduction, 2. Fieldwork, stages of the study and the analyses of the examined samples; determining the boundaries of the area of study, determining the actual places of the buildings and ruins on the ground and showing them on the site plan, drawing the plans showing the original states of the buildings, drawing the plans showing the original states of the historical buildings and ruins, analyzing the architectural characteristics of the periods that they belong to based on the relevant literature, determining the historical processes depending both on the interviews made with the people living in the area and on the inscriptions on the buildings on the site.
For each sample whose original design was determined; creating identity cards including its plan, cross-section, façade (as the main façade) and history, a section explaining its present condition, and its photos, preparing a model of the site and placing the buildings, building traces and the roads on it. 3. General evaluation. 4. Conclusions.

Like living organisms, cities are born, grow up, develop and even die. Anatolia has been the scene for city settlements since the early ages. Today, only the ruins of some of these cities exist, and some cities did not leave any traces but their names are found in old sources. Some of the cities have been in their original places and have had the chance to survive and develop up to the present time, but some had to leave their original places of foundation and continue their existence in other places Such natural phenomena as earthquakes, alluvia, changes in the water levels of lakes as well as wars, desire to live near water sources, easy transportation to surrounding cities, and economic inadequacies may be shown as the reasons for such movements. The old Argyropolis is the best example to the cities that sought for survival in another place because of socio-economic reasons. However, another characteristic of the city is that while it was re-formed by moving to another place some 4 kilometers away from its original place of foundation, the old city turned into a neighborhood, and despite the short distance in between it became a neighborhood of the new city. The new Gümüşhane is on the road where transportation to other cities is easy, but because it is located in a narrow valley between rocky mountains it could not have the chance to enlarge and develop
The most important factors that contributed to choosing this city as the area of study are that it has hosted different settlements in different periods and that it covered a rather large area but that it was reduced to the status of a neighborhood from the status of a rich city as a result of losing its economic power. Today the actively-used area of Argyropolis, known as Süleymaniye neighborhood, is taken as the area of study Other factors that contributed to choosing this area are that it contains historical buildings and traces of buildings belonging to both Byzantine and Ottoman periods, and that it is still used today though as a neighborhood.
Argyropolis, which is surrounded by Skidides in the east where Bizer and Mushkis lived, Pariyadres mountains in the west and the Stala (Sadak) plain in the south and which is known variously as Canca, Eskişehir, Eski Gümüşhane and finally Süleymaniye neighborhood, has been a mosaic of peoples. Old Gümüşhane has always been a buffer zone for historical events because of its geographical location, but most of its architectural works have not come down to the present day.
The old city is 4 kilometers away from the new city and the neighborhoods of this historical city are spread out on a sloping surface of 1400-1500 m altitude This city was founded here because of the presence of ‘silver lead’ mines around the city Therefore, the name of the city in the old sources is ‘Argyropolis’ which means ‘silver city’. These mines had been known since the early ages and they were run in the Ottoman period, too. It is also known that silver coins were minted there Gümüşhane and its environs were first annexed to the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Mehmet II in 1461 Sultan Mehmet II encouraged the people of the area to run the silver mines by exempting them from paying tax. Special privileges like tax exemption and exemption from military service contributed to the increase in the number of people working in mines It is said that every new-born baby had a silver spoon, a fork, and a plate in the old rich city of Gümüşhane. Its geographical location, its position on the Silk Road and its silver mines had an important contribution to the increase of its population day by day
During his military campaign to Iran in 1553, Sultan Suleiman, the Magnificent spent some nights in the region and saw the silver mines. Upon this he ordered to build 1 mosque and 50 houses and named the city as Gümüşhane. Before this, the name of the city was Canca Today, the neighborhood, which was once Old Gümüşhane, takes its name from the Süleymaniye mosque in the center of the city. Because of its gold and silver mines, the city was authorized by Suleiman, the Magnificent to mint coins on behalf of itself. The mines and the city reached their brightest period during the reign of Sultan Murat IV (1623-1640). Upon the annulment of the special privileges of the miners by the government in 1894, the mines closed Upon the closure of the silver mines, the city lost its function and started to move slowly into the Harşit valley some 4 kilometers away, and the new Gümüşhane city first became a trade center and then the government centre, which completely reduced the importance of Old Gümüşhane. The migrations caused by the Russian occupation of the region in 1916 lessened the population of the city, which accelerated the demise of Old Gümüşhane. During the Russian occupation, the Muslim population in the region migrated to different parts of Anatolia. After the withdrawal of the Russians, the migrated Muslim population returned and the Christian population, which cooperated with the Russians, was driven to beyond Caucasia Finally, 4 years after the announcement of the Republic of Turkey, the center of the city government moved to its new place
Stages of the study contain the following:
1. Fieldwork;
• Determining the boundaries of the area of study; Carrying out a pre-investigation in order to choose the central area that is actively used today and that contains example buildings reflecting different periods,
• Determining the places of buildings and visible ruins and showing them on the site plan, drawing the plans showing the original states of the buildings,
2. Documentation and investigation;
• Drawing the plans showing the original states of the buildings and ruins
• Examining in detail the architectural characteristics and historical processes of the buildings and ruins depending on the relevant literature, on the inscriptions found on the buildings, and on the interviews made with the people living in the area,
• Creating a model of the site and placing the buildings, building traces and roads on the model (see photos involved in annexes)
• Preparing identity cards for every sample including photos and a section that describes their present condition and their history in terms of the plan, and façade (as the main face) (see Tables prepared as identity cards)
3. General evaluation
4. Conclusions.
The historical buildings under investigation are: Byzantine period: The Greek School, the Metropolitan Building, and the Hagios Georgios Metropolitan Church. Ottoman period: Süleymaniye Mosque and Küçük Mosque. Ottoman period traditional houses: Muammer Daloğlu House, Ahmet Kaya House, Rafet Çubukçu House and Zeki Kadirbeyzade Mansion. Drinking fountains are one of the street elements and they are known to be very common in the area in the past. One such drinking fountain which has come down to the present day and which is known as the fountain of the police chef was also investigated in this study. Some historical buildings such as the Süleymaniye Mosque and traditional houses are actively used; other buildings are not used because they lost their functions and because of huge damages of time, which resulted from the migration of the Christian people.