19TH CENTURY DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES: A REVIEW ON THE BASTIONS OF TRABZON Cover Image

19. YÜZYIL SAVUNMA YAPILARI: TRABZON TABYALARI ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME
19TH CENTURY DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES: A REVIEW ON THE BASTIONS OF TRABZON

Contributor(s): Esra Babul (Editor)
Subject(s): Architecture, Military history, 19th Century, The Ottoman Empire, History of Art
Published by: Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi - Karadeniz Araştırmaları Enstitüsü
Keywords: Military Architecttural; Defensive Structures; Bastion; Güzelhisar Bastion; Trabzon;

Summary/Abstract: Trabzon maintained its importance and strategy throughout history because of its geographical position and harbour. The defense of the city against attacks and threats has been an important issue since it is an important location of Silk Road trade, which serves as a gateway to Europe and Russia by sea and a passageway to the inner parts of Anatolia, Caucasus and Iran. The city has witnessed the construction of a bastion which has changed the military architecture with the invention of firearms and emerged as a new type of building. The spatial organization of the local, which is now Kalepark/Ganita, has brought the castle to the fore and it became the military committee and command center. Trabzon and Çömlekçi bastions were built to protect especially harbors, coasts and regions where is concentrated active trade, including the main bastion in Güzelhisar. Hagia Sophia, which is the most important structure of the city and has many ideological and symbolic meanings, is located quite far from the city walls so it had to be defended against the attacks and dangers from the sea. For this reason, a bastion was built in front of Hagia Sophia. Also, another basiton was built in Polathane Harbour. Polathane Harbour, which was used in both commercial and military purposes, had been a strategic point especially in the 19th centruy as it was the first defence point in the sea aganist to Trabzon. So there were built Kireçhane and Sargana bastions due to Russian invasion to protect for harbour in the 19th centruy. Within the scope of the current study, a research was carried out regarding the bastions situated in Trabzon, and their importance was explained. This research employs archival material from Presidency of The Republic of Turkey Directorate of State Archives - Ottoman State Archives and Ottoman and French maps and plans. Bastionss are discussed in the light of archive documents in the context of repairs and reconstructions, budgets, construction decisions and architectures. Some financial difficulties in the construction of the buildings, have security problems caused by the location of bastions and sent from the central authority in the organization of the construction works and assist the city administrators were determined in the study.

  • Issue Year: 7/2021
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 215-247
  • Page Count: 33
  • Language: Turkish