Maintenance of Ottoman Manor Houses in World Heritage Sites of Berat and Gjirokastra B.A. Ekim Gökçe Gürbüz, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Wien, Österreich – e0828499@student.tuwien.ac.at
Keywords: Albania, Gjirokaster, Berat, Ottoman Architecture, Restoration, Rehabilitation, Heritage, Maintenance
Balkans. This well-preservation and dense structure makes them important qualifiers as World Heritage Sites. Abstract The Albanian-Turkish towns of Berat and Gjirokastra are protected under World Heritage Label. They are dense and relatively good preserved examples of Ottoman architecture. Though, Berat and Gjirokastra have been important cities because of their location throughout the history and passed into hands of different civilisations, today’s standing architecture and the urban fabric in the old parts of the towns are only from the Ottoman period in Balkans. Here, only very few structural transformations happened in three centuries and only few decaying houses have been restored by book since the last three decades. This article, compares the Ottoman city of Gjirokastra to the medieval city of Berat and introduces the typologies of houses, discusses the different restoration methods which were followed in the processes of saving the old Ottoman houses and urban fabric in Berat and Gjirokastra; also the necessity of proper restoration to stop future decaying.
Özet Arnavutluk’ta bulunan ve Dünya Kültür Mirası’nın birer parçası olan Ergiri ve Berat, Osmanlı mimarisinin temel özelliklerini gözlemleyebileceğimiz kasabalardır. Buraları bu denli özel kılan nokta, bugün belki de Balkanlar’da bu kadar iyi korunmuş Osmanlı döneminden ayakta kalan az sayıdaki yerleşim yerleri olmalarıdır. Tarih boyunca bir çok uygarlığın eline geçmiş ve her zaman önemli yerleşimler olmuş olmalarına rağmen, bugünün mimarisi ve kentsel dokusu yalnızca Osmanlı’dan günümüze ulaşmış olandır. Son üç yüzyılda bu kasabalarda çok az şey değişti ve sadece birkaç ev aslına uygun olarak onarıldı. Bu makale, Osmanlı şehri olan Ergiri’yi, ortaçağ döneminde kurulmuş olan Berat ile karşılaştırıyor. Evlerin tiplendirilmesini, restorasyon esnasında izlenmiş farklı metodları ve evlerin daha fazla çürümemesi için atılması gereken adımları tartışıyor.
1.
Introduction
Berat, Gjirokastra are inscribed as rare and dense examples of an architectural character of typical Ottoman cities in the
[Fig. 1] Map of Albania. Berat and Gjirokastar are marked with red stars. Situated in southern Albania, lying in the historical region of Epirus, Gjirokastra perches on a steep hill, in a valley between Gjere mountains which is capped by an imposing fortress dating back to the second half of the 13th century and Drino river. On the opposite side of the valley, the town faces another mountain range, Lunxheria which formed the nucleus of the first settlement until the early 14th century. The town features outstanding and unique tower houses which were developed since the 17th century. The urban fabric and housing design are striking blends of culture of self-defense by individual family units and Ottoman architectural elements. The traditional houses and the settling gives the town its outstanding universal value. Berat, lies on the river bank of the Osum river, stretches on steep hills, neighbours on the East by Mount Tomorr. The town was built just like Gjirokastra as a fortified town; the Castle of Berat is situated on the northern side of the valley and the Castle of Gorica on the south. While the Castle of Gorica served only as a fortification, Castle of Berat was settled by people and formed the town itself.