Kemeraltı
Kemeraltı , also Kemeraltı Çarşısı , is a historic market and business district in the Turkish city of Izmir .
location
The district covers a large area from the Agora of ancient Smyrna (with the districts of Namazgah, Mezarlıkbaşı and İkiçeşmelik) to the coast in the Konak district . The streets of Fevzipaşa Bulvarı in the northeast, Eşrefpaşa Caddesi in the southeast and Halıl Rıfat Paşa Caddesi in the southwest border the district. The area covers around 2,700 hectares with 11,700 businesses.
history
The bazaar was originally built along a long street. In the Middle Ages the street was known as " Mevlevi Street ", based on a Tekke of the Sufi brotherhood in the street. In the 17th century the street and the bazaar were expanded. Today it is called Anafartalar Caddesi .
The building of the Hisar Mosque in 1592 became the nucleus in the development of the bazaar. It is the oldest and largest mosque in the city. It was built by Aydınoğlu Yakup Bey, a descendant of the Beylik of Aydın , who had administered Izmir before the Ottoman conquest. The first traders settled in the vicinity of the mosque.
The quarter then emerged between 1650 and 1670 with the filling in of the shallower parts of the Bay of Izmir and continued with the reclamation of land in 1744, when the Kızlarağası Hanı caravanserai was established, which with two other Hans became the center of the market. These were the "Vezir Hanı", built in the 17th century by Grand Vizier Köprülü Fâzıl Ahmed Pascha , and the Han of his successor Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pascha . In addition, the now demolished “Cezayir Hanı” (“Algerian Inn”), where workers from western Anatolia slept before they were sent to the Ottoman protectorate of Algiers, stood here. The Ottomans built the bazaar near the port as a trading post for goods in the second half of the 17th century. The port and market quickly developed into an important hub for trade in the Mediterranean.
The remaining part of the inner bay of Izmir silted up in the course of the 18th century. The coast across from Kemeraltı took on its present form at the beginning of the 19th century, although part of the land along the ship's anchorages remained unused until the end of that century. In 1829 the Ottoman barracks Sarı Kışla, the Yellow Barracks, which was huge for its time, was built right by the sea. In addition, the private "Konak Residence" behind the barracks was extended and converted into the governor's seat, with Konak Square being demarcated. The square got its name from the Governor's Palace (Konak), which also gave the central district of Izmir its name.
After the great Smyrna fire in 1922 and thereafter, hundreds of the "Hans" that existed in Kemeraltı at the beginning of the 20th century were destroyed. Only a dozen have been preserved in whole or in part. The governor's house still stands today, although the Sarı-Kışla barracks was demolished in 1955 on the instructions of the then Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes to make way for a redesign of Konak Square.
Although the demise of shoe manufacturing left a large void in the 1990s and 2000s, Kemeraltı's business activity eventually recovered with the population growth in Izmir in the 2010s.
Buildings
Caravanserais and Hans
As early as the 17th century, numerous caravanserais and smaller huts sprang up around the market. The Kızlarağası Hanı is one of the largest and most magnificent. After the great Smyrna fire in 1922, hundreds of the hans that existed in Kemeraltı at the beginning of the 20th century were destroyed.
Mosques
In addition to the Hisar Mosque , the larger mosques include the Başdurak Mosque , the Kestanepazarı Mosque and the Salepçioğlu Mosque .
Synagogues
Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal came to Izmir with the decree of the Alhambra Edict in 1492 after the expulsion by the Catholic kings Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragón . They built numerous synagogues in the city in the Spanish-Sepharid style . The three-part Torah shrine was characteristic of this . The bima is centrally located between four columns and divides the synagogue into several areas. So the believers seated opposite each other saw each other during prayer, which should strengthen the cohesion.
In 2004 the World Monuments Fund added the “central synagogues” of Izmir to its list of endangered cultural assets. Izmir is the only city in the world where many synagogues in the Spanish style have been preserved together. There were 34 synagogues in the city, which formed a unique architectural complex.
Of the original 34 synagogues, eight have been preserved in Kemeraltı - most of them in Havra Sokağı - and ten more in the vicinity. Some are completely preserved, others as ruins. Some are being restored. The partially or fully preserved synagogues are:
- Ashkenazi synagogue (20th century, only outer walls preserved)
- Beit-Hillel-Synagoge (also Abraham-Palacci-Synagoge) (1840, restored, accessible)
- Bikur Holim Synagogue (1724, restored, accessible)
- Algazi Synagogue (1724, restored, accessible)
- Etz-Hayim-Synagoge (14th / 15th century, restoration planned, accessible)
- Hevra Synagogue (early 17th century, not restored, not accessible)
- Los Foresteros Synagogue (probably 17th century, only outer walls preserved)
- Portugal Synagogue (early 17th century, partially burned down)
- Señora Synagogue (17th century, restored, accessible)
- Shalom Synagogue (17th century, restored, accessible)
literature
- Sibel Ecemis Kilic: Preservation Plan Applications for the Historical City Center, Kemeralti (Izmir, Turkey) . In: European Planning Studies . No. 16, 2008, pp. 253-276
Web links
- Neriman Yörür, Ayşegül Altınörs Çırak: Strategic meaning of the historical city center while designating the future of a city: İzmir Kemeraltı Bazaar Case: A study with numerous actors , 43rd ISOCARP Congress of CENDOC / ESAN, 2007
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Ayşegül Altınörs Çırak, Neriman Yörür: Strategic meaning of the historical city center while designating the future of a city: İzmir Kemeraltı Bazaar Case. 43rd ISOCARP Congress of CENDOC / ESAN, 2007, accessed March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Miraç Tapan: Kemeraltı: İzmir's Grand Bazaar adapts to modern time , Daily Sabah, October 18, 2019
- ↑ Maureen Jackson: Cosmopolitan Smyrna: Illuminating or obscuring cultural histories? . In: Geographical Review . Vol. 102, No. 3 (July 2012), pp. 337-349
- ↑ a b Synagogues. (No longer available online.) Izmir Jewish Heritage, archived from the original on January 31, 2019 ; accessed on March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Central Izmir Synagogues , World Monuments Fund , accessed March 22, 2020
- ^ Esther Hecht: Conserve, Protect. In: Hadassah Magazine. June 12, 2015, accessed March 22, 2020 .
Coordinates: 38 ° 25 ′ 6.2 ″ N , 27 ° 7 ′ 56.6 ″ E