History ambassador at the Bosphorus of Istanbul:
The Keupruli Mansion

 The oldest wooden seaside mansion along the Bosphorous, The Keupruli Yali of Istanbul, Turkey is about to disappear because of the legal and financial hindrances withholding its renovation.
Light Forum/Finansal Forum                                                                                                                                                   
    Theoldest wooden seaside mansion along the Bosphorous,
The Keupruli Yali of Istanbul, Turkey is about to disappear because of the legal and financial hindrances withholding its renovation. Recently, a petition was prepared to save the building still standing in the Bosphorous. The signatures collected for the campaign organized by a group of academics led by the magazine Yapı, have reached fifteen hundreds.
            The yalı or the seaside mansion in question is not an ordinary one. The Keupruli Yali captures hearts with its original silhouette, rooms extending out to the sea with low windows that were designed as such to block off the reflection coming from the sea.
            This impressive silhouette is in fact the selamlık (public) quarters of the mansion. Major sections of the mansion have not reached down to our day. For instance, the private quarters, built as a separate building, was torn down in the last century. The interior of the section, the reception hall, once famous with its classic golden decorations and floral embellishments on the walls and the marble fountain in the middle is totally in ruins today.     
    Despite the restoration efforts carried out from time to time, considering its state of ruin in the present, it would not be wrong to look for a symbolic meaning in the mansion's resistance to time.
            The mansion belonging to the pious foundation of Amcazade Huseyin Keupruli Pasha is about to fall apart and disappear into history, as mainly legal and financial reasons prevent its renovation. The petition campaign carried out on the www.yapitr.com website for saving the mansion, comprises a call for the cooperation of all the authorities involved so that all these obstacles are surmounted. Experts say that the responsibility for the protection of such buildings rests not only with the owners of the property, but also with the state. The petition prepared for the campaign is sent to the government’s highest officials.
    Architect Hasan Kuruyazıcı, who initiated the launching of the campaign by his articles in the journal Yapı says, “The mansion now needs extensive restoration. As the original woodwork has decayed, the mansion has no time to wait for the elimination of the legal obstacles.”
            The restoration costs are too high for the legal owner the Keupruli Foundation to meet. Besides, the existence of multiple inheritors complicates the decision making process. Neither is it possible to buy the mansion from its owners as the original owner left it to his heirs on the condition that they will not sell it. Since the state has the right to repair only buildings it owns; the mansion would have to be expropriated for the state to get directly involved. Kuruyazıcı says other options are partial alteration of the development plan or funding by private sponsorships.
            Built in 1697, The Keupruli Yali Mansion symbolizes the beginnings of the seaside mansion culture. The reception hall of the mansion influenced the Tulip Period (1703-1730) buildings. The building is an example of the oldest civil architecture along the Bosphorous.  Modeled on birdcages, yali mansions are wooden and hence light and delicate. The windows are the most significant elements of the buildings. Wooden buildings enabled the owners to follow the latest fashions; but often houses did not stay in their original condition for long and were destroyed either by fire or for refashioning.
            The seaside mansions that changed over the centuries disappeared with the end of the First World War. The dire circumstances made it difficult for many yali owning families to keep the possession of their buildings. Rented off as storehouses for a while, most mansions eventually fell into the hands of demolitioners. Thus, most seaside mansions disappeared in the period between 1930s and the Second World War.
          Seaside mansions are precious buildings particular to the Bosphorus, and as part of Turkey’s cultural heritage. Keupruli Mansion comprises a touchstone among the mansions along the Bosphorous. Today there are only few yalis of historical or architectural significance left in the Bosphorous. Hence, saving the Keupruli Yali is a key to keeping Bosphorous alive.

What has it witnessed...

The Yali was commissioned by the former governor of Belgrade Hüseyin Paşa, who served as the Grand Vizier to Sultan Mustafa II between 1697-1702. Hüseyin Paşa was renown for his patronage of sciences and arts and  is known to have commissioned many architectural buildings. The Paşa whose winter residence is said to be at Eyüp down the Golden Horn, had then commissioned this yali in the fortress of Anatolia. 
    The yali witnessed many important events in history. One such event is the welcoming of he Austrian ambassador visiting the country in 1700 to have the conditions of the Carlowitz treaty ratified. The book prepared in 1915 by the Architect Salahaddin Bey and Rene Mesguish under the aegis of “Society of the Friends of the Bosphorous” narrates the details of the ostentatious ball held at the time.
            Apparently, the Austrian ambassador was brought along  to the yali along with the British and Dutch ambassadors on a galley rowed by three hundred slaves. Throughout the night, wrestlers, swordsmen, musicians, jugglers and acrobats put on shows to entertain the guests. With musicians said to have filled a separate galley of their own, there was even singing by a Persian woman singer. It was also noted that the delicious food dazzled the hungry onlookers awaiting the leftovers as much as the honorable guests.

           
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The Bosphorus showcases Istanbul today as in the earlier periods in history.

 

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This impressive silhouette is in fact the selamlık (public) quarters of the mansion

                     
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Built in 1697, The Keupruli Yali Mansion symbolizes the beginnings of the seaside mansion culture
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The interior of the section, the reception hall, once famous with its classic golden decorations and floral embellishments on the walls and the marble fountain in the middle is totally in ruins today.
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Seaside mansions are precious buildings particular to the Bosphorus, and as part of Turkey’s cultural heritage
                  According to another source, the yali witnessed another treaty. The grand vizier of the Tulip Period and the son-in-law of the Sultan İbrahim Paşa of Nevşehir, again hosted the Austrian ambassador with a great banquet in the aftermath of the Passarowitz treaty. According to a narrative, the songs of the 50-60 singers and the sounds of flutes, lutes, dulcimers and violins left sweet echoes in the flowery rooms of the yali. The vizier and the ambassador shot at the sea gulls and watched the javelin throwers in the garden.
       The Passarowitz treaty not only reminds us of a page from the history of the yali. Historians say that the Bosphorous which had always been a natural wonder with its valleys, streams and meadows found its civic identity in the aftermath of the Passarowitz treaty. Sultan Ahmed III(1703-1730) and his son-in-law İbrahim Paşa of Nevşehir, began to have palaces built on the shores of the Bosphorous, called the abâd, for which Keupruli mansion, Amcazade Hüseyin Pasha’s summer residence served as a prototype.  These sea side mansions and shore palaces were places visited either daily or for a short duration of time. Soon enough, having a summer residence by the Bosphorous turned into a fashion. Elite Ottomans raced with one another to have ostentatious summerhouses built close to the sultanic palaces. By the 19th century, particularistic architecture of Bosphorous was long established and the Bosphorous was lined with yalis and seaside palaces. 

Architect Hasan Kuruyazici:
No time left to wait

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Hasan Kuruyazıcı, who has studied the work that had so far been done to save the yali and who has contributed to the launching of the campaign by his articles in the journal Yapı  remarks that bureaucrats of the Ministry of Culture, specialists of the Treasury, members of the Board of Preservation, representatives of the related international organizations of which Turkey is a member and experts from universities should get together to resolve the issue. Kuruyazıcı says  “Yali which had been partially repaired before, now needs extensive restoration. As the original woodwork has decayed, the yali has no time to wait for the elimination of the legal obstacles obstructing restoration.” According to Kuruyazıcı, expropriation of the property, partial alteration of the development plan or funding by private sponsorships can be listed among the available options. He notes that the restoration costs are too high for the legal owner the Mülhak Amcazade Hüseyin Paşa Foundation to meet and that the existence of multiple inheritors complicates the decision making process.
            Kuruyazıcı recalls that the protocol signed between the Turkish Monument, Environment, Tourism Foundation and the Köprülü Foundation in 1976 has concluded with the defeat for the yali after a fourteen year long battle. 
            Neither is it possible to buy the yali from its owners as the original owner left it to his heirs on the condition that it would not be sold. Since the state has the right to repair only buildings it owns the possession of; the yali would have to be expropriated for the state to get directly involved.

Prof. Mete Tapan (Istanbul Technical University):
The state has to do something

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  “Our expectation from the campaign is the resolution of the legal aspects and to arrive at a mutual understanding. Some buildings in Turkey are especially worth such an attention.”
 The solutions so far proposed by the private sector or the owners have come to nothing. The law states that it is impossible to expropriate a foundation property. What matters here is for the state to realize the gist of the law 2863 and to believe in it.
    According to this law, once a building is approved as a historical site, it becomes public property. If the inheritors of such a building cannot secure its preservation, as tax-paying citizens of the Republic of Turkey, we have a right to demand the state to interfere. The state has to use the options available to it in this case. For example, the fund for the preservation of historical monuments can be used or the property owners can be pressured for preservation. The family can be given a repayable credit. We have the laws necessary for the preservation of this building, but they are not enforced.
    Another important point is the preservation of the building in keeping with its original function. As restoration is a costly undertaking, inevitably a profitable function would be envisaged but in the case of a touristic venture, this might lead to alterations in the interior of the building. If the state expropriates the building however, it can easily become a museum. The state has such a duty in the name of public interest and historical preservation.”                                           Translated by: Funda Soysal                             
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