Construction techniques and materials of the Ottoman period baths in Seferihisar-Urla Region

Abstract

It is a well known fact that, in the past, together with the function and size,stylistic and architectural features of public as well as individual buildings were mostly determined by the conditions of physical and social environments where they took place. In historic buildings, in addition to stylistic ones, the achievements in the architectural features, such as scale, plan layout, mass and façade orders and spatial quality largely depend on the choice of suitable materials and construction techniques.This is also available for public baths belonging to the Ottoman Period, which is the subject of the study.For this purpose, some baths located in Seferihisar and Urla nearby surroundings of İzmir, from Ottoman Period were selected to determine their architectural layouts, characteristics of construction techniques and building materials, in addition to installations belonging to lighting, water supply, waste water disposal and heating systems. Despite their modest scales, they evidently reflect the general outlines of Ottoman bath architecture and the way of life of the period. In addition, they also offer information on the traditional construction techniques and material use identical to the region, but, being out of use today and negligence for years, these buildings are about loosing their characteristic values rendered them historic identity. Despite the absence of their inscription panels, the baths investigated were dated back to the 15th and 16th centuries with reference to their architectural features, material use and construction techniques.To be based on sound interventions for their preservation, the study has been concentrated on the documentation of the information about original building materials and construction techniques through field surveys implemented in the buildings themselves, and the evaluation of the collected information in the light of their architectural layout. Field surveys are consisted of architectural measurements carried out with conventional techniques, and the documentation through photographs and freehand sketches for details of architectural and technical importance to be converted into graphics using a version of AutoCAD software program.Owing to the rich local sources around, limestone was the prominent type of load bearing building material in all the walls of the baths studied. Brick, in this respect,although found to be of secondary importance was also abundantly used both structurally and decoratively in many parts of all baths either alone or together with stone in varying combinations of alternating bond techniques. Reused stones were also found to be used on the sides of the door and window openings, and at the corner of the walls and drums on the exterior. Within this structural layout lime mortar took its own part as bonding agent between stone and brick bounds. Timber beams at certain levels were used in the baths as another structural material surrounding the building horizontally to transmit the vertical loads of the upper parts evenly to the lower parts and to the foundations eventually.The exterior faces of the walls of the baths had no plaster. However, interior faces of some spaces, such as .soyunmalık. where there was no danger of water or water vapor attack the lime plaster was applied to the wall surfaces. Other spaces, such as ılıklık. and .sıcaklık. in a direct contact with water and vapor .horasan. plaster was widely applied for protective as well as decorative purpose. It was also applied at the exterior faces of the domes and vaults for the purpose of insulation against rain wash.Being important installation means, terracotta pipes were notably used in the baths. The vertical pipes belonging to heating system served as flue pipes and the horizontal ones for water supply. Another type of terracotta pipes took place in the vaults and domes oculi for lighting purpose.The first section of the thesis is devoted to the aim and definition of the problem, and methodology of the study which is composed of descriptions, terminology and literary sources utilized. The second section covers the introduction of historical background of Seferihisar-Urla region and the examined baths where they were located.In the third section, the baths were separately analyzed in detail with respect to the construction techniques and material use. The overall evaluation of the results obtained throughout the study is given in the fourth section. The last section includes the concluding remarks.