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Two Stories on a side: Life in Süleymaniye and Zeyrek World Heritage Sites

 

Prepared in 2024 through the collaboration of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM/İBB) and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), this exhibition presents a multilayered narrative focusing not only on the past but also on the present of Süleymaniye and Zeyrek—two of Istanbul’s World Heritage Sites. By bringing together nearly half a century of documentation and research, it aims to reveal the “living heritage” quality of these areas. The exhibition is grounded in the idea that heritage is not a static value to be merely preserved, but a dynamic process continually re-created through collective memory, everyday life, and spatial transformation.

The exhibition particularly seeks to highlight the pioneering scholarly work conducted during the period leading up to the sites’ inscription as World Heritage. Within this scope, the research and fieldwork of Nezih Eldem, Zeynep Ahunbay, Wolfgang Müller-Wiener, Johannes Cramer, Heike Offen-Eren, and Nuran Zeren Gülersoy are presented as key references reflecting the knowledge production processes of their time. A significant contribution to the DAI’s documentation work featured in the exhibition came from Martin Bachmann, who passed away in 2016. Drawing from the archives of İBB, DAI, SALT, and the personal collection of Kevork Özkaragöz, the exhibition offers a multidimensional perspective on the documentation history of these areas.

The shared identity of Süleymaniye and Zeyrek, shaped around their timber-based residential fabric, presents a cohesive urban character despite the transformations it has undergone over time. As this integrity is revisited through materials spanning from early field studies of 1977–81 to the present day, the questions “What has changed, what has been preserved, and what has been learned?” form the exhibition’s central thread. Positioned at the intersection of architecture, archaeology, planning, and sociology, the exhibition content takes a human-centered approach that intertwines streets, buildings, and everyday practices.

By drawing nourishment from the knowledge of the past, the exhibition reminds us that it is possible to build more conscious, balanced, and sustainable life scenarios for the future. Aiming to transform the visitor into a thinking and connecting participant rather than a passive observer, its narrative emphasizes that the preservation of heritage is possible only through understanding, feeling, and embracing it.