World Herıtage

World Heritage

 

Zeyrek, one of the residential areas in Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, is bordered by the Golden Horn to the north, Atatürk Boulevard to the east, the Bozdoğan (Valens) Aqueduct to the south, and the Fatih Mosque to the west. Distinguished by its wooden houses and hilly topography, Zeyrek contains not only examples of Ottoman domestic architecture built of timber but also Byzantine structures such as the Pantokrator Church and numerous cisterns scattered throughout the area. Many of these Byzantine remains and cisterns served as foundations for the construction of Ottoman wooden houses.

Located south of the Golden Horn, between Atatürk Boulevard and the Grand Bazaar and Inns District, Süleymaniye is home to many of Mimar Sinan’s works—most notably the Süleymaniye and Şehzade complexes—alongside residential buildings. Containing cisterns dating back to the Roman period, as well as religious monuments, educational and commercial buildings, mansions, and both wooden and masonry houses from various eras, Süleymaniye embodies the multilayered cultural heritage identity of Istanbul.

Süleymaniye and Zeyrek, with their predominantly wooden urban fabric shaped by distinctive topography and monumental structures, are two landmark areas defining the skyline of the Historic Peninsula. In the 1930s, masonry houses began to be constructed in Istanbul due to fire regulations and a shortage of timber. The layout and form of these buildings remained largely compatible with the existing wooden fabric up until the 1940s.

By the mid-1940s, Istanbul’s cityscape underwent rapid change. The characteristic wooden façades of historic streets disappeared, and few places remained that could evoke the appearance of the Ottoman city. The opening of Atatürk Boulevard in 1943 physically separated the Süleymaniye and Zeyrek neighborhoods, which had until then shared a common history.

In the 1950s, urbanization and migration from rural areas to large cities accelerated across Turkey, leading to increased building density and noticeable changes in both the architectural and social fabric. By the mid-1960s, some planners, architects, and archaeologists began to draw attention to the need to preserve traditional residential architecture. Between the 1960s and 1980s, numerous documentation and survey projects—including those conducted by the DAI Istanbul Department—were carried out. Süleymaniye was designated as a conservation area on April 9, 1977, and Zeyrek followed on December 15, 1979.

After Turkey became a party to the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1982, the historical areas of Istanbul were nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List. On December 6, 1985, four sites were inscribed: the Sultanahmet Urban Archaeological Site, the Süleymaniye Conservation Area, the Zeyrek Conservation Area, and the Istanbul Land Walls Conservation Area.