Reconstructing the 1882 Historical Urban Landscape of Kayseri Based on a Historical Map Translation
This research aims to remap Jean S. Eutychides’ 1882 nontopographic map of the city of Kayseri using 19th- and 20th-century maps and visual and written sources in order to reveal undiscovered, unrecognized, or even unknown terrain, patterns, and major buildings, as well as historical urban landscape elements, from a certain period of history. The study employs data reading for historical geography, urban spatial analysis, and visualization applications. The study uses the descriptive, analytical, and explanatory approaches of the British school of morphology, as well as the digital historical map translation method based on historical maps. The research adheres to a data reading method that supports Conzen’s morphogenetic spatial analysis method. The study carries out a spatial analysis of the characteristic features of the city by combining qualitative and quantitative data through historical, sociological, and human geographic approaches using the software programs Netcad and SketchUp. As a result of the research, the study reproduces the 1882 map of the city of Kayseri to depict the land relief, land use, major buildings, building groups, and landscape elements. The results show the city of Kayseri to be beyond the spatial organization and development trends of other Anatolian cities.
Tarihi Harita Tercümesine Dayalı Olarak Kayseri'nin 1882 Yılı Kentsel Manzarasının Yeniden Üretilmesi
Bu araştırmada amaç 19.-20. yüzyıl harita, görsel ve yazılı kaynaklarını kullanarak üzerinde topoğrafik bilgileri bulunmayan Jean S. Eutychides’in 1882 yılı Kayseri şehri haritasının yeniden haritalandırılması ve tarihin belli bir zaman kesitindeki keşfedilmemiş veya fark edilmemiş ve hatta mevcut yerde bilinmeyen arazi, örüntüler ile başlıca binaları, tarihi kentsel peyzaj unsurlarını açığa çıkarmaktır. Bu çalışmada tarihsel coğrafya, kentsel mekânsal analiz ve görselleştirme uygulamaları açısından veri okuma biçimi kullanılmıştır. Morfolojik ekollerden İngiliz ekolü betimleyici, analitik ve açıklayıcı yaklaşımı ile tarihi haritalara dayalı olarak dijital tarihi harita tercüme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada Conzen’in morfogenetik mekânsal analiz yöntemini destekleyen bir veri okuma biçimi izlenmiş ve tarihsel, sosyolojik ve beşeri coğrafya yaklaşımı üzerinden nitel ve nicel verilerin kombinasyonu ile şehrin karakteristik niteliklerinin mekânsal analizi Netcad ve SketcUp yazılımları ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, 1882 yılı Kayseri şehri haritası yeniden üretilmiş ve böylece arazi rölyefi, arazi kullanımı, başlıca binalar, yapı grupları ve peyzaj unsurları ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Buna göre, Kayseri şehrinin, Anadolu kentlerinin mekânsal kuruluş ve gelişme eğilimlerinin dışında olduğu belirlenmiştir.
Maps visually represent a landscape and are directly linked to urbanism. The geographical information that can be obtained from historical maps includes not only the map-making techniques of the period but also information about cities, settlements, buildings, and open green areas such as cemeteries, as well as past names of places that have disappeared. For an accurate assessment, however, the relief of the terrain must be correlated with the plan categories. Unfortunately, historical maps often do not include elevation curves showing the characteristics of the terrain. This research aims to remap Jean S. Eutychides’ 1882 nontopographic map of the city of Kayseri using 19th and 20th-century maps alongside visual and written sources. The research aims to reveal undiscovered or unrecognized terrains, patterns, and major buildings during a specific period of history. The analysis prioritizes the city’s main morphological elements and identification of its characteristic features in 1882, with the focus being on creating a dataset for future studies on morphological changes. The sub-objectives of the research are to reread Jean S. Eutychides’ 19th-century map of the city of Kayseri using Conzen’s method of morphogenetic spatial analysis and to propose a hypothetical urban visualization for 1882 as presented by a map that has been assembled through the interactive evaluation of data layers. The research focuses on historical geography, urban spatial analysis, and visualization applications by adopting the descriptive, analytical, and explanatory approach of Conzen, a representative of the British school of morphology, and the digital historical map translation method based on historical maps. The study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative data through a historical, sociological, and human geography approach to analyze the character of the city. As the basic materials of the research, the visual data have been obtained from the maps of 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as from Kayseri’s first zoning plan. The research also carries out a document analysis in order to combine the landscape elements that have been obtained from various primary sources. The database was created by extracting relevant data from each material using the program Netcad, while the historic urban landscape was visualized using the software program SketchUp.
This research has remapped and reconstructed the 1882 map of Kayseri by overlaying topographical and toponymical information, thus revealing land relief, land use, landmarks, building groups, and landscape elements often overlooked in architecture and history books. In this way, the study has been able to recall the spatial traces of the historical urban landscape elements of the past, especially the streams, cemeteries, gardens, and important buildings that in particular have been lost to the 21st century. When comparing the 1882 hypothetical view of the city center with Albert Gabriel’s 1929 survey “Restitution of Kayseri Castle”, the main differences are seen to lie in the castle interior, the southern walls of the inner castle, the buildings north of the inner castle, and the Grand Bazaar of Kayseri. At the same time, the historical urban landscape of the city of Kayseri, which consisted of monumental buildings and abundant open green spaces, can be said to have defined a safe and comfortable pedestrian environment.
By correlating the relief of the terrain with the plan categories, the city of Kayseri was found to have been beyond other Anatolian cities’ spatial organization and development trends. The undefined blue color represented on Eutychides’ map has been identified as marshes, reeds, meadows, and urban agricultural areas (i.e., fruit and vegetable gardens) that had been formed due to the groundwater level within the city. The research results show that working with the slope of the terrain and associating the plan categories with the relief map of the land have been useful for understanding the geographical features of the landscape (i.e., the urban landscape), and thus the space as well. The results of this study indicate the translation of historical maps for the mapping of a historical urban landscape of the 19th century to be a viable method for historical research on urban planning. The findings also provide a valuable database for future research aimed at using spatial analysis techniques to reveal urban change. In this way, a database of rapidly changing and transforming cities, urban spaces, and monuments can be created, as well as the value of heritage be determined. The positive and negative aspects of change can also be analyzed, thus providing an advantage for guiding future planning efforts and restoring the spirit of lost places. On the other hand, determining the landscape, topography, and historical features of a settlement can significantly impact future urban development decisions.
