Kars, Turkey
Ottoman Heritage in Eastern Turkey
The renovated Namik Kemal Community Center.
GHF led the first major conservation program in Kars and North-eastern Anatolia by a private international agency after decades of internal strife and border conflicts. The project implemented the conservation, restoration, cleaning and revitalization of the Kars Historic District. Ottoman-era houses situated at the base of the citadel mound and in varying states of neglect and disrepair were renovated or stabilized to arrest further deterioration and inappropriate concrete buildings were removed as part of the historic district revitalization and improvement. In addition, two Turkish bath houses, Mazlumağa Hamamı and Topcuoğlu Hamamı, were cleaned and their domed roofs were repaired. Great effort was also put in to restoring Namik Kemal Evi, the one-time home of famed Turkish poet Namik Kemal, for use as a community center.
