The City of Stones and Dreams Diyarbakir
Hasan Ozgen,
Hakan Aytekin
Diyarbakir Municipal Administration
People writing about a city, whoever they happen to be, always have difficulty deciding where to start. Because a city is so many things. More specifically, a city is more than you want to say about it. And if you are child of that city, a local, you can’t really speak in the singular, other voices add themselves to yours. Because there are so many people; where one leaves something out, another wants to fill in. In the end, you see that every city is represented by a chorus of voices. In this sense, cities have their own voices, their cries, their melodies.
Cities are a multiplicity of times as well. They show you other cultures and ...
Contents
Diyarbakir: Union of Stones and Dreams / 6-9
Osman Baydemir / 10-11
Once Upon a Time... The Tigris / 13-18
Diyarbakır, Gateway to Mesopotamia / 19-26
Weaving History in Stone / 27-32
The Walls: Guardians of the Dreams / 33-35
İçkale: Administrative Center / 36-41
Dışkale: / 42-47
The Towers: / 48-53
Signatures in Stone / 54-59
Four Directions; Four Gates / 60-65
Architects and Engineers: / 66-70
Diyarbakir Within The Walls / 71-75
Stone Houses of Faith: Churches / 76-83
Stone Houses of Faith: Mosques / 84-91
Other Public Buildings / 92-99
Streets and Houses / 100-108
Bridges: Spanning Two Worlds / 109-112
A New Diyarbakir / 113-128
DİYARBAKIR:
The Union of Stones and Dreams
Once upon a time, at the summit of Mt. Karacadag, there lived a dragon as large as mountain. The flames that shot from the dragon’s mouth tormented and charred the lands around it. One day, there was heard the clanking of a chain. The chain descended into the mountain, caught the dragon around its neck, and pulled it up into the heavens. Thus the people were delivered from the fire-breathing dragon. Legend says that the stones of Karacadag were blackened, scorched by the flames from the dragon’s mouth.
Diyabakir is a city' of stones. Diyarbakir is a city' of dreams. Diyarbakir is a place where stones and dreams come together.
Diyarbakir is the gift of the lava that shot from the craters of volcanoes like Mt. Karacadag, hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The most important of Diyarbakir’s stones is basalt. Flowing from the deep beneath the earth, the lava approaches the surface and turns to basalt. Depending on whether it forms underground or on the surface, and cools slowly or quickly, it is either full of gas bubbles or smooth, without bubbles. In Diyarbakir, the smooth stone is called “male” stone, and the bubbly one, “female.” The “female” stone is easy' to work; but the extremely hard “male” stone is very difficult. It is these two stones that give soul, and add spirit to the architecture of Diyarbakir.
The “male stone” is less common; it is used more for elements that sustain a load,
such as doorframes, lintels, columns, capitals, pools, windows and doors. It supports the arches, and gives voice to inscriptions. The skill of the artisans make one forget its hardness. As hard as it may' be to work, the lasting character of its beauty' makes it indispensible in the buildings of Diyarbakir.
The “female" stone much more abundant than the “male.” But this abundance doesn’t mean that it’s considered mediocre. It and the “male” stone are always found side-by-side. They complete each other, just as man and woman compliment each other in life.
What saves the stone from mediocrity, is the imagination of the artisan and the tools of his trade. Each blow to the stone by these tools, brings the artisan a little closer to his dream.
Diyarbakir is where stones and dreams find common ground. The union of stones and dreams.
Osman Baydemir
Mayor of Diyarbakir
People writing about a city, whoever they happen to be, always have difficulty deciding where to start. Because a city is so many things. More specifically, a city is more than you want to say about it. And if you are child of that city, a local, you can’t really speak in the singular, other voices add themselves to yours. Because there are so many people; where one leaves something out, another wants to fill in. In the end, you see that every city is represented by a chorus of voices. In this sense, cities have their own voices, their cries, their melodies.
Cities are a multiplicity of times as well. They show you other cultures and times embracing the present; they carry them within themselves. A city is what makes a square, a street, a building or a memorial part of you; and conversely, it is what makes you part of a place. Because of this, it is cities, more than the plains, the steppes, that should give us a sense of infinity.
Another truism is that time in cities does not only move towards the past It is also our cities that are the source of the dreams that carry us forward, our knowledge, our desires, and our motivating force. As the source of inspiration that builds the future, improves life, and assures health and welfare, cities cast a spell on us. This is a long journey, uniting the past with the present and carrying on towards the future.
I’ve also come from just such a journey; from Diyarbakir, from the city of “Stones and Dreams.”
A city that has etched the secrets of twenty-six different civilizations into the stones of its walls. An ancient city where differing religions, languages, and cultures lived together. Now the walls of Diyarbakir are sharing their secrets. The black basalt stones in her narrow winding streets take the visitor on an unparallelled journey through time, first to the past and then to the future.
Diyarbakir is a city that shares its sorrows with the Tigris River, source of abundance as well as fear for thousands of years. A heirloom of humanity, sheltering the deep secrets of Mesopotamia together with modem history in one place. Our duty and goal is to introduce the cultural treasure created by Diyarbakir’s stones and dreams, share its problems, and find ways toward solutions. I assume this duty with the attitude of taking responsibility for a world heritage. But we make no secret of the fact that we need everyone’s help and solidarity.
Not only as one responsible for the local administration of a city, but at the same time, as a fellow citizen building dreams in the stone walls, the stone streets, and the stone houses, my duty is to achieve this cooperation. When I have managed to turn Diyarbakir into a common heritage site for all mankind, then I’ll feel as if I’ve accomplished some part of my duty.
For this reason, I believe that this book should not be seen only as an introduction to our city. Certainly it does provide the chance to know Diyarbakir a little better, to get a better sense of the place. But it should also be seen as a “participatory” book. Diyarbakir calls to the modem humanist world, created by humanity’s common goals, and to you:
“Come, see me, experience me, to bind my wounds, and walk with me towards the future!” If it is not such a call, then what could be the meaning of the values we have tried to gather together in the name of “world heritage,” and the approaches to “humanity’s common culture?
With her stones and dreams and all of her riches, her historical and cultural treasures, and her fine and hospitable people, Diyarbakir is ready to share herself with you. The richness of Turkey and the depth of Diyarbakir await you.
We live in an age when mankind, turning away from his mistakes, is trying to work together towards an abidingsecurity. We should not look at this age as simply one of economic and political fulfillment. Trust on a universal scale, the ground for justice and cooperation, will not be achieved only by economic and political cooperation; but by appreciating the value of our cultural and historical wealth, by protecting it and sharing it.
So what makes Diyarbakir important is not the mere fact of her multicultural, multifaith, multilayered historical heritage; but rather her growing awareness that this wealth constitutes a world heritage.
Diyarbakir is a source of pride for us, but I believe that the consciousness and actions that will turn this wealth into a “world heritage” are the responsibility of us all. That is our dream.
Come, let us give voice to this call. Together, let us make this common dream a reality. And then let us live together with the pride of having achieved this dream.
.....
Hasan Ozgen
Hakan Aytekin
The City of Stones and Dreams Diyarbakir
Diyarbakir Municipal Administration
Diyarbakir Municipal Administration
The City of Stones and Dreams Diyarbakir
Written by: Hasan Ozgen, Hakan Aytekin
Translated by: Bob Beer
Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipal Adminstration
Culture and Arts Publications, 2004
Tel: (+90) 412 229 48 80
Web: www.diyarbakir-bld.gov.tr
Produced by: Çekul Foundation For The Protection
& Promotion of the Environmental & Cultural Heritage
Web: www.cekulvakfi.org.tr
Edited by: Alp Ozgen
Designed by: Mustafa Ozturkoglu
Photography: Ali Ihtiyar
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