ÇEKÜL Full Team in Amasra

The ÇEKÜL (Foundation for the Protection and Promotion of Environmental and Cultural Values) delegation visited Amasra to attend the workshop titled “BARTIN GEOGRAPHY: RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIORITIES FROM HISTORY” and to examine the conservation work of the Bartın and Amasra Municipalities, both members of the Union of Historic Towns. Led by ÇEKÜL President Prof. Dr. Metin Sözen, a delegation of 20 people — comprising architects, restorers, designers, archaeologists, art historians, writers, archivists and communication specialists — came to Amasra to support conservation work and share their experience. The welcoming reception, organised by volunteers of the ÇEKÜL Amasra Representative Office, was attended by Bartın Governor İsa Küçük, District Governor Mehmet Yıldız and Mayor M. Emin Timur. The reception, which was also joined by Year 6 pupils of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Primary School — who had participated in the “Culture Ambassadors” training organised in March through ETİ–ÇEKÜL collaboration — and who joined the conversation with Metin Sözen, began with a town tour. The booklet by high school student Betül Sarı, who had written about memories of the 2011 Safranbolu trip made with a group of 55 people including 18 high school students — to see projects similar to the Little Hammam project and to observe examples of conservation work in Safranbolu, the Conservation Capital — was presented to the delegation. Metin Sözen decided to have the book printed so that Betül’s classmates could also read it.

The Town Tour began at the hammam — one of Amasra’s rare Ottoman monuments — to assess the “Little Hammam” project that the ÇEKÜL Amasra volunteers had been carrying out for a year and a half. After the project stages described by the ÇEKÜL Amasra Volunteers and the valuable historical traces the hammam carries were seen, the project was officially launched with signatures on the Hammam Door Knocker — shaped by Amasra’s “Çekici” (hammer) craftsmen.

LITTLE HAMMAM PROJECT “The Amasra Little Hammam will be put to use as a ‘Culture and Arts Exhibition Hall.’ Due to its central location within the city, its suitability for use as a ‘Culture and Arts Exhibition Hall’ with new functions to be added to its interior and exterior spaces, and its cultural and historical features to be preserved and passed on to the future, it will be designed as the first stop on Amasra’s tourism circuit and a space for the visual introduction of the city. It will also be turned into a multi-purpose hall that can be used as a ‘meeting room,’ aiming to bring the structure back into the life of the city. The aim is to rescue the hammam from the problems caused by the years and by neglect — thereby extending the building’s life — and by re-functioning its architectural and spatial features which have become unusable, to give this structure in the heart of the city the value it deserves. The hammam, which can be converted into an arts centre with its interior and exterior areas through restoration, will be both protected and given a modern appearance with a ‘Glass Roof.’ A steel-reinforced ‘Glass Roof,’ standing on supports that sit within the courtyard independently of the structure, will cover both the hammam and the courtyard — protecting the hammam from weather conditions while enabling the courtyard to serve as a multi-purpose hall.”

The town tour, conducted under the guidance of researcher-author Necdet Sakaoğlu — known for his books, articles, pioneering role in the establishment of the museum and many events, and his contributions to the promotion and documentation of Amasra — continued after the Little Ottoman Hammam with visits to the “Kafe Hamam,” the Roman Bath, Hisar Peçe, the Small Church, the Genoese Castle, Fatih Mosque, and the Kemere Bridge. At the concluding assessment in Sefa Park, a “Little Hammam Project Road Map” was drawn up. Hüseyin KOÇ shared information and a work schedule with expert guests from ÇEKÜL on the new function of the hammam as a cultural centre; Özden ATALAR and Murat TOPUZ on local history compilations and the participation of woodworking and stone craftsmen in the project; Betül YILDIRIM and Sahragül YILMAZ on the restoration and new structure of the hammam; Ferhat GÜNGÖR and Hakan TOPUZ on the step-by-step documentation of the work, its dissemination via the internet, and the production of a book and documentary film; Abdullah İSTEK on the participation of young people in the project; and Hüseyin ÇOBAN on project coordination. Prof. Dr. Metin Sözen and the expert guests from ÇEKÜL also shared their views and experience.