Konya Alaeddin Hill II. Kılıçarslan Mansion and Excavation Site Architectural Project Competition

 

“The steppe likes to give itself a mirage flavor. No matter which road you enter Konya, this illusion welcomes you.” – Tanpınar

The process of a place becoming a ‘location’ involves passing through certain stages; it becomes enriched by the accumulation of layers through addition, fading, multiplying, eliminating, and accumulation. This memory composed of layers, although not entirely visible/known, continues to live in the ‘spirit of the place,’ free from time and space. The visibility of memory can be revived, evolved, repaired, or completely disappear.

Alaeddin Hill, which has undergone the process of becoming a place through very intense layers, has lost much of its memory visually in the last century, changed its identity, and continues to produce a different memory.

The memory that forms the spirit and identity of the place consists of various layers. Billions of years of natural history, thousands of years of human history, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and their relationship with space and social life form these layers. Everything that exists today and everything we do is largely a continuation of these layers.

The future of Alaeddin Hill is actually recorded in its memory of the present and the past. With our intervention, we want to largely dig up and repair this memory. We understand repair not merely as freezing the existing and filling in its ‘gaps,’ but as understanding its identity, making its layers visible, and building the future with this knowledge.

If we can understand the place well this way, this ‘lost’ memory guides and enriches the design. Another layered and complex but enriching element is the contrasts and thresholds in the place. Its position in the midst of the historic and new city, being a meeting point for various social groups, having developed the most peaceful rituals in the most chaotic environment of the city in the Middle Ages, the encounters enabled by the interaction area extending from Central Asia to the Mediterranean in history, the topography suddenly rising in the flat city, and many other contrasts/thresholds make working here difficult, but if we understand them well, we can also guide the future well.

Today, Alaeddin Hill, consisting of a few individual quality structures and archaeological sites within a large green park, has the potential to be a visible part of the spirit of the place with its cultural layers and archaeological features. However, there is also a multi-layered heritage recorded in documents, photos, and people’s memories that have physically disappeared. One of the main principles of our design approach was to create urban archaeological landscape areas by descending to the original levels of the structures, reviving the traces that have disappeared by making them functional, or reminding them through other means. We envisioned a Konya that lives with its archaeology, not a city that distances itself from archaeology, alienates it, and makes it an untouchable scientific or touristic image.

Another important issue for the positive evolution of the spirit of the place is people. A future construction where participating people feel they belong to the ‘place,’ produce the future with the knowledge of the place, and design the future together will also form the social setup of the project.

Urban Approach
Looking at the Hill from Near/Far

Alaeddin Hill, located at the intersection of transportation, history, and the most important focal points in Konya, is almost a zero point as it is the place where the city was founded. Everything about the city started at this point, and today this hill is still capable of bringing the city together.

Threshold Between Centers

Alaeddin Hill is at the intersection of the old and new centers of the city. Since the city has shaped around this hill, it has both witnessed the most important changes since the first day and taken its share from these changes. The hill, connecting the historical trade center, Mevlana Museum, Government House to the new city center expanding to the west, has the oldest known historical artifacts of Konya city. Despite its past, the hill, starting from Victory Square and connecting the old city to the new center, cannot fully be a part of the center. The vehicle density, the insufficient knowledge of its history, and its inability to be used at all hours of the day make Alaeddin Boulevard and its outer peripheries more important and intense than the hill. Important celebrations and ceremonies take place on the boulevard and in Kılıçarslan Square, and apart from its proximity to road-side cafes, the hill cannot establish much connection with its surroundings and remains as an inbetween area.

City Focal Points

Alaeddin Hill, the first place where Konya gained its urban identity, is home to the most important historical and contemporary photos known in the collective memory, either belonging to the hill or taken from it. This means that the most important focal points of the city are located in the immediate vicinity of the hill. Although Kılıçarslan Square is not actively used outside of important days and events, a change is foreseen with the planned Payitaht Museum and the surrounding open space. The square should have a more defining design approach and a more direct communication with Alaeddin Hill. The Old Fair, now Cultural Park Karatay Madrasa, is a place where older Konya residents spent their childhood. The Ince Minaret Madrasa, with its world-renowned crown gate, is among the most important works of the Seljuk period. Currently, the most important tourist and cultural area of the city is the Mevlana Museum and its surroundings. Kayalı Park and Government Square on Mevlana Street, combined with Şems Tomb across the street, bring together different points and architectural periods in history. We see that the historical trade center in Bedesten is still alive and connected with the Mevlana Museum and hotels.

Transportation and Connections

In the prepared zoning plans, Alaeddin Hill, located within the ring formed by the surrounding roads, can exist more like a junction than a public area. Studies have shown that the hill is not an area where people spend a long time in their daily lives, but rather a meeting point to go to Victory Square, the new city center, and the Mevlana Mosque. The answer to why the Mevlana Museum, the first place every tourist goes, is important to the people of Konya is its ‘historical significance’ and ‘open spaces.’ However, if the hill, which is historically the most important point of Konya, can be connected to other parts of the city with a more balanced transportation plan, it will become a main attraction where people really spend time. Therefore, the section of Alaeddin Boulevard around the hill needs to be reconsidered along with its use and material choices. If vehicle use is restricted around the hill and Mevlana Street is transitioned to heavy pedestrian use, it can reach the visibility and use it deserves with the proposed design.

Pedestrian Access

The most important indicator of being a meeting point of the city is the pedestrian density during the day. Therefore, strengthening pedestrian-oriented (and barrier-free) access can ensure that every use proposed on the hill and Alaeddin Hill Archaeological Park is integrated with the city. Four main connection points were identified where pedestrian access is easiest and least divided by vehicles. The connection created around Victory Park aimed to facilitate access for young people and those coming from the new city center. The existing use of Mevlana Street can be restricted to pedestrians and public transportation, thereby strengthening its connection to the hill. It is also suggested to strengthen pedestrian access between Alaeddin Hill Archaeological Park and Kılıçarslan Square in the north and to build a Tourist Information Center in the square for all of Konya to use. By adding Cultural Park to this connection, the existing pedestrian use is aimed to feed the hill.

Additionally, increasing the defined bicycle paths in the city and the number of bicycle parking points is also proposed to direct the existing intense bicycle use in Konya to the center. The wide vehicle roads around the hill are the most limiting factor for pedestrian access and the sense of public space. Therefore, the first step to connecting the hill to the city is to ensure pedestrian access. To achieve this, the section of Alaeddin Boulevard was updated. It is also proposed that Mevlana Street be closed to private vehicle access, remaining open only to pedestrians and public transportation. Vehicles on Alaeddin Boulevard were reduced to two lanes, and pedestrian-prioritized pavement was highlighted in crossing areas. Proposed green axes and intense bicycle paths are also among the decisions taken to increase pedestrian access. The tourist and hotel traffic concentrated around the Mevlana Museum and Bedesten, and the focal point effect of Kayalı Park and Government Square, are intended to be directed towards Alaeddin Hill. Thus, the historical center of the city will work as a whole, and the hill will reach the desired intensity of use in the city center. To achieve this, interventions should also be planned outside the historical center.

Historical Layers
Traces of the Hill

Before starting the design, we tried to understand all the layers of the hill. According to our research, we visualized the traces of the hill in five time intervals, including the present. The wall and tower line was defined with the findings obtained from recent archaeological excavation works and research. Structures that were confirmed to exist during that period through excavation works and/or accessed findings and documents were expressed in salmon color. Structures mentioned in sources but for which much data could not be accessed and drawn as a result of analogy studies were expressed in cream color. Undoubtedly, this search for memory should be deepened with more detailed research, scientific studies, and oral history studies during the implementation phase.

Seljuk Period (1116-1248)

During the Seljuk Period (1116-1248) on Alaeddin Hill, there were the inner castle walls and towers, Alaeddin Mosque, Eflatun Mosque, Lala Ruzbe Madrasa, and houses within the inner castle walls. The walls were surrounded by a moat. According to sources, the main entrance gate was on the northern axis and was reached via a bridge.

Karamanids (1248-1467)

The structures of the Karamanid Period (1248-1467) on Alaeddin Hill were largely inside the inner castle walls. In addition to the structures from the Seljuk period, there was a bathhouse within the walls and a complex including Eflatun and Lala Ruzbe Mosques, lodges, and madrasas just outside the walls. The main entrance gate of the castle was to the north of Alaeddin Mosque, and just outside the walls, there was a palace and a wall extending from this palace in the east-west direction. The only gate of the inner castle was reached via a bridge.

Ottoman Period (1467-1922)

The Ottoman period (1467-1922) is when we have the most data on the spatial use of Alaeddin Hill. During this period, the inner castle was a settlement area, and the walls surrounding the inner castle and the traces of the inner walls were clear. Alaeddin Mosque and the medrese to its west were present. In addition to the two bathhouses on the hill, there were fountains on the walls of Alaeddin Mosque and the inner castle walls. The inner castle was also used as a settlement area. The area defined as Arkeoloji Park today was a large cemetery in the west of the hill. As it is today, the topography of the hill was almost the same during this period.

Republican Period (1922-2000)

The Republican Period (1922-2000) is when most of the structures on Alaeddin Hill were largely removed, and the first traces of today’s large green park were seen. Only the Eflatun and Lala Ruzbe lodges, which were located outside the inner castle, were still standing. Alaeddin Mosque and the medrese, which have existed since the Seljuk period, continued to stand. The Arkeoloji Park area was largely preserved as a cemetery, while the area within the walls was transformed into a settlement area. In the 1950s, with the construction of the new government house and courthouse in the southeast, the structure of the inner castle was largely transformed. Only the southern walls and three of the towers survived.

Present (2000+)

Today, the hill largely serves as a park area, and the traces of many historical layers have been removed. However, the remaining structure is the Alaeddin Mosque, which has been standing since the Seljuk period. The remains of a madrasa and bathhouse to the west of the mosque are also present. The southern walls and three towers of the inner castle can be seen. The traces of the walls and structures from various periods are largely lost, but archaeological excavation works have started again, and some of these traces are being brought to light. The Arkeoloji Park area has been preserved as a cemetery, and the topography of the hill remains largely unchanged.