A Monumental Building That Cannot Reused: Karaman Hatuniye Madrasah

Abstract

One of the most significant efforts to transfer cultural heritage to the next generations is to reuse the historic buildings with appropriate functions. Be aware of historical buildings values reusing of these buildings is an approach that prolongs the lifespan of the cultural heritage. In contrast of this approach, some reuse suggestions or applications which cannot preserve the values of cultural heritage could damage authentic values of cultural heritage and in some cases cause irreversible damages. Hatuniye Madrasah (Melek Hatun, Nefise Hatun), which is located in the city center of Karaman and belongs to the period of Karamanoğulları Principality, has been the subject of reuse studies for many years. Selected functions have always been short-term and permanent functions cannot be determined. Because of different reasons this building could not be efficiently used. After each function, the historical building was kept unused and it was damaged in different ways. In this article, by giving collective information about the historical importance of the madrasah and interventions that it has undergone, some evaluations have been made regarding reusing possibilities of this building. In the context of Hatuniye Madrasah, some results were obtained about the difficulties encountered in reuse of historical buildings.