The Seddülbahir Fortress is located at the southern entrance to the Dardanelles on the European shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Initially built in the mid-17th century by Hatice Turhan Sultan, the mother of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV, Seddülbahir, or “the Wall of the Sea,” protected the strategic waterway that connected the Aegean Sea to Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire’s capital. Despite severe coastal erosion and numerous earthquakes, the fortress, and its adjacent village survived into the early 20th century relatively intact. Both were severely bombarded by the Allied Forces in WWI, during the Gallipoli campaign. While many of the masonry towers and walls, and most of its interior structures were severely damaged, the fortress continued to be used as a Turkish military outpost until 1997 when the documentation, restoration, and re-use process of Seddülbahir began.
A multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, architectural historians, archivists, oral historians, restoration specialists, museologists, and landscape designers conducted extensive archival, archeological, conservation, restoration, and geodesic research, in collaboration with universities and different government ministries, working for 25 years to open Seddülbahir Fortress to the public on March 18, 2023.
Today the Gallipoli peninsula is a national park and a peaceful landscape of manicured cemeteries and pristine commemorative monuments to honor the WWI dead from many countries. There is little left on the peninsula that recalls the violent destruction of the battles fought there. A guiding concept in the restoration process at the Seddülbahir Fortress was to preserve the memory of the destruction of WWI and create a space to reflect on peace. Several elements of the fortress, such as the West and South Towers, are preserved as ruins and serve as “lieux de mémoire” of the toll that war has on buildings and their landscapes.
ARCHITECTS:
Restoration Project Author: Arzu Özsavaşcı (Architect, M. Arch, AOMTD)
Re-Use Project Author: Y. Burak Dolu (Architect, M. Arch, KOOP Architects)
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD:
Dr. Gülsün Tanyeli (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Architecture, Department Of Restoration), Prof. Dr. Lucienne Thys-Şenocak (Koç University Department Of Archeology And Art History), Prof. Dr. Rahmi Nurhan Çelik (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Civil Engineering Department Of Geomatics Engineering), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haluk Sesigür (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Architecture, Department Of Structural Statics), Arzu Özsavaşcı (Architect, M. Arch, AOMTD)
LOCATION:
Seddülbahir, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Turkey
PROJECT DATES:
1997-2004 Research and Documentation Project (Koç University - Istanbul Technical University)
2004-2009 Survey, Restitution and Conservation Projects (Koç University - Istanbul Technical University)
2015-2023 Restoration Construction, Restoration and Re-Use Projects (ÇATAB)
CATEGORY:
Museums
CLIENT:
2004-2009 Ministry of Environment and Forestry - Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (Çevre ve Orman Bakanlığı - Doğa Koruma ve Milli Parklar Müdürlüğü)
2015-2023 Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site (ÇATAB/Çanakkale Savaşları Gelibolu Tarihi Alan Başkanlığı)
LAND OWNERSHIP:
General Directorate for Foundations (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü)
SURVEY, RESTITUTION, RESTORATION PROJECT TEAM:
Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Rahmi Nurhan Çelik, Gülsün, Feridun Çılı, Haluk Sesigür, Arzu Özsavaşcı, Deniz Özkan, Umut Almaç, Selin Gener, İrem Nardereli, Nurdan Kuban, Günnur Çalışkan, Murat Alaboz, Günder Varinlioğlu, Arzu Öztürk, Carolyn Aslan, Bensen Ünlüoğlu, Gülay Karcı, Günşıl Kılıç, Kemal Sümer, Senem Uyanık, Tevfik Özlüdemir, Caner Güney, Banu Yüksel, Göksel Akkoca, Yelda Ademoğlu, Mehmet Erim, Bora Sayın, Serdar Erol, Bihter Özöner, Dursun Z. Şeker, Davut Erkan, Hasan Karataş, Yeşim Anadol, Işıl Cerem Cenker, Ahmet Ersen, Marisa Laurenzi Tabasso
RE-USE PROJECT TEAM:
Y. Burak Dolu, Alexandra Koumpouli, Arzu Özsavaşçı, Alper Karasu, Barancan Dağıstan, Birsen Parlar Erkan, Dilara Öztürk, Elif Tuğba Gürkan, Enes Pilavcı, Ezgi Bekarslan, Gamze Yeşildağ, Hazal Alıcıgüzel, Işıl Karabulut, Koray Bayraktutan, Nurseray Sarıçayır, Saleh Malek, Seçkin Maden, Selin Şentürk
RE-USE COMPETITION PROJECT:
KOOP Architects, Museum Exhibition Works
LANDSCAPE PROJECT:
caps.office, Mehmet Cemil Aktaş, Pınar Kesim Aktaş, Şeyma Kahraman, Gülşen Ayla Olgun
LIGHTING DESIGN:
Lightapp, Ali Ülgen, Zeycan Abay
EXHIBITION & INTERIOR DESIGN:
Koop Architects, Koruma Akademisi, Rabia Şengün, Aykun Haddeler, Nihan Demiral, Sezen Cezan, Tuğba Ağcabay, Betül Tuğçe İzgi, Kübra Keskin, Aykun Haddeler, Sezen Cezan, Nihan Demiral, Hakan Öğütçü, Yasin Tosun, Y. Burak Dolu, Elif Tuğba Gürkan, Gamze Yeşildağ, Koray Bayraktutan
STRUCTURAL PROJECT:
Arke Engineering & Architecture, Murat Alaboz
MECHANICAL PROJECT:
KDP Engineering, Mahmut Kaya, MNM Can Engineering, Melih Sayı
ELECTRICAL PROJECT:
KDP Engineering, Selçuk Özdoğan, Nira Architecture Engineering, Handan Gürler Akçay
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT:
Süheyla Kuru
MODEL:
Küçük Atölye, Barış Taş
PHOTOGRAPH:
Egemen Karakaya, KOOP Architects, ABMA Construction Restoration
MAIN CONTRACTOR:
ABMA Construction Restoration
SUB-CONTRACTORS:
ASMAZ Wood Frame Structures, Şanlıbayrak Steel, Met Construction, Fibula Architecture, Karınca Advertising, Temay Landscape, ERD Marine, Sıraç Electrics, EF Air Conditioning, Atempo
DIRECTORATE OF GALLIPOLI HISTORIC SITE TEAM:
Gökhan Gümüşdağ (Restoration Group Leader, Art Historian), Aslıhan Kervan (Historian), Aydın Karabıyık (Electrical Engineer), Aykan Özel (Restorator), Emin Murat Özdemir (Restorator), Marziye Eşki (Topographical Engineer), Mehmet Akif Erdoğan (Topographical Engineer), Mert Çatalbaş (Archaeologist), Mustafa Kafkas Dereli (Architect), Özge Alpaydın (Mechanical Engineer), Özlem Coşkun (Landscape Architect), Serpil Savaş (Art Historian), Tolga Kaan Çakmak (Civil Engineer), Ümit Yılmaz (Construction Technician)
SITE MANAGERS:
Rabia Şengün, Merve Çankaya, Özge Mutlu, Vezir Hezer
CONSTRUCTION SITE TEAM (ABMA RESTORATION):
Maksut Refik Dönmezler, Abdülmenaf Yakiş, Ahmet Ağar, Bekir Can İzmir, Burhan Kutucu, Ebru Koçak, Enes Demirel, Erdal Aslan, Erdal Civelek, Ergin Or, Erol Bulut, Erol Usman, Esra Tunçer, Fadim Koçak, Gizemnur Bağ, Hakan Demirarslan, Hakan Öğütçü, M. Emin Alpaydın, Mehmet Fatih Okan, Merve Çankaya, Nazım Soylu, Ömer Can Kara, Özge Mutlu, Rabia Şengün, Seda Yalçınkaya, Serkan Eloğlu, Vezir Hezer, Yasin Tosun, Zeki Şahbaz, Zuhal Güler
CONSULTANTS:
Ahmet Tanyolaç (Architect), Ali Osman Avşar (Sculptor), Bodrum Underwater Archeology Museum, Dokuz Eylül University Institute Of Marine Sciences And Technology, Dr. Serkan Angı (Geological Engineer, Istanbul Technical University Geological Engineering Department), Murat Alaboz (Civil Engineer, M.Sc, Restoration Specialist, Arke Engineering), Ömer Arslan (Historian), Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özger (Civil Engineer, Istanbul Technical University Civil Engineering Department, Hydraulics Division), Prof. Dr. Necati Ağıralioğlu (Civil Engineer, Istanbul Technical University Civil Engineering Department, Hydraulics Division), Prof. Dr. Ünal Akkemik (Forest Engineer, Iuc Faculty Of Forestry)
