Description

Balat Store Building Conservation Projects

Balat District is located between Fener and Ayvansaray on the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul. The district, which extends upwards from the inner part of the sea walls on the shore of the Golden Horn, is a historical settlement where the Jewish people have been inhabited for centuries. Although the history of this settlement, which dates back to Byzantine history, goes back to the Byzantine period, it was one of the first important steps that Fatih Sultan Mehmet settled here about 100 Jewish families brought from Macedonia after the conquest. In the following years, Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain, Portugal and Italy were settled on the Golden Horn coast, in areas including Balat. In the 17th century, Jews living in the Eminönü region and affected by the great Ayazmakapı fire were also settled in Balat, thus the Jewish community in the region expanded. In this period, the people generally made their living by working on the piers on the Golden Horn coast. The connection between the beach and the district was established through the Balat gate, which does not exist today. At the entrance to the city wall from the gate, the area along the walls is one of the most active areas of Balat, and it was the area that included the historical Balat bazaar. This area still maintains its vitality today. Leblebiciler Street is one of the important areas reflecting the characteristics of the Balat bazaar, where the single and two-storey vaulted shops are located. The buildings on Lapçinciler Street-known as Lavanta Street today-, which is located just above and where shoe shops were located during the Ottoman period, have the same architectural form as the stores on Leblebiciler Street. Although there is no information about the exact construction date of the shops, it is understood from the documents dated 1886 regarding the reconstruction and renovation activities of the shops on the Leblebiciler street in the Ottoman archives that the shops were located in this period. The earliest detailed visual data on the structures are the Pervititch maps dated 1929. It is seen from the maps that the building was a masonry structure consisting of shops with two different entrances numbered 33 and 35 at that time. As so today the vaulted structure located in two different parcels. The survey, restitution and restoration projects were completed in 2022.