Evaluation of Structural Elements in the Conservation of Historical Buildings on Mardin Architectural Heritage

Abstract

Historical buildings are the basic elements that form the cultural and architectural identity of a society. Carrying the traces of the past, these buildings not only offer an aesthetic value, but also provide important information about historical processes, social life styles and technological developments (Harrison, 2013). They also fulfill an important function of transferring information between the past and the present, and between the present and the future. In this context, Anatolian lands have a rich historical heritage as a meeting point of different civilizations and cultures. Many civilizations, from the Hittites to the Byzantines, from the Seljuks to the Ottoman Empire, have left their mark on this geography and each has developed its own unique architectural techniques. Each architectural technique contains important data about the period in which it was built. Therefore, the protection of these heritages is of vital importance in terms of both cultural continuity and social memory (Tatoğlu, 2023; Viejo-Rose, 2015).