Kadir Has University is waiting for municipal consent to start restoration and conservation of the Cibali Cistern under its campus by the Golden Horn. University Rector Mustafa Aydın says the historical structure will serve as another story for the Rezan Has Museum that sits on its upper floor
Istanbul’s Kadir Has University is waiting for Fatih municipality’s consent to start restoration of the Cibali Cistern located beneath its building next to the Golden Horn.
“We spent $5 million for the museum upstairs and we are willing to spend another million for the cistern. All we want is bureaucratic collaboration,” University Rector Mustafa Aydın told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the restoration would be funded by the joint efforts of the Kadir Has Foundation and the university.
Dating back to the 11th century, the Cibali Cistern bears an eclectic architectural design because the columns were brought from other structures dating back to later times. The cistern consists of 48 domes and 20 columns. “The archaeologists can discern which piece comes from which century by examining the way the brickwork is laid,” Aydın said.
Aydın said the excavation work consists of uncovering the soil that was dumped on the ground in the following century after the structure stopped functioning as a cistern.
“There is an Ottoman hamam right above, which we are exhibiting in the Rezan Has Museum. The hamam dates back to the early 17th century, its makers probably wanted to benefit from the water storage area and therefore they built it on top of the cistern,” he said.
In the early 19th century, a tobacco factory was built on the asset that was closed in 1970. After the closing, the tobacco factory burned down, later to be taken over and restored by the university, which is entitled to use the asset for 49 years.
The first attempt of restoring the old structure was conducted by the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in 1944, which was brought to a halt five years later.
“We are planning to dig 2.5 to 3 meters deep. We did a trial dig that showed us that the soil on the ground is a fill-in that was made in republican times. Therefore, it cannot contain historical wealth. But we are going to dig down deeper than that to see what else we can find,” Aydın said, adding that they had acquired the full consent of the Archeological Museum.
“However, bureaucratic necessities are impeding the process. The law forces us to ask for consent from both Fatih and the [Istanbul] Metropolitan Municipality after acquiring consent of the Archeological Museum. The Istanbul Waterworks Authority also has a say since the structure is a water storage area. We acquired the consent of all these institutions and all we need to do to start the excavation and conservation process is to finalize the bureaucratic procedure by signing a protocol with Fatih Municipality,” said the rector.
“I think there are ongoing negotiations about the terms of the protocol within the municipal body. We have always worked harmoniously with the municipality and we are not expecting any impediment from their side,” he said.
Exhibition and Event Manager Zeynep Çulha, who is also an archaeologist, said the digging would take up to six months and the conservation might last for a year and a half once the municipal confirmation was granted.
Procedure needs to start for also other reasons
Aydın said the ceiling of the cistern was leaking water which was causing humidity within the structure. “The humidity is detrimental for the archaeological finds we are exhibiting above, we have to repeat the conservation work on them every month and this results in extra costs. Another risk due to the leakage is that the water might be leaking down into the building’s foundation. Therefore, also for these reasons, we have to start the restoration immediately,” he said.
The coastal end of the cistern is beneath the Rezan Has Museum above while the inland portion of the cistern is under the university parking lot. The far end on the inland part is beyond the limits of the university and falls under the private property of a neighbor, meaning that the university management has faced troubles.
“The title deed this neighbor bears reads that the title bearer also owns the underground wealth falling under his asset, which is against the current legal framework. There has been a case won against him at the Supreme Court of Appeals. We have locked and bolted the entrance from the inland end to protect the historical structure from a raid by the homeless, but this neighbor insists that his title deed grants him with the right to enter and he has been breaking the bolt and entering in with the purpose of using the space at his disposal. This has the potential to be extremely detrimental for the structure. Apparently, until this site is properly closed up we are always running the risk of further detoriation,” Aydın said.
Aydın said the cistern would serve as another floor of the museum after restoration and will be used to exhibit the archaeological items they currently cannot exhibit due to the lack of space. “For example, we are restoring 76 Urartu belts at the moment and we have many rare pieces we want to put on display under the historical ambience of the cistern.”
Author: Tuba Parlak | Source: Hurriyet Daily News [August 03, 2011]
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| The first attempt of restoring the old structure was conducted by the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in 1944, which was brought to a halt five years later [Credit: Hurriyet] |
“We spent $5 million for the museum upstairs and we are willing to spend another million for the cistern. All we want is bureaucratic collaboration,” University Rector Mustafa Aydın told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that the restoration would be funded by the joint efforts of the Kadir Has Foundation and the university.
Dating back to the 11th century, the Cibali Cistern bears an eclectic architectural design because the columns were brought from other structures dating back to later times. The cistern consists of 48 domes and 20 columns. “The archaeologists can discern which piece comes from which century by examining the way the brickwork is laid,” Aydın said.
Aydın said the excavation work consists of uncovering the soil that was dumped on the ground in the following century after the structure stopped functioning as a cistern.
“There is an Ottoman hamam right above, which we are exhibiting in the Rezan Has Museum. The hamam dates back to the early 17th century, its makers probably wanted to benefit from the water storage area and therefore they built it on top of the cistern,” he said.
In the early 19th century, a tobacco factory was built on the asset that was closed in 1970. After the closing, the tobacco factory burned down, later to be taken over and restored by the university, which is entitled to use the asset for 49 years.
The first attempt of restoring the old structure was conducted by the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in 1944, which was brought to a halt five years later.
“We are planning to dig 2.5 to 3 meters deep. We did a trial dig that showed us that the soil on the ground is a fill-in that was made in republican times. Therefore, it cannot contain historical wealth. But we are going to dig down deeper than that to see what else we can find,” Aydın said, adding that they had acquired the full consent of the Archeological Museum.
“However, bureaucratic necessities are impeding the process. The law forces us to ask for consent from both Fatih and the [Istanbul] Metropolitan Municipality after acquiring consent of the Archeological Museum. The Istanbul Waterworks Authority also has a say since the structure is a water storage area. We acquired the consent of all these institutions and all we need to do to start the excavation and conservation process is to finalize the bureaucratic procedure by signing a protocol with Fatih Municipality,” said the rector.
“I think there are ongoing negotiations about the terms of the protocol within the municipal body. We have always worked harmoniously with the municipality and we are not expecting any impediment from their side,” he said.
Exhibition and Event Manager Zeynep Çulha, who is also an archaeologist, said the digging would take up to six months and the conservation might last for a year and a half once the municipal confirmation was granted.
Procedure needs to start for also other reasons
Aydın said the ceiling of the cistern was leaking water which was causing humidity within the structure. “The humidity is detrimental for the archaeological finds we are exhibiting above, we have to repeat the conservation work on them every month and this results in extra costs. Another risk due to the leakage is that the water might be leaking down into the building’s foundation. Therefore, also for these reasons, we have to start the restoration immediately,” he said.
The coastal end of the cistern is beneath the Rezan Has Museum above while the inland portion of the cistern is under the university parking lot. The far end on the inland part is beyond the limits of the university and falls under the private property of a neighbor, meaning that the university management has faced troubles.
“The title deed this neighbor bears reads that the title bearer also owns the underground wealth falling under his asset, which is against the current legal framework. There has been a case won against him at the Supreme Court of Appeals. We have locked and bolted the entrance from the inland end to protect the historical structure from a raid by the homeless, but this neighbor insists that his title deed grants him with the right to enter and he has been breaking the bolt and entering in with the purpose of using the space at his disposal. This has the potential to be extremely detrimental for the structure. Apparently, until this site is properly closed up we are always running the risk of further detoriation,” Aydın said.
Aydın said the cistern would serve as another floor of the museum after restoration and will be used to exhibit the archaeological items they currently cannot exhibit due to the lack of space. “For example, we are restoring 76 Urartu belts at the moment and we have many rare pieces we want to put on display under the historical ambience of the cistern.”
Author: Tuba Parlak | Source: Hurriyet Daily News [August 03, 2011]
