AN OLD TURKISH HOUSE IN GÖREME

Writer: Yavuz İşçen
May 2008

The old Turkish houses of Cappadocia get attraction by their elegant exteriors. Rarely, it is possible to see houses with stone work on their exterior. The interior of the Turkish houses are as elegant as their exteriors. The decorations in the Turkish houses turn up mostly on wood. It is possible to see tasteful and delicate carved woodworks on the ceilings and the closet of wealthy houses. The wall painting tradition is not very common in the Turkish houses but as a cultural sense, the wall paintings can be found in the ambits close to the Palace. We can say that Küçük Mehmet Residence (Mehmet Junior Residence) in Göreme is one of the representatives of the Turkish houses in Cappadocia with its wall paintings.

The Residence in Göreme remains from Mahmut II era...
The inscription written in Ottoman language, on the front side of the exterior tells us that the Residence was constructed in 1825 during the sultanate of Mahmut II by Küçük Mehmet (Mehmet Junior), who was from Til Village of Suvermez Borough in Derinkuyu District of Nevşehir. The Küçük Mehmet Residence in Göreme is an excellent example for the ones who would like to learn more about Ottoman house decoration style of Mahmut II era and Turkish houses with wall paintings.

Küçük Mehmet Residence in respect of architecture
In terms of general characteristics Küçük Mehmet Residence has a harmonious architecture style with the Cappadocian houses. The two rooms upstairs are the most important parts of the House and they get attraction by their unique architectural style, wooden ceiling embroideries and the excellent wall paintings. These rooms have the characteristic of ‘primal room’ designed for the guests in a traditional Turkish house. The first one is the big room, has an elegant woodwork on its entrance door and closet covers also its ceiling tenders delicate and glitter woodwork. All the walls of the room were ornamented utterly by paintings. A fireplace on the left side at the entrance welcomes you. The flower motives, still life and landscape paintings can be found among the wall paintings. The writings in Ottoman language on the paintings include different verses of the Koran.
In the second room, again the ceiling woodworks are attractive. Here, the ceiling was engraved more cellular. At first sight, the different and simple style illustration of this room stands out. It is assumed that the paintings of this room have a connection with the palace related assignments of Küçük Mehmet who constructed this Residence. In this sense, this room seems like a private room, designed for Küçük Mehmet.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, May 2008 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com