Ramazanoğlu Konağı

Ramazanoğlu Konağı is a building in the historic centre of Adana, standing southeast of the Ulu Cami, that has survived from the palace of the Ramazanoğulları Beylik. The Ramazanoğulları were a Turkmen principality that ruled Çukurova from the late 14th century to the 17th century. The mansion is today described as one of the oldest surviving examples of a mansion in Turkey. Since 2009 it has been used by Çukurova University as a cultural centre open to the public. The sources hold two different views on the date of the building. According to the inscription on its south gate, the building was completed by Ramazanoğlu Halil Bey in the month of Shaban in the Hijri year 900, that is, in the spring of 1495. The Adana Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam give this as the construction date. The architectural historian Gözde Ramazanoğlu of Çukurova University, however, states that the building was constructed between 1360 and 1400 and that the 1495 inscription points to a restoration. Wikipedia also writes that the section completed in 1495 was added to another structure built earlier on the north side. The palace had two main parts, the haremlik where the family lived and the selamlık where state affairs were conducted. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam regards the three storey building standing today as the harem section of the palace and says that the building to its north, dated 1497 and also known as the Tuz Hanı, was probably the selamlık. In Çukurova University publications, by contrast, the surviving part is described as the selamlık of the palace, that is, its administrative centre. These two readings show that the palace was a complex group of adjoining sections. The mansion has a rectangular plan measuring about 16 by 10.5 metres. Its lower floor is built of cut stone and its upper floors of brick, and from the outside it gives a plain, even modest impression. The building consists of a ground floor, a mezzanine and an upper floor, with a courtyard at the eastern end of the ground floor. The mezzanine holds a kitchen and two rooms, while the upper floor has a large room and a small bathing area. The presence of a bathing area on an upper floor is highlighted as a detail rarely seen in old buildings. Architecturally the mansion is compared to the Mamluk mansions of Egypt. Its facade, where stone and brick are used in alternating courses, is a reminder that Adana stood at a point where Mamluk influence from the south met the Anatolian building tradition. The Piri Pasha Endowment Deed describes it as a tall and large building set in a garden and designed for both winter and summer use. There is almost no decoration in the interior, and this plainness is the building's most distinctive character. During the Ottoman period the mansion hosted sultans who came to Adana. Selim I is reported to have stayed here during his Egyptian campaign, and Murad IV on his way to the Baghdad campaign. When Süleyman the Magnificent came to Adana in 1535, he stayed in this building as the guest of Ramazanoğlu Piri Bey. The poet and Adana governor Ziya Pasha used the hall on the entrance floor as a reception hall during his governorship between 1878 and 1880. The mansion underwent a thorough repair in 1983, and after it was damaged in the 1998 Adana Ceyhan earthquake it was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations. Today it has the status of a directly administered foundation property and is attached to the Adana Regional Directorate of Foundations. As a cultural centre it hosts conferences, meetings and concerts. If you time your visit for a conference or concert day, you can also see the building in use. The mansion can be reached from the city centre by public transport; it lies near the Ulu Cami and is a few minutes' walk from Büyük Saat. First look at the outer facade along the street to follow the transition of stone and brick between the floors, then walk through the rooms inside floor by floor. The nearby Ulu Cami and the historic buildings around it complete the urban fabric of the Ramazanoğulları period. Visiting days and hours may change with the events calendar, so check the current information before you go.