From Taşköprü to Tepebağ, a Walk Through Old Adana

Approach Taşköprü from the Seyhan side, at the western end of the bridge, and pause on the bank for a moment before walking onto the deck. The bridge is closed to vehicle traffic today; after the restoration of the mid-2000s it was left to pedestrians only, and you can walk across it freely. To grasp its size first, walk all the way to the opposite bank, on the Yüreğir side; sources give the bridge's length as a little more than three hundred metres. As you walk, notice the cobblestones under your feet. The English Wikipedia writes that this stone paving was laid between 1899 and 1908, in the time of Adana Governor Süleyman Bahri Pasha, and adds that it became the subject of folk songs.

When you reach the middle of the bridge, you will notice that the road rises slightly from both sides. The Culture Portal notes that the middle of the bridge is about two and a half metres higher than its ends. Stop at this point and look downstream, to the south; the bridge looks wide today because of a later widening. According to sources, the roadway was originally much narrower and was widened in the early twentieth century, when new arches were added to the downstream face.

Then go down to the bank and look at the piers from below. On the faces that stand against the current you can see stepped and triangular cutwaters; the English Wikipedia writes that today's uniform triangular shape comes from one of the Ottoman restorations. On the downstream face of the eastern piers, the rough-hewn stone technique can be traced, and the eastern section of the bridge is the part that carries the most traces of the original construction. The arches all differ in size; this is the result of the bridge being repaired many times over the centuries. Sources also mention a lion relief on the north face of the eleventh arch, which is worth looking for with binoculars or a zoom lens.

Sources do not give a single name for the builder of the bridge. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, relying on an inscription in the museum, mentions an architect named Auxentios; the English Wikipedia, however, notes that a full reading of that inscription may relate to an aqueduct rather than the bridge. The traveller Victor Langlois attributed the bridge to Emperor Hadrian, and the Byzantine historian Procopius relates that Justinian I had the piers rebuilt. Since repairs were also made in the Umayyad, Abbasid and Ottoman periods, it is more accurate to read the bridge as a layered structure rather than tie it to a single date.

The best light for photographs comes early in the morning, when the sun from the east falls on the face of the bridge. To fit the whole bridge in one frame, you need to move a little away along the riverside promenade. At sunset, the reflection of the arches on the water is more pronounced. Sitting on a bench on the bank and watching the river is the calmest moment of this stop. When you are ready, return to the Seyhan side and walk west, towards the old bazaar district, to reach Ramazanoğlu Mansion.

Source: Adana İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Taşköprü; Kültür Portalı, Taş Köprü; Wikipedia, Taşköprü (Adana).

Ramazanoğlu Mansion stands on Kızılay Avenue, within the Ulu Cami complex; when you step in from the avenue, you find the mansion to the southeast of the mosque. Before going inside, take a good look at the exterior. The lower floor is built of hewn stone and the upper floors of brick, and the line where the two materials meet is clearly legible on the facade. Wikipedia gives the dimensions of the rectangular building as sixteen by ten and a half metres; its unpretentious appearance reflects the restrained building tradition of the principality.

Go up to the south gate, because the mansion's known history comes from the inscription there. According to it, the harem section was completed in the month of Shaban of the Hijri year 900, that is in April 1495, by Ramazanoğlu Halil Bey. Sources stress, however, that this date does not cover the whole building. The KÜRE Encyclopaedia writes that the building was originally constructed between 1360 and 1400 and that the 1495 inscription points to a restoration. Information given to Hürriyet Daily News by the mansion's former manager also places its construction in the second half of the fourteenth century. So you can think of the mansion as one of the oldest civil buildings still standing in Anatolia.

Today the mansion is used as a cultural centre of Çukurova University and hosts conferences, meetings and concerts. If you can go inside, start in the stone-paved hall on the ground floor; the stairs climb from here to the upper floors. Then look at the vaulted rooms in the northern section, which sources think served as the selamlık, the reception quarters. The mezzanine holds a kitchen and two rooms, and the upper floor a large room and a bathing cubicle. Hürriyet Daily News reports that a bath on an upper floor is a rare feature in old buildings.

Walk through the mansion imagining the guests in its history. According to sources, Sultan Selim I stayed here during his Egyptian campaign, and Suleiman the Magnificent was the guest of Ramazanoğlu Piri Bey when he came to Adana in 1535. The KÜRE Encyclopaedia also writes that the poet and governor Ziya Pasha used the hall on the entrance floor as a reception room during his governorship. Damaged in the 1998 Adana Ceyhan earthquake, the building was later restored by the General Directorate of Foundations and opened as a cultural centre in 2009.

The mansion may be closed depending on its events calendar, so if you plan to go in, find out its current status in advance. If it is closed, you can still see the character of the building from the courtyard and the outer facade. When taking photographs, choose the corner where the stone and brick masonry meet, as this detail is the building's best-known image. When you leave, walk towards Ali Münif Avenue; the Great Clock Tower is only a few minutes away.

Source: Adana İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Ramazanoğlu Konağı; KÜRE Ansiklopedi, Ramazanoğlu Konağı; Hürriyet Daily News.

The Great Clock Tower rises in the middle of Ali Münif Avenue, and you reach it on foot from the mansion in a few minutes. Take your first look at the tower from a little way down the avenue; only from there can you see the whole square-prism shaft. Sources give the tower's height as thirty-two metres and write that in its day it was the tallest clock tower in the Ottoman lands, with the Dolmabahçe Clock Tower in Istanbul in second place. As you get closer, look at the masonry; the tower was built of small hewn stone bricks that are hard to lay.

Sources tell the story of the tower's construction differently, so it is best to know both versions. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and the Culture Portal write that construction began in 1881 under Governor Ziya Pasha and that the tower was completed in 1882 under Governor Abidin Pasha. The English Wikipedia, however, says that construction started in 1879 and names Krikor Agha Bezdikyan and Kaspar Agha as the designers of the tower; the Culture Inventory also mentions these two master builders. Both sources record that the mayor Hacı Yunus made an important contribution to the building work.

The KÜRE Encyclopaedia writes that the tower was first called the Saathane, and that the name Great Clock took hold to distinguish it from the money-box-shaped Little Clock on the city's busy square. The tower has a clock on each of its four faces, and the present mechanism is recorded as having been brought from Germany in 1925. The same source gives the tower's width as eight metres and writes that in later years additions such as an antenna and an alarm siren were made to it. As you look at the upper part of the tower, try to tell these later additions apart from the original shaft. According to sources, the bell that rang every hour could be heard across most of the city, and the working hours of government offices were set by this tower. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism stresses that the tower was built solidly enough to survive the 1998 Adana earthquake.

The surroundings of the tower give the walk its real flavour. The KÜRE Encyclopaedia writes that the street improvement work begun in 2013 brought the shopfronts of Ali Münif Avenue into a single uniform style. From here, turn into the Coppersmiths' Bazaar, Kazancılar Çarşısı; the Culture Inventory records that the bazaar is also known as the Adana Arasta and the Ramazanoğlu Bazaar and that it dates from the sixteenth century. You can wander among shops selling copperwork, local produce and sweets, though the choice of shop is up to you. In the evening, the illuminated tower and avenue offer a different view.

There is no wide pedestrian area at the foot of the tower and the avenue is open to traffic; stay on the pavement when taking photographs and be careful when crossing. You will get the best shot from a corner of the avenue that faces the tower at a right angle. For a short break, the shaded parts of the bazaar are a relief in the summer heat. From here, walk north towards Tepebağ; you come out on Seyhan Avenue and reach the Adana Cinema Museum in Kayalıbağ.

Source: Adana İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Büyük Saat Kulesi; KÜRE Ansiklopedi, Adana Büyük Saat Kulesi; Kültür Envanteri, Kazancılar Çarşısı.

The Adana Cinema Museum is in Kayalıbağ neighbourhood, on the corner of Seyhan Avenue and 26025 Street, on the west bank of the Seyhan River. Before reaching the museum, wander the surrounding streets a little, because this is the area of the old Adana houses built on and around Tepebağ Mound. The English Wikipedia writes that most of these houses have two or three storeys and that above thick-walled ground floors with few windows they carry upper floors with rows of windows and projecting bays. The municipality's guide states that most of the houses were built in the eighteenth century; since sources give different dates on this point, it is enough to read the houses generally as the domestic fabric of the old town. The municipal guide also notes that excavations are continuing on the mound.

The museum building was created by joining two plots of the row mansions built side by side along the riverbank. The KÜRE Encyclopaedia writes that the restoration was carried out by the Adana Metropolitan Municipality and that the museum opened on 23 September 2011. The Turkish Wikipedia introduces it as the second cinema museum in Turkey. When you go in, first look at the posters on the ground floor. Every poster displayed here carries at least one name from Adana, whether director, actor or screenwriter; looking for that name as you go through the posters turns into a small and enjoyable game.

When you go upstairs, you will see that the rooms are arranged by theme. Sources list sections such as the Nostalgia Room, the Room of Adana Artists, the Room of New Generation Artists, the Room of Adana Producers, the Mehmet Baltacı Collection Room and the Golden Boll Room. One room is devoted entirely to the photographs, belongings and film posters of the actor and director Yılmaz Güney. The painter and filmmaker Abidin Dino and the novelists Yaşar Kemal and Orhan Kemal, whose books were adapted into many films, are also featured. The rooms also hold photographs of actors connected with the city, such as Şener Şen and his father Ali Şen.

Set aside time especially for the Golden Boll Room. It tells the history of the Golden Boll Film Festival organised by the Adana Metropolitan Municipality; the English Wikipedia writes that the festival was founded in 1969. The wax figures in the museum were made by Jale Kuşan and Tülay Aktaş. If you are interested in film history, look at the library too. The oldest book in the collection of about 3,500 volumes, donated by the film historian Alberto Modiano, dates from 1891.

The Turkish Wikipedia notes that the museum has an accessible entrance, an accompaniment service, audio description and tactile surfaces; this information may help you plan your visit. Check the visiting days and hours in the municipality's current announcements before you go. When you leave the museum, you can walk a short way along Seyhan Avenue to the Atatürk House Museum; on the way, look at the facades of the row mansions that overlook the river.

Source: KÜRE Ansiklopedi, Adana Sinema Müzesi; Adana Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Adana'da Gezilecek 100 Yer; Wikipedia, Adana Sinema Müzesi.

The Atatürk House Museum stands on Seyhan Avenue, northwest of the row mansions that overlook the river. Before going in, look at its facade from across the street. The Turkish Wikipedia describes the building as a two-storey masonry house with projecting bays, a hipped roof and stone walls, and writes that it resembles the classic Adana houses built in the nineteenth century. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism also states that the building is a registered immovable cultural asset and is regarded as one of the examples that best represent the civil architecture of its period.

Visit the house knowing its history. According to the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, Atatürk and his wife Latife Hanım were hosted in this mansion, which belonged to Suphi Bey of the Ramazanoğlu family, during their visit to Adana on 15 March 1923; the Turkish Wikipedia refers to the same person as Suphi Pasha. The building was expropriated and restored by an association and opened in 1981 as a unit attached to the Museum Directorate. Every year on 15 March a commemoration ceremony is held in this building, so if you plan to visit that day, expect crowds.

Plan your visit inside floor by floor. The lower floor holds study rooms and a library; the Turkish Wikipedia writes that the library contains about two thousand books in Ottoman Turkish and Turkish, collected through donations. Local newspapers published during and after the War of Independence are displayed in the study room. When you go upstairs you will see the sofa; this wide hall, the centre of life in the traditional Adana house, is where the rooms open. Around the sofa are rooms such as the bedroom, the press room, the fighters' room, the arms room, the aide-de-camp's room and the national forces room.

As you go through the rooms, pay more attention to the plan of the house than to the objects. The English Wikipedia explains that in the traditional houses of Tepebağ the upper floors were the main living spaces and the rooms were arranged to open onto halls. Look out of the windows towards the river and the street; sources note that these mansions were placed so as to catch the cool breeze coming off the river. Pieces such as the brass bedstead and the Maraş-made armchairs in the bedroom show the furnishing taste of the period. Alongside photographs and documents of Atatürk's visit to Adana, the museum also displays ethnographic objects.

Check the museum's visiting days and hours on its official website before you go. After your visit, walk down from Seyhan Avenue towards the river to complete the route. As you walk south along the river, you reach Taşköprü again after a few hundred metres. If you return to the bridge in the late afternoon, you will end the day where you began it in the morning, watching the reflection of the arches on the water.

Source: Adana İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Atatürk Evi Müzesi; Kültür Portalı, Atatürk Evi Müzesi; Wikipedia, Adana Atatürk Evi Müzesi.