Waqf cultural heritage in eminönü and proposals for its conservation

In the scope of this study foundation buildings in Eminönü were examined. Eminönü was central district of İstanbul with Fatih in the beginning of Republic. In 1928 seperated from Fatih and became a single district. In 2008 Eminönü district was repealed by law and became a part of Fatih district. Rich architectural fabric of the Eminönü has been shaped by countless foundation works built by the Ottomans in the process began with the conquest of Istanbul until the beginning of the twentieth century. In this open air museum area, foundation buildings consists of mosques, madrasahs, primary schools, fountains and so on can be traced all the diversity of both functional and historically. Foundation is a kind of agreement gains legal value with "vakfiye" papers. Foundation is an entity that is established as a nonprofit corporation, with a principal purpose of making grants to organizations, institutions or individuals for educational, cultural, religious or other charitable purposes. While a foundation is establishing it was aimed that can continue as much as possible. Continuity of service of the foundation will be provided with the continuity of the foundation buildings. For this reason, vakfiye is specifying the conditions for the continuous maintenance and repair of the building while defining how to use the revenue. The buildings and institutions that are benefited directly from them are defined as "hayrat", and the sources of income that are the foundation for the life of the services, buildings and institutions are defined as "akar". This study aimed to create a strategy for protecting and maintaning foundation buildings in Eminönü and to transfer this heritage to future generations in a healthy way. In 1922, the Ministry of Education asked for the preparation of an inventory covering the ancient and historic monuments in the whole country, including gravestones. Foundation buildings in İstanbul were documented with these assessment studies and their status, address information, private information, foundation information, year of construction etc. were recorded. Our work has begun starting from this recording, preservation of present-day structure conditions are examined. Lost foundation works have been identified, originality condition of the buildings were examined. Continuous change of the neighborhood boundaries and names, street names caused difficulty from time to time, with comparing of old maps addresses were found. Determinations have been made in thirty-three districts of Eminönü (Alemdar, Balaban Ağa, Binbirdirek, Beyazıt, Cankurtaran, Demirtaş, Emin Sinan, Hacı Kadın, Hobyar, Hoca Gıyasettin, Hoca Paşa, Kalenderhane, Katip Kasım, Kemal Paşa, Küçük Ayasofya, Mimar Hayrettin, Mimar Kemalettin, Mercan, Mesih Paşa, Molla Fenari, Molla Hüsrev, Muhsine Hatun, Nişanca, Şehsuvarbey, Rüstem Paşa, Saraç İshak, Sarıdemir, Süleymaniye, Sultan Ahmet, Sururi, Tahtakale, Taya Hatun, Yavuz Sinan) this work was supported by research archives and resources. Foundation buildings list determined on a map. In conclusion, especially fountains, primary schools, lodging were found largely missing, while the mosques and madrasas still retain the original schemes despite of the incorrect additions. Development activities, ranging socio-economic status, incorrect use, neglect, not o care enough, budget problems, unconscious repairs are the main reasons of protection ıssues. This heritage that survived has been identified with documenting current status, overview of the last ninety years were made, for suitable use and protection plans has tried to create.