Historical baths of Kastamonu

The doctoral thesis entitled "Historical Baths of Kastamonu" consists of four main sections: introduction, catalog, evaluation and comparison, and conclusion. In the introduction section, the definition, importance and boundaries of the subject are specified, information is given about the studies conducted on the subject and after explaining the method applied in the thesis, general information is presented about the geographical location and history of Kastamonu province. The second part consists of a catalogue study where a total of 72 historical baths in Kastamonu province and district centers and villages, which have survived to the present day, partially survived, and have not survived to the present day, have been identified based on travel books, land registers, foundation deeds, sharia records, archive documents, yearbooks, inscriptions, survey drawings, reports, and various researches, are discussed one by one. The catalogue is divided into three subheadings: extant bathhouses, partially extant bathhouses, and non-existent bathhouses. Each bathhouse is presented in alphabetical order within the catalogue, which is prepared using art historical methods. The catalogue includes maps showing the bathhouses' locations, and their locations are highlighted with red frames. Original drawings and contemporary photographs of the bathhouses are provided at the end of the thesis. The third section is an evaluation and comparison section where the baths covered within the scope of the research are examined under the subheadings of plan typology, place distribution, material and technique, structural elements, covering elements, entrance openings, dome transitions, lighting, ornamentation and inscriptions. The fourth section constitutes the conclusion, presenting the place and importance of historical baths that could be identified within the borders of Kastamonu province in Turkish bath architecture, in light of the new information obtained within the scope of the research. Keywords: Kastamonu, Architect, Water Structures, Hammam (Bath).