The place of some places subject to faith tourism in the city of Van in the building of social memory

Memory, which has a vital role in helping societies, and more specifically individuals, determine a direction in their lives, helps individuals and societies find answers to questions about 'who' and 'what' the are. Memory, which mediates the transfer of past experiences to the present, builds itself through a place. Because space is a living field of existence where memory is born, develops, spread and even dies. In this context, the relationships between memory and space can be based on the relationship between people with space. Space is also the living space where human values codes related to this are most noticed. From past to present, almost every religion and belief has created its abstract existence in a space with more concrete symbols that make itself visible. So much so that today, some places have gained an identity solely through faith and are remembered with these aspects. Within the scope of this thesis, we try to reveal the impact of Sheikh Abdurrahman Gazi Tomb which is one of Van's religious tourism attractions and Bediüzzaman Said Nursi's Hermitage on Erek Mountain on social memory as places of memory. As a representative of these two important religious figures who lived in Van for a certain period of time, he focused on the importance of the place in the formation of social memory and how these people took their place in the memories of the people living here through the place, how they remembered, to what extent they contacted them and what kind of efforts they made to leave them to the future. It seeks answers to questions regarding. In this context, this study was designed as a qualitative study and the findings were obtained by using semi-strutured questions and in-depth interview technique.