Byzantine period architecture of Western Black Sea (Bartın-Bolu-Düzce ve Zonguldak)

Regarding the settlements and architecture from Byzantine period, Black Sea Region is not well-known and well-inspected area compared to the other regions of Anatolia, because it has many mountainous terrains and very dense vegetation. The available knowledge on the architecture of Byzantine period in coastal towns such as Heracleia Pontica (Karadeniz Ereğli), Amastris (Amasra), Tios (Filyos) and Dia (Akçakoca), is very scarce and limited to a few buildings. In fact there is only sparse knowledge about the settlements and architecture of Byzantine period in the interior parts of region, expect for a few city centers such as Claudiopolis (Bolu), Crateia (Gerede) and Modrene (Mudurnu). With the aim of to fill the knowledge gap as fully as possible, archeological surveys were carried out in Zonguldak and Bolu, and also Bartın and Düzce, which are respectively former counties of those provinces. Owing to these surveys, every buildings of any function from Byzantine period and all the components of them were studied. This thesis aims to evaluate, both formerly known and recent discovered Byzantine architectural structures in terms of material and techniques, as well as in decoration style and dating proposals. The studied buildings and their decorations present the influences of the metropolitan style of Constantinapolis. However it can be said that local requirements has designated the building materials. Besides in terms of technique and decoration, all the architectural elements expect for keyed brick, are in accordance with the common forms of Byzantine art and architecture. Almost all the Byzantine buildings in Western Black Sea Region can be dated to Early and Middle Byzantine Period. There is little, if any building can be dated to the Late Byzantine Period. Furthermore it can be suggested that certain buildings in coastal settlements were renovated and also some architectural elements added to them in this period. The reasonable ground of the rarity of zoning activities in Late Byzantine Period may be the regions, expect for coastal settlements such as Amastris and Heracleia Pontica, conquered by the Turks.