Architectural and decoration features of Ödemiş Birgi Town Çakırağa Mansion

Historical buildings are considered as the symbols of the settlements in which they are located since their architecture are shaped by the geographical, social and cultural characteristics of the region they are located. While the main objective of the restoration of a historical building is to preserve the original architectural form and structural features, nowadays, most of the historical buildings are restored and generally renovated in a way different from their original functions. Çakırağa Mansion, which is one of the rare and most important examples of our civil architecture in Birgi and in the Aegean region, has been threatened with the destruction of its architectural values during the restoration process. In particular, during the renovation work done in Çakırağa Mansion, many changes (e.g. in doors, windows, ladder, door sills) were made that did not conform to its original form and were far from its identity. Considering this, the present study aims to identify and record the architectural and ornamental elements of Çakırağa Mansion. This study consists of five sections. In the first section, properties of traditional Turkish Architecture are examined. In the second section, the history, geographical and economic characteristics of Birgi town and the history of Çakırağa mansion are scrutinised. In the third section, the architectural features of Çakırağa mansion are examined. In the fourth section, the ornamental features of the Çakırağa mansion are scrutinised. The last section includes a general discussion of the findings.