Intangible cultural heritage the role of coffeeshops in city life in the context: The case of Antakya

The coffee plant first entered the social life with coffee shops. After 1554, they are places that provide a more free environment to their customers compared to other areas of the period, such as mosques, bazaars, Turkish baths, bozahanes, mills and fields, where people from other segments of the society can have coffee and chat. In addition, coffeehouses are places where some customers go to see their friend, some customers spend time for many purposes such as games and entertainment as regulars. Our study has determined the various functions of coffee houses by investigating the coffee houses that have existed in public life for about 500 years, in the context of intangible cultural heritage in the city of Antakya, Hatay province, whether this city has the cultural and demographic characteristics of this city, for what purposes customers or regulars go to the coffee house within the coffee house tradition. In addition, our study has also examined the important points of the coffee house operators and their customers and their thoughts on the future of this profession. Our study started with the ethical approval of Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Social and Human Sciences Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee. In our study, field compilation and observation method, one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred as the method of collecting the findings. First, coffee shops in the city center of Antakya were visited, and information was gathered with customers and coffee shop owners. This compiled information was supported by written and printed sources and was included in our study that will carry out the analysis. In the findings obtained in our research, the analysis methods of Performance and Functional theory, which are the leading context-centered theories used in folklore studies in recent years, were used as the analysis method. Keywords: Coffee, Coffeehouse, Public Space, Function