Reading the historical harput city settlement in context of identity-memory relationship

This study, in which the urban identity is read through memory, has been examined in the context of urban images with urban readings made through memory. In this study, in which urban identity is questioned with the help of city images through urban memory and collective memory, the urban identity of Harput, which has an important place in history, has been questioned. Urbanization is defined as a process that comes from the past and has no end. With the change and transformation of the individuals and societies living in them, the symbol and awareness levels of the cities also change. This situation also changes the image of cities in minds. Changing cities affect the way individuals perceive and interpret the city. While evaluating the city, the images formed in the minds of the individuals constitute the urban identity. Historical cities carry traces of the past. Today, cities have changed with the differentiation of urbanization forms, especially after the industrial revolution. The cultural differences of historical cities from past to present differed in every period, and this situation showed itself mostly in architecture. Different cultures of cities have created different city identities and each city has been shaped differently. Changing urbanization after the industrial revolution brought a uniform architecture, resulting in cities with no identity similar to each other. At the same time, this situation destroys the historical city identities that have been shaped by hosting great civilizations in history. In this context, it is aimed to question the identity of the city through the city of Harput, which has an important position in the past and has hosted many civilizations. In the city of Harput, which lost most of its historical structures, readings were made on urban and collective memory with the "mental mapping" method to determine the urban identity. In this context, with the help of the city images in the minds of the participants, the urban identity of Harput was tried to be determined by the survey studies. In the field study part of the thesis, questions about the city were asked to the users and in the light of these questions, the 'in-depth interview' technique was used in order to investigate the culture and identity of the city through the memories of the participants. In the evaluations made by categorizing the interviewees according to their ages, the data obtained by taking the mind maps of some participants were also supported. Keywords: Image, Urban Image, Memory, Urban Memory, Collective Memory, Identity, Urban Identity, Harput