Rural mosque architecture in Trabzon

The valleys extending alongside vertically the Eastern Black Sea mountain ranges form the region's unique geographical characteristic. This geographical structure has been the most important factor in shaping the settlement in the valleys, the region's social and cultural structure. This situation has also affected the rural mosque architecture in Trabzon. Topographical structure has caused craftsmen or the groups of craftsmen who construct mosques to operate in the valleys or in rare occasions go to neighbor valleys. Revealing the relationship between the rural mosque architecture in Trabzon and this unique geographical structure formed by the valleys and the social and cultural structure identified with the geography is the aim of the thesis. Thirteen valleys were identified as workplaces from Baltacı River Valley in the East to the Ağasar/Akhisar Deresi Valley in the West. The study was divided into four groups as "General Information", "Previous Studies", "Results and Analysis", "Conclusions". In the General Information section, region's geographical structure and the historic background were identified and information about Ottoman mosque architecture and the vernacular architecture was given. In the Studies section, historical background, market places and trade roads of each valley were separately revealed. Valleys were analyzed in the context of structure/population movements and rural mosque architecture. In the Results and Discussion section, rural mosque, market place and trade route relation, social structure/ population movement's relations, craftsmen relations were assessed totally considering all valleys. Mosques grouped according to valleys were evaluated by preparing visual tables of all valleys under the headings of residential status, plan scheme, ceiling/top cover, loge, niche, doorway, minaret, window opening, column layout, materials and construction technique. In the conclusion and recommendations section, the answers of identified targets were searched under the heading of the thesis objective and context and suggestions were made for further studies.