Darkale of Soma, Manisa is a historical rural settlement in Western Anatolia. The aim of this paper is to identify the characteristics of Darkale houses and to present a typology based on their authentic architectural characteristics. The method is evaluation of the housing units with the tools of the discipline of architectural conservation. The characteristics evaluated are the lot size and organization, unit-neighbor relations, storey system, spatial organization, construction technique, and material usage. The houses are representatives of the "Hayat house" typology that has been used for centuries in Anatolia. However, the presence of limited courtyards, possibility of houses composed of a single building mass, the partial carving of the units into the hillside, possibility of single storied units and the relation of housing with each other in all three dimensions, and streets continuing throughout the house masses in form of passages differentiate Darkale houses from the other Hayat houses. In addition, the continuing of the maintenance of housing units with traditional materials and techniques; weaving, cuisine tradition, winter food preparation such as pomegranate juice making, olive oil soap production and their storage, domestic fowl raising on the ground floor and courtyards of the houses are intangible qualities of Darkale. The major conservation problems of Darkale houses are abandonment, the functional transformation of spaces and usage of contemporary techniques and materials in the physical interventions.
Darkale rural settlement is a village of Soma, Manisa. The main intention of this study is to make conservation aimed evaluation of the historical development of Darkale by questioning the physical characteristics of the present historical settlement with emphasis on its housing units. The way followed is literature review, archive research in the official website of the state archives; field survey, analysis and evaluation of Darkale with the tools of the discipline of architectural restoration; and interpretation of historical data together with physical data. The archive documents, monumental buildings and the settlement pattern, especially the organization of the housing units have provided a framework for interpreting Turkish period. Nevertheless, for the historical evaluation of the pre-Turkish period, further geo-prospection and archeological research are necessary. In all periods, the brook-valley system has been the gathering, production and commercial area of the settlement. The elevated plateau at the east of Darkale brook with full vista of the surroundings is evaluated as the earliest settlement area in Turkish period. It is relatively safe in terms of its elevated position and has preserved its authenticity. The latter settlement area, circumscribing the plateau at its north, west and south presents various solutions to cope with the high inclination: stone retaining walls, increase in number of stories, passages over streets, and increase in the amount of relations with neighbors including vertical interaction of housing units.
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