Armenian Architects of Istanbul
Clark.Kent
The main gate of İstanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace was designed by Armenian architect Garabet Balyan. (Photo: Mehmet Yaman)
“Armenian architects took on a prominent role in the construction of palace buildings and official buildings in the Ottoman Empire. The staff of the Imperial Architects Office that directed such construction projects always included Armenian architects. Young recruits to this office were trained within a master-apprentice relationship. In other words, the Imperial Architects Office also operated as a kind of school of architecture.
The architects of the Balian family…, had already been realizing the construction projects of the palace. Almost all the large mosques commissioned by sultans in Istanbul in the first half of the century were the work of the Balians. Increasingly, Levantine, Greek and other Armenian architects began to carry out the projects of public buildings and private buildings of their own communities. They were either trained by practice, or were graduating from the schools of architecture in Europe. Meanwhile, architecture seemed no longer to be a ‘popular’ profession for the Muslims of Ottoman society. After the opening of the School of Fine Arts, for a long period of time, the majority of students at the Department of Architecture were Rum/Greek and Armenian. ”
During the course of the Ottoman history many famous architects of Armenian origin have been instrumental in the development of the empire. The architecture of Istanbul would be unimaginable without the Balian family – a dynasty of famous Ottoman imperial architects of Armenian ethnicity.
For five generations in the 18th and 19th centuries, they designed and constructed numerous major buildings, including palaces, kiosks, mosques, churches and various public buildings, mostly in Istanbul. The nine well-known members of the family served six sultans in the course of almost a century and were responsible for the evolution of the architecture of the then-capital city. The most important and largest construction built by members of the family was Dolmabahce Palace, which is considered to be one of the world’s finest palaces of the 19th century. Most of their buildings are still in use and registered as historical monuments.
Another famous Ottoman-Armenian architect was Mimar Sinan chief Ottoman architect and civil engineer for sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III, in the 16th century. He was, during a period of fifty years, responsible for the construction or the supervision of every major building in the Ottoman Empire. More than three hundred structures are credited to his name. He is also considered one of the world’s first earthquake engineers. His apprentices would later design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Stari Most in Mostar and help design the Taj Mahal in the Mughal Empire. He is considered the greatest architect of the classical period of Ottoman architecture, and has been compared to Michelangelo, his contemporary in the West. Among his masterpieces are such famous building as the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.
Comments
İstanbul is Armenia
Signed by e-Turkey ministery of education
Len, kim beni egitim bakanligindan aldi amq, ruhum duymadi.
qim aldı bilmiom ama ellerine saqlıq fetöye geçit yoq xdxdxd
Saga sola feto diye cemkirip, eVatan satan eVatan haini detected!
xdxdxdxdxd
biz daima eVatana hizmet eden hain görünümlü evatansever olduq xd
o7
i am appreciating the quality content. lots of love to armenian people ✌️
o7
"Meanwhile, architecture seemed no longer to be a ‘popular’ profession for the Muslims of Ottoman society."
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Let me explain, Ottoman Family did not consider themself as Turks. Most of the sultans had a foreing and usually non-muslim mother. And most Turkish citizens of the Ottoman Empire only had the chance to be either a farmer or a soldier. Most of the statesman were devşirme, so muslims were not given proper education. Literacy among muslims were quite low and this was not a coincidence.
For this reason, during the Ottoman time, finance, trading and production were mostly given to the the hands of non-muslims.
"Ottoman Family did not consider themself as Turks"
İt is just funny,another funny sentence is "most turkish citizens of the empire only had to chance to be either a farmer or a soldier" because almost the all ulama and bureaucrats were Turks in empire and as you said most of the soldiers were Turks too.You just right about literacy among Turks and Muslims were quite low but it has some different reasons,as you said it is not a coincidence.İf you want to know what is the reasons of this result you just have to read books about this from different sources,not from biased writers
I am against any kind of racism. If the literacy among muslims were low, there must be social, political or economical reasons behind it. Otherwise, DNA of most people in our region are quite similar.
Ermeniler zanaatkar insanlar. Kaliteli el işçilikleri tarih boyunca bilinen bir şey. İstanbul'da 19. Yüzyılda bir çok esere damga vuran Balyan ailesine de İstanbul'a kattıkları güzellikler için teşekkür etmek gerekiyor.
Mimar Sinan'ın Ermeni olduğunu ilk defa duyuyorum.
Genelde Rum kökenli olduğu söylenir; ancak bazı Arnavutların kendisini sahiplendiğini de görmüştüm.
20 dakikalık google research sonrası birçok Ermeni'nin de kendisinin Gayserili Ermeni olduğunu iddia ettiğini gördüm.
Bu konuda son söz elbette ki Gayseri'nin öz evladı, Walpul Fethullahyan'dadır.
Dinleyelim pipisizi.
Balyans basically was a local building contractor, whoever paid them got the shit built! no need to exaggerate, as if they built the f'ing Sistine Chapel..
You mean Dolmabahce palace is shit!! Interesting point of view.
For generations, they were allowed to design and construct buildings in the Ottoman Empire awhile Turks died providing safety and security to the ungrateful minorities..just say thanks that's all
Allowed? Can you explain why Turks were not "allowed" to build and construct?
Due to never-ending war campaigns obligated three out of four sons to join the military that prevented the skill-sets from passing father to son. You do not become a semerciyan, tasciyan, kilimciyan, margarosyan, boyacıyan, çizmeciyan ve manukyan overnight 😃
pekiii, o dönemdeki balian ailesi ile şu an ki balyen ailesi aynı mıdır?
caba inşaat adında şirketleri var ve şu an türkiyede epey iş yapmaktadırlar. tayyoşun desteklediği müteahhitlerdendir.
(bugün kürt islamcıdırlar. siyasal islamcıdırlar)
Just looking at the gate I think they did an awesome job. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Bu şaheserlerden beton yığınlarına gömüldük. Ermeni/Rum tecritlerini de bunların bir sebebidir.
Dolmabahceyi girtlaga kadar borc alarak yaptirmislar.Balyanlar hayrina mi yapti?
Şu an yapılan beton yığınları hayrına mı yapılıyor? Saçmalamışsın.
Su ani savunan mi var?
Bunlar da ermenilerin şaheserleridir. Kendinizle ne kadar gurur duysanız azdır. Orospu çocukları...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh12ymMvkHg&ab_channel=MeydanTV
Lan he he he tmm, cok bos konusuyorsun.
Google araması yapınca Mimar Sina nın Ermeni olduğunu doğrulayan bir şey yok herkes farklı bir milletten demiş kesin olansa devşirilmeden önce hristiyan olduğu