A REGIONAL ORNAMENT IN LATE OTTOMAN ARCHITECTURE: BACINI (AN EVALUATION ON THE SAMPLES OF SANLIURFA)

Abstract

Bacini, in its most known sense, is an ornamentation technique obtained by placing ceramics and vessels in order to add decoration and color to various parts of architectural works. Unfortunately, except for a few publications, there has been no study on this technique, which was discovered and published in Europe since the 18th century. Especially in the studies published in Europe, a few buildings belonging to the Seljuk period from Anatolia are mentioned and examples in Europe are explained in detail. It is possible to encounter this technique, whose origin is unknown, in Anatolia, in works of both the Seljuk and Ottoman periods, although there are some differences from the usage patterns in Europe. The fact that it was used only in a certain region in Ottoman architecture, especially in the late 18th century and after, reveals regional factors in Ottoman architecture. In addition, the production places and techniques of the ceramics used in these ornaments enable us to gain ideas in various fields such as the commercial life and tastes of the period. Explaining bacini ornaments over Ottoman mosques in Sanliurfa together with the works in cities such as Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis and Hatay in the South and Southeast of our country will prove that this technique, which is little known in Ottoman architectural decoration, actually has a very intensive use area.

The word "bacini", which is the plural form of the word "Bacino", which means basin and ceramic pots, is actually an Italian term and it is known as a general name given to all ceramic pots, especially in Europe. Bacini phenomenon which can be considered as a common decoration element of the countries in the Mediterranean geography can be encountered on many historical monuments mainly in Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and eventually in Turkey. As understood from the recent publications, the earliest examples of this decoration technique, which is known to be applied in Africa, encountered in churches in Italy of the tenth and eleventh centuries. This decoration can be seen in many Byzantine buildings in Greece after Italy. In the Seljuk period in Anatolia, bacini ornaments were used for the first time to decorate various parts of architectural structures. In this period, bacini decorations can be encountered in many different parts of architectural structures such as dome skirts, window pediments, exterior facades, cone covers and minaret bodies. When it comes to the period of the principalities, it is seen that the usage rate decreased considerably and this decoration, which was seen to be used in the mihrab decoration of a few buildings, was almost completely abandoned especially from the early Ottoman period. The use of tiles in Ottoman architectural decoration can be counted among the main reasons for this abandonment. However, it is seen that the usage of the bacini is intense, especially in the decoration of the building which built or renovated in the 18th century and later in Southeastern Anatolia. Through this study, by giving information about almost all the buildings belonging to Seljuk, Principalities and Ottoman periods that have decorated the bacini in Anatolia, local and regional effects will be mentioned especially for examples of Ottoman architectural decoration through Sanliurfa structures. The nature of the decoration technique will also be explained in comparison with other contemporary structures in the region. In this way, it is aimed to collect the structures with bacini decoration in a single publication and to bring them to the world of science, instead of being written separately on a periodic and regional basis.