Önemli Bir Denizcilik Kültür Mirası: Türkiye’nin Ege Kıyılarındaki Deniz Fenerleri

Abstract

All around the world the coasts have always been home to mankind, creating a culture surpassing boundaries and producing maritime heritage. Being surrounded with seas on three sides, Turkey owns diversified maritime heritage belonging to different historical periods. Maritime heritage has tangible and intangible values. Yet the change of contexts is a threat to these values. Since 1920s legislation had been formed to conserve and manage maritime heritage. In Turkey conservation and planning legislation had not been integrated. Thus maritime heritage is excluded from planning, decision and management processes. There is no inventory to document the heritage or its damage. Conservation and management of maritime heritage is relatively new and still open to debate in Turkey. Due to its location on the Mediterranean Turkish coasts had boasted with lighthouses. Today there are 459 lighthouses in Turkey. 22 of them are registered and under protection. There is no assessment for the others. Yet since 2006 lighthouses are being rented and prone to serious interventions. This paper discusses the maritime heritage and lighthouses in Turkey, particularly the Aegean coast. The first part covers the historical account and features of maritime heritage and lighthouses in Turkey. The second part introduces architectural, regional, social and cultural characteristics of lighthouses in Aegean Coast based on the research inventory. The problems due to the current context, condition and implementations are also presented here. In the last part, the future of lighthouses in Turkey, the Aegean Coast are discussed.