The Common Lifestyles of Turks and Greeks and its Reflection on the Traditional Houses of Kayseri

Kayseri/Caesarea is one of the oldest settlements of Anatolia. This ancient city was the cradle of many civilizations in the region and is also known as Mazaca in history. The demographic structure of the city was composed of Muslims and Christians (Orthodox Greeks/ Karamans/ Turcophone Greeks/Anatolian Turks or Gregorian Armenians) until the first quarter of the 20th century. A similar situation is observed in most of the towns (Develi, İncesu, Melikgâzi, Talas, etc.) of the region. These districts stand out with traditional houses alongside with a unique street pattern shaped according to the topographic structure of the land. This study aims to evaluate the rooms and equipments in these traditional houses reflecting the common lifestyle (with similarities) and also the differences between the Muslim and Christian societies, living side by side. Another aim is to draw attention to these houses which have undergone changes through restorations, some of them becoming vacant and getting ruined within time, at the end being completely demolished. As a result, it was seen that the plans of traditional Kayseri houses have Turkish house plan types (with inner and central sofa, etc.) and the built-in furnitures (the serbetlik‘s, sedir‘s, fireplaces and others) were designed accordingly and made in situ during the construction process. The plan types of both the Muslim and Christian houses were similar, according to their lifestyles, the use of space and home equipments changed only. It is seen that different lifestyles of different cultures (for example the sense of privacy, religious beliefs, and others) are reflected in façade decorations also. The Westernization movements in the Ottoman Empire affected both the communities and their arts (New-Empire, Eclectic etc.). There is not an important example showing Christian influence on furnitures, but it can be said that the decorations and furnitures were under the influence of Western styles. Kayseri's geographical, physical, historical, and socio-economic background also made a contribution to the formation of traditional houses, house plans and their furnitures.