Masonry Design | 61
On these ancient structures, cleaning and conservation
is an on-going process. In 2013, the
back left minaret in Fig 6 was dismantled and
rebuilt after it was discovered to be tilting over 2
inches; safety was a concern. Recently, a new
three and a half year restoration was announced.
This will be the most significant project undertaken
since it was built nearly 500 years ago.
The work will be performed and while leaving the
mosque open for services and visitors.
It would take days to see all the marvelous
masonry of Istanbul. Fig 8 shows the Ottoman
arches at Topkapi Palace (c. 1465 AD) which is
behind the Hagia Sophia. The workmanship is
truly marvelous with tight joints.
Fig 9 shows a section of the walled city. The construction
dates are unclear but most were built
from the 8th to 15th centuries. This one is along
the waterfront has an intermix of Roman brick
with stone from previous repairs.
Fig 10 shows
a more recent
restoration and
finest examples
of a fortress sea
wall. The banded
brick was original
and serves as
header courses
for the stone. The
colored mortar
is a recent embellishment.
This
wall type can be
found on numerous walls throughout the Ottoman
Empire.
Leaving Istanbul, we travel to ANCIENT TROY
on the west coast of modern Turkey (2 on map)
just south of current day Çanakkale. However, it
was once part of ancient Greece. To many people,
the image of Ancient Troy is derived from the
2004 film “Troy” with Brad Pitt as Achilles. Visiting
today, most would be surprised that the massive
outer walls in the film were constructed and
filmed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Other scenes
were filmed in Malta. The famed Trojan Horse
from the movie was donated to Çanakkale and
attracts many visitors.
Troy (a World Heritage site) actually had at least
nine cities. War, fire, earthquakes and the desire
for a larger city led to multiple constructions (Fig
11) built over each other.
Walking the site today is quite confusing. Excavations
have exposed portions of several cities. Not
one is fully exposed. Fig 12 shows some of the
7.
8.
10. 9.