Houses of Çorum

Merkez Historic Buildings October 2010

Very few examples of traditional vernacular architecture in the center of Çorum province have survived to the present day. The vast majority of Çorum’s houses were demolished during periods of new construction. Even so, in the districts of Çorum—particularly in İskilip and Kargı—buildings that display the characteristics of the Çorum house continue to exist. These houses represent an interpretation of Anatolia’s traditional timber and adobe architecture that is unique to the transition zone between Central Anatolia and the Black Sea region.

General Characteristics

The great majority of these houses exhibit marked differences compared to other houses in Anatolia. The houses of Çorum are generally two or three stories. Mostly set within a garden, the houses have garden gates that were kept quite wide so as to allow carts to enter, and they are double-leaved.

The ground floor of these garden-facing houses consists of sections devoted to daily work, such as the kitchen, storeroom, pantry, a stone-carved laundry room, a molasses kitchen (pekmezhane), fruit stores, and a hayloft. This usage shows that the house was also designed as a small unit of production and storage. On the second floors of the houses, rooms are arranged around large central halls (sofa). Cupboards, niches, and bedding closets (yüklük) were placed inside these rooms. Great care was taken with the woodwork, and the ceilings were often decorated. The upper floors of the houses were mostly reserved for bedrooms, and inside one of them a bathing alcove (gusülhane) was also placed.

The houses were designed in connection with the outside; the principal room of the house was projected outward with the aid of consoles (corbels). In some examples, one or two balconies opening to the outside can also be seen. The roof coverings are mostly of the hipped-roof type.

Notable Mansions

The finest surviving examples of Çorum’s houses are the Veli Paşa Mansion and the Katipler Mansion.

The Veli Paşa Mansion is located on Şeyh Eyüp Street in the Tepecik Quarter. It was built in 1923–1924 by Şevket Bey, the son of Veli Paşa. The construction work was undertaken by Osman Ağa, one of the renowned masters of the period, together with his son Elvan Ağa. The mansion is two stories with a basement and follows the inner-hall plan type known in architecture as “karnıyarık.” Built around the garden in an inward-facing arrangement, the mansion is surrounded by high garden walls. The building, which has two separate entrances on the streets to its north and west, was constructed of adobe using the timber-frame technique known as “hımış.” Its walls are whitewashed with lime. Its windows, characteristic of Çorum houses, are set within fitted frames and surrounded by wooden moldings. The woodwork of the doors, windows, cupboards, and hearths in the rooms is unique to the region. The rooms allotted to the harem (private quarters) and selamlık (men’s quarters) sections of the mansion have entrances distinct from the others.

The Katipler Mansion is today used as a restaurant where local dishes are served. It is two stories with a wooden roof. It was built of adobe on stone foundations using the timber-frame technique. On the façade and sides, the interior is lit by windows displaying craftsmanship unique to Çorum, set within rectangular casings. The interior rooms are arranged around the halls.

Period and Surroundings

There are also official buildings in Çorum constructed in the late Ottoman period and the early years of the Republic. These reflect the architectural features of the period in which they were built within the same urban fabric as the residential houses. For the public architecture of the same period, the central Municipality Building and the Çorum Clock Tower can be assessed together with the houses of Çorum. Those who wish to see the region’s traditional vernacular architecture can also visit the wooden residences preserved within the scope of the History of İskilip.