MUNICIPALITY DISRESPECTS MEMORY OF “COMPETENT MASTER”
Uygar Gultekin 01.22.2015 01:04
CULTURE AND ARTS
The lost gravestone of Garabet Balyan, the architect of the Dolmabahce
Palace, and a member of the Balyan family praised by President Erdogan
as ‘competent masters’ of their art, was discovered at a Istanbul
Metropolitan Municipality construction site in Kartal.
On 6 June 2014, at the opening of the renovated Ortaköy Mosque,
President Tayyip Erdogan made a speech in which he praised Nigogos
Balyan, the architect of the mosque, and a member of the Balyan family,
with the words, “It was an Armenian architect who created this work
of art. Our forefathers displayed a different mentality in selecting
him, and they gave the job to a competent master”.
The lost gravestone of Garabet Balyan, the architect of the Dolmabahce
Palace, among the symbolic monuments of Istanbul, was discovered at
a Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality construction site in Kartal.
It is well known that many significant 19th century buildings in
Istanbul are the work of architects from the Balyan family. Now,
the lost gravestone of Garabet Balyan, the architect of historically
significant buildings such as the Dolmabahce Palace, the GumuÃ…~_suyu
Military Hospital and the Dolmabahce Valide Sultan Mosque, has
been discovered at an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (Ä°BB)
construction site in Soganlık, Kartal. The gravestone was found in
the area between the buildings on the construction site used for many
years by the Ä°BB after they were demolished. Other gravestones and
epitaphs featuring Armenian script were also discovered in addition
to Balyan’s gravestone.
Balyan’s grave was at the BeÃ…~_iktaÃ…~_ Armenian Cemetery
The site of Garabet Balyan’s grave is unknown. One of the most
important sources on the topic is Pars Tuglacı’s work titled ‘The
Balyan Family’. In his book, Tuglacı also includes a photograph of
Garabet Balyan’s gravestone. This was one of the photographs taken by
Berc Erzian in 1958 at the BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ Armenian Cemetery, and Tuglacı
commented that the gravestones were no longer in place. Garabet
Balyan’s gravestone in the photograph and the one discovered at the
construction site match.
Questions left unanswered
How Balyan’s gravestone that has been lost for many years ended up
in the Ä°BB’s construction site, and why the necessary precautions
to protect gravestones were not taken remains unclear. Metropolitan
Municipality officials we contacted could only state that the issue
would be investigated, and left our questions unanswered.
Cemetery left in disarray
The BeÃ…~_iktaÃ…~_ Armenian Cemetery is among the most important
immovable assets of the Armenian community that were seized by the
State. The published research project of the Hrant Dink Foundation
titled “2012 Declaration – The Seized Properties of Armenian
Foundations” also features the story of the cemetery. According
to the book, there used to be two cemeteries in the BeÃ…~_iktaÃ…~_
District. The present-day Abbasaga Park was built on the site of the
first cemetery. Gureg Manuelyan purchased the plot of the cemetery
in 1776. In 1849, the plot was surrounded by a wall by Garabet
Amira Balyan. When Abdul Hamid II wanted to seize the piece of land,
the Armenian Patriarch Harutyun Vehabedyan wrote a petition dated 4
March 1887 to the Sultan and had the expropriation halted. The Sultan
ruled that the cemetery would remain in the possession of the Armenian
community, that the existing graves would be protected, but that the
walls would be demolished to turn the plot into a garden. The cemetery
plot remained derelict until the 1930s, until it was expropriated
in line with Istanbul Governor Lutfi Kırdar’s decision, and was
redeveloped into the Abbasaga Park. The other cemetery in the district
was where the Yıldız intersection connecting to the Bosphorus Bridge
is today, and it was expropriated and destroyed during construction
work for the present-day Barbaros Boulevard.
Garabet Balyan: The architect who built Istanbul as we know it today
We do not have detailed knowledge about the youth and education
of Garabet Amira Balyan, often referred to as the architect of
Dolmabahce Palace in architectural history. Following his father Krikor
Balyan’s death in 1831, he became the Palace Architect along with
his brother-in-law Ohannes Amira Serveryan, thanks to the mediation
of Kazaz Artin Bezciyan, Director of the Royal Mint.
His first work was the Surp Pırgic Armenian Hospital in Yedikule. He
provided great services to the Armenian community not only as
architect, but also with the donations he made, and especially his
work in the field of education. He had ten children from his marriage
with Nazeni Babayan. His children Nigogos, Sarkis, Agop and Simon
also served as Palace Architects.
Garabet Balyan played a key role in the sustained service of his
family members as Palace Architects. He served as Palace Architect
during the reigns of Mahmud II, Abdulmecid I and Abdulaziz, and took
charge of the design and construction of outstanding monumental works
of Istanbul’s architectural heritage. The most productive period of
his 30-year career was during the reign of Abdulmecid I.
The majority of Garabet Balyan’s works remain in good condition today
and they retain their authentic design. All his works are registered
as 1st degree cultural heritage sites.
List of Garabet Balyan’s monumental works
Dolmabahce Palace and Mosque, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Kuleli
Cavalry Barracks, Terkos Facilities, the Kirazlı Dam and the Bend-i
Cedid (the ‘New Dam’) in Bahceköy, Beykoz Leather Factory, Bakırköy
Cloth Factory, Hereke Factory, Yedikule Surp Pırgic Armenian Hospital,
the Surp Asdvadzadzin Church in BeÃ…~_iktaÃ…~_, the Surp Hac Church in
KuruceÃ…~_me, and the Surp Yerortutyun Uc Horan Church in Beyoglu.
From: A. Papazian