National Palaces’ Approach to the Conservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage

Abstract

As distinctive examples of Türkiye’s historical and cultural heritage and as monumental landmarks within our civilizational history, the Ottoman palaces are works of significant representational, symbolic, and artistic value. These palaces, which have largely survived to the present day in a well-preserved state, are of exceptional importance as they reflect the architectural and aesthetic sensibilities of the civilization they represent through their structures, gardens, and the collections they contain. Indeed, historical and cultural heritage encompasses not only buildings and objects but also the cultural and historical accumulations embodied by these works. Therefore, the preservation, continuation, and sustainability of these assets that constitute our historical heritage provide an invaluable contribution to the protection of societal identity. In this context, the restoration and conservation practices carried out by the Directorate National Palaces, the institution responsible for the section of our country’s historical heritage pertaining to palaces, concerning the preservation and sustainability of the assets it holds in trust, emerge as a noteworthy area of research. The Directorate undertakes significant efforts to preserve, maintain, and ensure the transmission of both movable and immovable cultural assets under its jurisdiction to future generations. Although these invaluable structures have largely survived to the present day, they have sustained various forms of damage and deterioration over time, primarily due to the passage of time, environmental factors, and other contributing causes. In the initial phase of restoration processes, expert restorers evaluate factors contributing to damage and deterioration. Following this assessment, necessary preparatory measures are initiated prior to the commencement of restoration. Given their importance, all these works are carried out with the utmost care and precision. The scientific evaluation and organization of the restoration and conservation efforts conducted by the National Palaces are carried out by the National Palaces Science and Evaluation Committee, which is composed of experts in their respective fields. During the decision-making process, input is also sought from members of the National Palaces Advisory Committee on particular issues requiring specialized knowledge. In restoration practices, the National Palaces also identifies functional recommendations for the post-restoration use of the structure to the extent permitted by its current condition. At this stage, the primary principle is to preserve the historical identity and documentary value of the structure to the greatest extent possible. National Palaces determines the methods of intervention and the principles of their implementation for cultural heritage structures such as palaces, pavilions, and kiosks, employing contemporary international conservation techniques, and conducts its work based on the principle of sustainability. This study aims to examine the experience, current capacity, and practices of the century-old Directorate of National Palaces in the field of restoration by concretizing these aspects through various examples.