Alexandria Turkish Quarter: Documentation of Ottoman houses and proposals for area rehabilitation
The Turkish (Gumruk) Quarter in Alexandria is one of the few areas in Egypt where urban pattern and architectural typology dating to the Ottoman era can still be found. Unfortunately, these buildings are not under any protection from the Egyptian government and they suffer from continuous sever deterioration. A visitor can easily notice the disappearance of one or more buildings over a short period of time and the historical city centre is rapidly changing. Clearly, there is an urgent need for immediate emergency interference in Alexandria in order to document and save this unique heritage.
The architecture of the Gumruk district consists of three main building styles dating between the 18th and the 19th century AD. The most common of them is an interior-oriented plan with a large variant of façades including straight or zigzag chikma (corbelled part of the façade with a wooden structure) and occidental decorated façades. The second style is the courtyard-equipped house in which the courtyard does not determinate its layout and where the main façade is externally oriented while the others are internally oriented (double oriented houses). Finally, the third style is the Ottoman so called “sofa style”, well known from the 18th until the mid-19th century, where a central sofa (room similar to the function of a modern living room today) determines the plan of the building. This room was often oval-shaped.
As a first stage of the Alexandria Turkish Quarter case study, a short term study was conducted in the area from September to November 2002. Based on old maps, the urban pattern was investigated and a few buildings that still maintain their Turkish identity were identified. European heritage protection laws of selected countries were reviewed and compared against the Egyptian heritage law no. 117. Thematic maps were created and information collected for 200 surveyed houses. These thematic maps include analysis of the heights, status and type of the selected buildings.
As a second stage for the study, a collaboration project was initiated in January 2004 between SCA/EAIS and the University of Senghor; a French-speaking university in Alexandria with a specialized program in Cultural Heritage. This project aimed to prepare detailed surveys for selected buildings in the Gumruk Quarter. Further work has been conducted by EAIS during the summer 2005, where 500 additional houses were surveyed, and for selected buildings typologies created and plans and facades analyzed.
We have created a digital layer for all the surveyed houses that brings together their maps and basic surveyed data. Currently, a text is being compiled that discusses the typology of the quarter and its relation to its history. EAIS plans to produce a catalogue for the surveyed houses and several thematic maps for the quarter.
