A Cultural Heritage in Kesan: Old Bath

Edirne, which was conquered by Sultan Murad I in 1361, served as the capital of the Ottoman Empire until the conquest of Istanbul. After being a capital city, it was given a priority to the city reconstruction and many structures were built in the city. Edirne and its region, which takes its place in the history of the Ottoman Empire with the masterpieces it contains, is a remarkable settlement with its monumental architecture. Water structures have a special place in this architecture. Many water structures were built in and around the city center within the framework of religious principles of Islam and taking account the importance given to cleaning by the Turks. Within these buildings, the baths give us important information in the development of the city s history and urban texture.We learn from the written documents that numerous bath structures were built in the around the city center during the Ottoman Empire, especially in the capital years. However, with the capital being Istanbul, the city did not lose its importance, so many baths were built in various parts of the city by important statesmen and wealthy people, especially the Sultans. Among these baths, public baths attract attention. An important part of these structures, which were built by considering the current structure and necessity of the city, is still standing.The baths built are important not only in the city center but also in rural settlements close to the city. Kesan, which is the biggest district of Edirne today, is at the top of these settlements.Keşan, which is located in the south of Edirne and on the route of the Dardanelles (the Hellespont), attracts attention with its two important bath structures that survived to the present day. Both of these baths are in the county center today. The Old Bath, which is larger in size than the other Turkish baths and constitutes our main topic, has not been published in written documents before and will be introduced to the scientific world with this study for the first time.The Old Bath, which is known by the local people for its different names since its bani and construction date is unknown, has the feature of being the largest bath structure of the district. The building, which is understood to be built with a simpler understanding than the buildings in the center in terms of its design and decoration features, takes its place in the Ottoman bath architecture with its domed design, building materials and sections.In this study, we will evaluate a Turkish bath architecture in Keşan County of Edirne, which we have not seen in wrtitten documents before, in terms of materials, plan, architecture and decoration features and we will try to determine its place in Turkish Bath architecture. In addition, a short evaluation will be made on the dating of the structure.