The elements of forming traditional Turkish cities: Examination of houses and streets in historical city of Erzurum

When the historical parts of cities—which are the cultural mosaics and which reflect the feelings, thoughts, tendencies, life experiences and the accumulations of the periods in which they were built—begin to disappear, it affects the historical identities of the cities negatively. Investigating, learning, documenting and transferring to the future the values of these spaces, which are bridges between past and future, are vitally important for the maintenance of the cities. This analytical study carried out in Üç Kümbetler and its vicinity in the historical city of Erzurum—where historical and traditional urban elements such as religious buildings, traditional houses, streets, and fountains are intense—aimed at fulfilling these ends. The study contains an introduction, a description of the area of study, an investigation of the historical buildings in the site, an analysis of the streets and dwellings in the site, and conclusions. In the lights of the data obtained through the investigation and measurement of the buildings in the site, the streets were analysed and evaluated under the headings of street types and factors affecting the perception; and the dwellings were analysed and evaluated under the headings of interior space and elements-factors affecting the formation of façades.