A Survey of Industrial Heritages In the Context of Water Basins: Eastern Black Sea, Central Mediterranean and Northern Aegean

Abstract

Traditional watermills are examples of industrial heritage that work with water power. This study has been carried out in order to develop approaches that will ensure the sustainability of conservation for water mills of Turkey. After the field studies carried out in sub basins of Eastern Black Sea, Central Mediterranean and Northern Aegean Water Basins, 44 water mills that were built for grain milling have been determined. When these structures are considered in the context of the geographical properties of the water basin in which they are located, it is seen that the factors effecting the architectural formation and the distribution of the watermills are dependent upon the climate and topography of the basin. Also, sustainability of original function varies depending upon their architectural formation and the distribution. Accordingly, these structures that should be structurally, functionally and legally conserved shall have a conservation approach not only building based, but rather basin scaled. This study developed conservation recommendations on basin scale.