The experts are coming to Edirne at the invitation of the Edirne Municipality, which previously tried to have the Selimiye Mosque included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This time around, the municipality has decided to invite experts who might be able to offer valuable insight into the process involved in adding a site to the prestigious UNESCO list.Edirne Deputy Mayor Namık Kemal Döleneken provided details on the Nov. 16-17 meeting to take place in Edirne, a meeting that will be attended by experts from Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Greece and Israel. Döleneken emphasized the municipality’s determination to see the city’s famous Ottoman-era mosque added to the World Heritage List.
“The meeting that will take place here has been completely organized by the municipality alone. We are bringing in experts who either have the authority to make such decisions or who have had considerable experience overseeing other world heritage sites. We are prepared to take their advice while trying to take some serious steps forward. This meeting will also give us the opportunity to voice some of our concerns to first-rate experts on this matter.”
‘Being added to this list is not a result, but a process in itself’
Professor Nevzat İlhan of Trakya University’s architecture and engineering faculty, an expert on restoration as well as a scientific consultant for the Edirne mosque project, notes that having a historical site added to the UNESCO list is not so much a final result as a process in itself. İlhan says the entire city needs to be involved, adding, “Every city institution must be a part of this process.”
Talking about the historical and cultural value of the mosque, Professor İlhan notes: “The Selimiye Mosque can only be accurately compared to structures such as the Pantheon in Rome built during the time of the Emperor Hadrian, the Hagia Sofia, the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Saint Peter’s [Basilica] in Vatican City or Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. UNESCO is asking for a scientific comparison report showing why this spot should be listed as a world heritage site and what its unique characteristics are in a scientific and intellectual manner.”
İlhan also notes that the mosque should be considered alongside its immediate surroundings. “The mosque itself, the ‘Üç Şerefeli,’ the Alipaşa Market, the Rüstempaşa Caravanserai, that entire area suggests the influence of the Selimiye Mosque.”
The Selimiye Mosque’s journey toward the UNESCO World Heritage List
An application made years ago to have the Selimiye Mosque, one of the most important architectural structures remaining in Turkey from the Ottoman era, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List did not result in success. And in the time that has since passed, the conditions in place for the inclusion of a site on the UNESCO list have changed.
While in the past, evaluations were only made of the site being considered itself, now conditions also call for wider evaluations of the area surrounding the site. In accordance with the new conditions, the Edirne Municipality embarked upon a three-year period of preparation for this new process. One result of this long task has been the production of a report on the aboveground and underground conditions of both the mosque and its environs. The report, which has been sent to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Ankara, is to be presented to UNESCO by February 2010.
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