Population Exchange Museum in Immigrant Town Çatalca, Istanbul

Abstract

In this study the author examines Çatalca which is a disctrict of province İstanbul emphasising the Population Exchange Treaty (1923). Çatalca has hosted many civilizations, with a history of 2500 years. The Population Exchange Treaty signed between the Turkish and Greek Governments in 30.01.1923 was the first of its kind in history because it was legalized by international laws, which enforced the citizens of the two countries be exchanged compulsorily on the basis of religion. Greek Orthodox Turkish citizens, and the Muslim Greek citizens were both forced to leave their houses and homelands. Çatalca was a residential area where Orthodox Greeks and Muslim Turks used to live together before the population exchange. The immigrants from Greece were settled in Çatalca in the residences left by the immigrants fromTurkey. Çatalca has 9 different protected areas and one of them is historical urban site in Kaleiçi neighborhood, which has unique traditional residential texture. In Kaleiçi there are significant civil buildings and architectural structures which need immediate restoration and preservation projects. Population Exchange Museum is located also in this neighborhood. The aim of the study is to evaluate the architectural and cultural heritage of the district in the context of population exchange and the story of how the Museum was founded in 2010.