IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 7, No.

4, August 2015

Ecological Approaches from Past to Present: Traditional

Architecture of Cappadocia Region
Serife Ozata

solutions in the regions which have climatic and geographical

Abstract—Cappadocia, which is popular with its natural characteristics similar to those of Cappadocia.
scenic beauty, also has many important and special vernacular The scope of this study is limited to approaches of
architectural features. In this study, architectural examples traditional and ecologic building in Bahceli Village. Analytic,
which were built in Cappadocia were analyzed in terms of
energy saving, economic efficiency and compatibility with
qualitative and descriptive methods are used for explaining
nature design in the areas which are similar to Cappadocia these approaches.
geologically and climatically. The necessity and advantages of
an integration of today’s technology and vernacular
architecture for today’s architecture can be explained by II. CAPPADOCIA REGION AND TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
working on the solutions for material problems, natural
ventilation, chimney design and natural lightning of the The Cappadocia region is located in Central Anatolia,
buildings of Cappadocia, which are rock-cut, rock-cut& Turkey. Defining the exact boundaries of Cappadocia is
masonry and masonry. difficult due to its changing borderlines in history. According
to most of the written documents, it is bordered by Taurus
Index Terms—Cappadocia, traditional materials, ventilation Mountains in the south, Kızılırmak River in the north,
and chimney design, natural lighting. Kayseri province in the east and Tuzgölü basin in the west [3].
Boundaries of Cappadocia Region according to its
morphological characteristics are limited by boundaries of
I. INTRODUCTION
Nevsehir province and a valley of Kayseri province,
Due to the variety of materials and technical opportunities Soganlı (Fig. 1) [8].
which are developed with the help of technology, architects Winters are cold, rainy and snowy; summers are hot and
leave traditional construction methods in today’s architecture. dry. Continental climate is dominant in the region [9]. The
Buildings which do not have traditional characteristics are rainiest months are March and December and the hottest and
designed instead of buildings which are designed by taking driest months are July and August. Dominant winds blow
into account climatic conditions, conventional cultural from north [10].
features and traditional methods. There are three main building types in Cappadocia. These
Cappadocia is a unique region which has rock-cut and are rock-cut, rock-cut & masonry and masonry buildings.
masonry buildings. Because Bahceli Village has the general Rocky earth of the region has great effects on the vernacular
features of the traditional architecture of Cappadocia, it was architecture.
selected as our study area. As a goal of this study, traditional
and ecological approaches to natural ventilation, lighting and A. Bahceli Village
construction methods were determined for constituting Bahceli is a village of Nevsehir province (Fig. 1). It was
sample solutions and providing data for today’s and present’s selected as a study area because buildings in that area have
buildings. similar architectural, climatic and geographical
Zhu et al. say that construction plays an important role in characteristics to other buildings in the entire region. Seeing
the influence of humans on nature and creating a construction all building types of Cappadocia Region is possible in there.
which can get along with nature in a harmonious way has The village is located in a valley. The bottom of the valley
great theoretical and practical significance [1]. In that case, is in the east and the most ancient settlements are in that area
transferring and developing data of conventional buildings in (Fig. 2) because this part of the village is surrounded by rock
the study area which are designed by taking into slopes which are suitable for carving buildings.
consideration the concept of respect to nature is very
important for building design. Xu-Dong et al. explain this
importance by saying that ‘‘Traditional buildings can give us III. ECOLOGICAL APPROACHES OF VERNACULAR
edification about ecological architecture’’ [2]. ARCHITECTURE
We hope that the data of this study will be a useful sample All three different building types of the Cappadocia region
for architects who want to design buildings which are exist in the village. Methods of the choice and use of
harmonious with environment, have traditional and ecologic materials which have been used in these types of buildings,
natural ventilation, chimney solutions and natural lighting
system are explained in this section.
Manuscript received May 15, 2014; revised July 24, 2014.
S. O. is with the Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, A. Types of Building
Istanbul, Turkey (e-mail: sozata@yildiz.edu.tr, ozataserife@gmail.com).
There are three building types in Cappadocia that have

DOI: 10.7763/IJET.2015.V7.807 294

 IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 7, No. 4, August 2015

been studied in the scope of this study. These are rock-cut, rock-cut & masonry and masonry.

Fig. 1. The place of cappadocia region and study area [4]-[7].

y Rock-cut buildings: These kinds of buildings are source for three different building types in the village.
constituted by carving massive rocks according to
necessity of space. These buildings are also a type of
earth-sheltered buildings. According to Xu-dong,
traditional cave dwellings have become an important
developing direction in architecture because of its
energy-saving characteristics [2].
y Rock-cut & masonry buildings: These buildings are
named as rock-cut & masonry because some of their
parts consist of carved rocky earth and other parts are
masonry. Cave dwelling parts are generally in the first
floor and other parts are above the carved parts. These
buildings have the characteristics of both types.
y Masonry buildings: These types of buildings have
structures which are made of stone (special to this
region) and bound together with mortar. All types have
a special traditional construction process. They are
shown in Fig. 3.
B. Material Solutions
Traditional materials are used in the construction of
vernacular architecture because they are harmonious with
environment and their transportation is easy. Using
traditional materials is energy saving, too.
Geological characteristics of the region have great effects
on the regions’ architecture. The study area, Bahceli Village,
is located in the Cappadocia Volcanic Province (CVP) (Fig.
4). As seen in Fig. 4, the village is in the volcaniclastic and
cinder cone field (in Urgup Formation). Total thickness of Fig. 2. Scenery and plan of Bahceli Village [11].
the formation is more than 400 m [12]. Stratigraphic of the
ignimbrites (tuffs) in the area (Fig. 4) shows that there are Rock-cut buildings are carved in the tuff layers and the
more than 10 units, and they have different characteristics [3]. whole structure is constituted in this rock layer. The most
Details of the characteristics of ignimbrites are beyond this important characteristic of tuffs are their porous structure
study but let us just note that soft tuffs are on the bottom [14]. This characteristic is useful for providing heat and noise
layers and volcanogenic hard lava rocks are generally on the insulation but it also causes ambient air humidity when its’
top layers in the stratigraphy of the region [13]. Rock type of cavities are filled with water. This humidity problem was
the study area is generally tuff and there are small mountains solved by thickening the section height of floor and ceiling of
which have different ignimbrite layers around the village. carved spaces.
This different ignimbrite layers were used as a material The different characteristics of ignimbrite layers in the

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region have many advantages for masonry structures. Tuff build water-repellent ceilings. The structure of these basalt
stones which are carved near the village are used for walls. stones is not very porous and they don’t absorb water very
Basalt stones which are carved from the upper part of the much [14]. Humidity problem in the masonry buildings is
mountains, 3-5 km. far away from the village, are used to solved by using the right material.

Fig. 3. Building types.

Fig. 4. Simplified geological map of the cappadocian volcanic province and stratigraphy of the ignimbrites in the area [3], [12].

Two types of floor are common in masonry structures: structure. This method provides efficient use of material and
Stone and timber floors. Stone floors are designed like an workforce.
arch. Pumice is used for filling the gaps between arches. This
C. Natural Ventilation and Chimney Solutions
filling action decreases the loading of masonry and provides
heat and noise insulation. Timber floors are flat. The beams Ventilation system design is an important part of
of these floors are built with timbers of poplars which are architecture because of its effects on people’s health. Air
grown near the stream of the village. Poplars are used for pollution in a vernacular house of the village is generally
timber beams because they grow quickly in well-watered caused by the smoke of clay oven which is used for warming
places and local people grow new ones continuously instead or cooking.
of cut ones. In addition, reed mats which are grown near the Chimneys are an important part of ventilation just as
stream are used for heat and noise insulation like pumice fills. windows are. Natural ventilation is possible with an efficient
Details of floors are shown in Fig. 5. chimney. A well-known principle about fluids is used while
Rock-cut & masonry buildings are constructed with chimneys are being designed. According to this
mixed methods of the two types of buildings. Upper part of principle,‘‘ the narrowing section makes the speed of fluid
the rock is made flat and this makes masonry structure on it higher.’ So, the smoke leaves the space immediately.
possible. During this flatting process, rock is carved block by Moreover, there is a small hole which opens to an outer space
block and these blocks are used for masonry part of the and this hole provides oxygen for burning without smoking.
Explained systems are shown in Fig. 6 and 7.

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The chimney of rock-cut buildings is constructed by building; the latter is narrowing the external area of the
carving the rock. As shown in Fig. 6, the section of chimney window with minimal outer surface in order to prevent the
narrows. In addition, the traditional grain pots are used for entrance of cold air. These types of windows are generally
constructing the chimney of masonry buildings. Using that common for rock-cut buildings.
kind of pots facilitates the process of chimney construction Another common feature of buildings is rock sofas in front of
because they are found easily in the region and they are the windows. The aims of designing sofas are making the
produced with regions’ special clay. The pot and the chimney area which is near to windows more lightened and generating
are shown in Fig. 7. The chimney of the rock-cut & masonry a sitting area which exploits sunlight more effectively.
buildings has similar features to the other two chimney types. Details of designed sofas and windows are shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Natural lighting solutions and rock sofa.

IV. CONCLUSION
Providing an integration of today’s technology and
vernacular houses which are compatible with nature, have
comfort requirements like heat and sound insulation and
minimize the use of energy in regions like Cappadocia, which
has cold climate in winters, hot and dry in summers, is very
important for today’s sustainable architecture. According to
Esin et al., traditional design and construction process have
constituted worthwhile examples of architecture by gathering
local resources and workforces [15].
In the scope of this study, a village which has the general
vernacular architectural features of Cappadocia Region,
Fig. 5. Details of floor types.
Bahceli Village, was chosen to work on and its’ buildings’
features about material types, natural ventilation, chimney
design and lightning were explained. The outcomes of this
research obtained from vernacular architecture are given
below:
y Analyzing building types and features of the place
where the building will be constructed is essential for
constructing an ecological building in this place,
y Using local materials for the constructions without
affecting the nature adversely is very important for
Fig. 6. Chimney detail of rock-cut building. protecting nature and for sustainable design,
y Design principles of natural ventilation system and
chimney style should be decided according to the
principle of ‘‘Remove the dirty air from the place
quickly’’. Some local equipment can be useful and has
the potential of being used in a design as if it is a part of
the construction. Therefore, all immediate environment
of the building area should be analyzed in detail to see
the opportunities
y While designing lighting, climatic characteristics and
Fig. 7. Chimney detail of masonry building and used grain pot. optimum quantity of sunlight should be considered in
detail for designing effective windows.
D. Natural Ventilation and Chimney Solutions
Consequently, before designing a place in any area, if this
The amount of natural light of any kind of space is a very area has a vernacular architecture, examples of this
important aspect of building design. Windows are designed architecture should be researched. People have designed
with an inclination from inside to outside, so that light is buildings compatible with environment for centuries but in
received effectively. This window design has two main aims. recent centuries they have mostly ignored the environment
The former aim is providing more light for the inside part of a

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while they design structures. Vernacular architectures have [9] M. N. Sayın, ‘‘Fairy chimney development in cappadocian Ignımbrites
(central anatolia, Turkey),’’ Doctorate Thesis, Middle East Technical
their own technology of their built time. Integrating them into University, Ankara, 2008, p. 2
today’s architecture by finding out about them deeply is [10] Nevsehir. [Online] Available:
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[11] Bahçeli+Köyü. [Online] Available:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bahçeli+Köyü/@38.5478425,34.
I would like to thank H. Merve Tuncer, Neslihan Bardak, 8432902,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x152a6a1365f1e4e9:0xba77373a15
4da44c
Sedef Sayin, Sagra Ozcayci and my family for their great [12] .O. Mutlu, ‘‘Geology and joint analysis of the derinkuyu and kaymaklı
support. underground cities of cappadocia, Turkey,’’ Master Thesis, Middle
East Technical University, Ankara, 2008, pp. 17-18
[13] M. Yıldırım and E. Gökasan, Mühendisler Için Jeoloji Bilgileri,
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(unpublished), Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 2004, p.4,16 Serife Ozata was born in Nevsehir, Turkey in 1990.
[4] Map of Cappadocia Region. [Online]. Available: She received her B.S. degree as an architect from
http://www.villacolumba.com/kapadokya-gezi-rehberi/kapadokya-boe Yıldız Technical University in 2012. She has had
lge-haritasi/ undergraduate education at the Faculty of Architecture
[5] Turkey Map. [Online]. Available: of Universidad de Alicante in Spain as an ERASMUS
http://www.turkcebilgi.com/harita/t% C%BCrkiye/dunya student for five months.
-uzerinde-turkiye-nerede She worked as a research assistant in Kırsehir Ahi
[6] Nevsehir Map. [Online]. Evran University. Since 2013, working as a research
Available:http://www.turkiye-resimleri.com/r- nevsehir-54-nevsehir assistant and studying on M.Sc. thesis at the
-haritasi-3510.htm Department of Architecture of Architecture Faculty of Yıldız Technical
[7] Geographical Position of Nevsehir. [Online]. Available: http:// University in Istanbul, Turkey. Her research interests include rock-cut and
www.nevsehir.gov.tr/ortak_icerik/nevsehir/contents/cografi_yapi.pdf masonry buildings, retrofitting-conserving-restoring historical buildings and
[8] D. U. Binan, ‘‘Güzelyurt örneğinde, kapadokya bölgesi yığma taş sustainable architecture.
konut mimarisinin korunması için bir yöntem araştırması,’’ Doctorate
Thesis, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, 1994, p. 5

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