Izmir-Aydın Railway is the first railway in Anatolia, constructed by a British company with a concession given by the Ottoman Empire. The railway was built between 1856 and 1866 with the primary goal of using the fertile Aegean region’s natural resources and carrying goods and raw materials to England via Izmir port. The important role of the railway in social, economic, technical, political, and cultural terms has led to its inclusion as a subset of industrial heritage and makes its conservation crucial to transferring it to future generations. The railway not only provides connectivity but also influences and changes the route through which it passes. The study aims to investigate the state of conservation and key characteristics of the Izmir-Aydın Railway, proposing a new documentation approach for the holistic conservation of railway heritage. As a method in the study, firstly, literature with the theme of railway heritage was examined. An archive survey was conducted to identify authentic railway structures of the Izmir-Aydın railway by using the London National Archive, Turkish Republic State Railways (TCDD) 3rd Regional Archive, TCDD Izmir Railway Museum Archive, and Izmir City archives. Due to the multidiscipline structure of the railway, the social impact of the Izmir-Aydın railway was also included in the study. Second, field studies were done to record the current state of the railway structures, including all relevant building types and parts. This was done using a developed approach to holistic conservation by looking at existing tools for documentation. This approach, with detailed documentation, is intended to contribute to the assessment of railway sites as a whole, with all relevant building types and components.
Documenting Izmir-Aydın Railway as a Part of Industrial Heritage in Turkey
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation
International Conference on “Conservation of Architectural Heritage: Sustainability ; 2023 ; Portsmouth, United Kingdom September 11, 2023 - September 14, 2023
2025-08-06
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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