Architecture of Turkey

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The architecture of Turkey includes heritage from the ancient era of Anatolia to the present day. Significant remains from the Greco-Roman period are located throughout the country. The Byzantine period produced, among other monuments, the celebrated Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). Following the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century, Seljuk architecture mixed Islamic architecture with other styles of local architecture in Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire ushered in a centuries-long tradition of Ottoman architecture up until the early 20th century.

In the first years of the Turkish republic (after 1923), Turkish architecture was influenced by earlier Seljuk and Ottoman architecture, in particular during the First National Architectural Movement (also called the Turkish Neoclassical architecture movement). However, starting from the 1930s, architectural styles began to differ from traditional architecture, also as a result of an increasing number of foreign architects being invited to work in the country, mostly from Germany and Austria.^[1] The Second World War was a period of isolation, during which the Second National Architectural Movement emerged. Similar to Fascist architecture, the movement aimed to create a modern but nationalistic architecture.^[2]

From the 1950s the nation became more internationally connected, which enabled Turkish architects to experiment with new styles and become increasingly inspired by their counterparts in the rest of the world. However, they were largely constrained by the lack of technological infrastructure or insufficient financial resources until the 1980s.^[3] Thereafter, the liberalization of the economy and the shift towards export-led growth^[4] paved the way for the private sector to become the leading influence on architecture in Turkey.