Preliminary remarks on the late ottoman churches in aintab

Aintab was historically a multi-ethnic and multi-religious city. In the 19th century, missionary activities were added to its multi-layered tableau. Mainly American Congregationalists but also Latin Catholics and some Anglicans settled in the city, building their religious, educational, and health institutions and giving birth to new syntheses in the architectural vocabulary. Meanwhile, local Christians also, put new church projects into realization. During the 19^th century, seven new churches were designed and six were built in Aintab. However, the radical change in the ethnic and religious character of the social structure after the War of Independence had negative impacts on the state of these buildings in the 20th century. Most of them were confiscated and then either used by the government for different functions or sold and passed into private property. This paper seeks to examine these church buildings and to trace their histories of construction and re-use/demolition through archival documents, newspapers and writings of the ex-inhabitants of the city. The paper presents the preliminary findings of ongoing research that focuses on the transformation of the city’s multicultural character within its urban planning activities of the early 20th century.