Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turk Kulturu ve Haci Bektas Veli - Arastirma Dergisi, sa.113, ss.117-135, 2025 (Scopus, TRDizin)
Eskişehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Foundation Cultural Center structure, designed by architect Bülent Bolkol in 1996, is one of the earliest cultural center applications of Turkey. The construction of the building increased the visibility of Alevi Bektashi culture in Eskişehir, also underlined the name of the foundation. This article examines this culture, which has so far been primarily examined from a literary and historical perspective, by looking at the created structure, from the standpoint of art and architectural history. Using methods such as oral interview, literature review and on-site documentation, the history of the place, its functional organization, ritualistic language, images of its beliefs and its architectural development were researched, taking into account the historical background. There is an arrangement for three different functions throughout the building.The first of these is the use of the basement for funeral preparations, receiving halal blessings and the meals served afterwards.The ground floor emphasizes the function of the building as a foundation administration, with its management offices and educational spaces. The largest space of the first floor is reserved for the Cemevi, where the function of worship is performed. All these functions cause quite different rituals to be seen in the whole structure.In relation to funerals, “rites of separation and rites of integration”, and in worship rituals, which are actually traditional ceremonies; “spiritual rites of passage, table fellowship, and exchange rites” come to the fore. On all floors of the building, inscriptions and important images of the Alevi-Bektashi tradition are used on the walls in different sizes and in different forms. The most visible use of these images can be seen in the figures of “Hacı Bektaş Veli, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Seven Great Bards and Two Lions” by sculptor Tankut Öktem, placed on both sides of the stairs and the main entrance, starting from the garden entrance of the Cultural Center.In fact, Eskişehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Foundation Cultural Center, which ordinary people define only as “Cemevi”, is a transitional structure between old and new in Alevi-Bektashi architecture and a living, complex place that carries the traditions and rituals of its culture to new generations.