A traditional wooden corbelled dome construction technique from Anatolia. The Eastern Anatolian Tandoor house with its wooden “swallow-dome” type of roof

Abstract

The traditional houses of the East Anatolian Region were basically a product of climatic conditions. The types of houses here reflect the region’s climatic conditions and display the same type of design in both urban and rural settlements. In response to the region’s long and severe winters, houses were kept closed to the outside, having thick walls, small windows with open and semi-open spaces (gardens, courtyards, sofas) that were also kept small. The kitchen was the throbbing heart of the house and the main element of design in its plan was a tandoor, in front of which the whole family assembled. The interior design of this space, with its corbelled roof of wood (locally called “kırlangıç roof or tüteklikli roof” was the most characteristic element of the houses. The aim of this article is to present the traditional residential architecture of the East Anatolian Region and the kitchen that characterizes it, as well as introduce the most unique part of the kitchen–the lantern roof (locally, the kırlangıç roof or the tüteklikli roof)–by offering examples to be found in the district of Gümüşdamla (formerly Zargıdı), Aydıntepe, in the province of Bayburt, one of the main cities of the region.