Provincial Directorate of Culture and Toursim (Old Package Post Office)

Provincial Directorate of Culture and Toursim (Old Package Post Office)

One of the rare buildings left over from the fire in 1922 and today used as the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the building carries the reflections of the 'Art Nouveau' style known as the 'romantic ornament movement'. The fire which turned the 'bride of the gulf' into 'the bride of the fire', undoubtedly inflicts irreparable wounds on the spatial view of the city of Izmir. Many buildings in the area between Gümrük and Pasaport, where the heart of the trade that provides the wealth of the city beats, will be destroyed in the fire. One of the rare structures that survived in this region and survived until today is the building that serves as the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism today.

The history

The two-storey building, which was active as the Izmir Commodity Exchange from 1891 to 1919, was used as the Greek National Bank during the occupation years, and served as the Izmir Central Post Office and Package Post Office for many years after the end of the occupation carries the reflections of the Art Nouveau style, which is known as the 'romantic ornament movement', which influenced the city. The fire that started in Basmane district on September 13, 1922, four days after the liberation of Izmir from the enemy invasion, spread rapidly with the effect of the wind blowing from the south towards the coast and destroyed three-quarters of the city. While the Armenian Quarter is completely burned, a large part of the Greek and Levantine districts also disappear; Of the Frank district, only some of the structures on the Belle Vue (Kordon) survive. Buildings such as the Avcılar Club, Sporting Club and Theater operating in Kordon, the Pathe Cinema, the first cinema of Izmir, the Kraemer Theater, the most famous hotels of Izmir, Hotel Huck, Kraemer Palas and Hotel Smyrna Palas, Club de Paris and Club de Jardin that have an important place in their social and cultural life, too, desperately surrender to the flames. The fire, which affected an area about two and a half kilometers long and one kilometer wide along the coast, leaves 2.5 million square meters of black and terrifying ruin. The fire which turned the 'bride of the gulf' into 'the bride of the fire', undoubtedly inflicts irreparable wounds on the spatial view of the city of Izmir. Many buildings in the area between Gümrük and Pasaport, where the heart of the trade that provides the wealth of the city beats, were destroyed in the fire. One of the rare structures that survived in this region and survived until today is the building that serves as the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism today. The two-storey building, which was active as the Izmir Commodity Exchange from 1891 to 1919, was used as the Greek National Bank during the occupation years, and served as the Izmir Central Post Office and Package Post Office for many years after the end of the occupation, carries the reflections of the Art Nouveau (*) style, which is known as the 'romantic ornament movement'. On the exterior of the building, wrought iron railings, striking door eaves and decorations surrounding the jambs are typical and striking examples of the Art Nouveau style. The large iron safes embedded in the walls on the ground floor are literally witnesses of the times when the building was used as a stock exchange and a bank. The cast steel columns with Ionic style capitals and grooved bodies, which are seen on the ground floor of the building, reminiscent of nine ram's horns, do not only support the upper floor, but also give the space a historical atmosphere. The high ceilings of the ground floor are adorned with remarkable intense plaster decorations. It is seen that egg and dart moldings, meander motifs -they are a kind of right-angled or round curved ornaments that take their name from the curves of the Menderes River, formerly Meandros, flowing meandering into the Aegean Sea- and palmettes are generously used in decorations. Plaster-decorated ceiling cores on which wrought iron chandeliers hang are other elements that enrich the interior. The first floor is reached by a wooden staircase and lovely leaf motifs can be seen on the stair railings. There are geometric forms in the glass door that can be reached. The stucco decorations on the ceilings of the first floor of the building and the wrought iron bars on the windows are also remarkable. The building, which was used as the Package Post Office for many years, was brought to the Ministry of Tourism in 1996 with the initiatives of Işılay Saygın, the Minister of Tourism at the time, and as a result of a two-year restoration process, it was put into service as the Provincial Tourism Directorate in July 1998. The restoration of the building, which is within the scope of the second degree protected area, was carried out with devotion by the technical staff of the Ministry of Tourism, and during the repair work, attention was paid to the renewal of everything from floor coverings to ceiling decorations. * Art Nouveau: Art Nouveau (read as aat noo.vow and means 'New Art' in French), which emerged in Europe with the slogan 'Art for all, art everywhere' in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is an architectural trend, from which folds, flower and plant patterns, stained glass are frequently used. Art Nouveau artists, who turned their backs on classicism, sought inspiration primarily in nature, used floral motifs, female figures, twisted lines in all areas affected by the current, and tried to express the dynamic forces of nature, unlike the ancients who used plants and animals in a static form in regular compositions. The use of iron as a building material (Eiffel Tower built for the 1889 Paris Fair) was an important revolution for architecture. Iron wasutilized both as functional and ornamental (wrought iron) in subway entrances, in different parts of buildings, in daily life vehicles and objects.