Tepebağ

Tepebağ
Neighborhood
Tepebağ from the Seyhan river
Country	Turkey
Province	Adana
District	Seyhan
Government
• Type	Muhtar - Seniors Council
• Body	Tepebağ Muhtarlık
• Muhtar	Serkan Toktay
Elevation	23 m (75 ft)
Population (2009)
• Total	1,157
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	01xx
Area code(s)	0322
Licence plate	01

Tepebağ (English: Orchard Hill) is a historical neighborhood in the old town of Adana. It is situated on a hill overlooking the Seyhan River on the west, steps away from the Taşköprü, and reflects the traditional housing architecture of the city. Tumulus at Tepebağ is the area of the first settlements in Adana.

Throughout the history, Adana was re-built several times at the area of the Tepebağ Tumulus. The city architecture did not develop much until the mid 19th century due to the nomadic living styles of the Turkmens and Yörüks living in the city, and the re-construction of the buildings along the Seyhan River which get frequently destroyed by the floods.

Until the late 19th century, Adana consisted of one-story houses made of mud brick. During this period, the city had a rapid development with the improvements on the Seyhan River, the increase in the cotton yield and with the development of the manufacturing industry. The period of development also affected the architecture in which the mud brick homes were replaced with 2-3 story structured durable houses. These are the building styles which could exist to present and were named the Traditional Adana Houses.

The developments in Tepebağ was on the hill and down the hill to the plain. Houses were designed depending on being built on the areas with slope or at the plain areas. Most of the houses are 2-3 story and made up of ground, mezzanine and main floors. Depending on the land, some houses are made up of basement, ground and main floors. Building were built mostly by brick stacking or with wooden structure. In the neighborhood, there are also concrete structured newer buildings.

Despite the heavy use of stone in neighboring towns, the residential architecture of Adana is mostly made of bricks. Traditional architecture of the city is developed with the effect of the hot and humid climate of the Mediterranean. At the traditional houses, thick walls, few windows, stony places and inner courtyards are seen on the ground floors. At the upper floors, row windows and projections are common, and together with the plain earth roofs and eaves, the architecture corresponds to the climate.

Traditional homes are built attached on narrow and curly streets to very small lots. At the urban sprawl that is formed with lining up of these houses, streets have different widths and there are many streets with no exit.

The mansions that were built along the Seyhan River at the end of the 19th century, and at the beginning of the 20th century are the elegant samples of the traditional residential architecture. These buildings can go up to 4-story and have rooftop terraces that have extensive view with a cooling breeze. They differ significantly from the modest houses of the hill, with the architecture, street-building and courtyard-lot relation, lot size and the roof styling. Besides being taller, these mansions have bigger lots and the ground floors directly open up to the street without courtyards and the buildings are fit on the entire lots. The mansions, which are referred to as Row Mansions locally, are the first registered buildings with historical value. Among these the Hacı Yunuszade Mehmet Efendi and the Bosnalı Salih Efendi mansions at the south end are noteworthy to mention. The latter's main hall is lighted with an octagon bright lantern. At the northwest of these row mansions, Suphi Paşa mansion stands in well shape and has been used as a museum (Atatürk Museum) since 1981. This building has seen an extensive restoration after the Adana–Ceyhan earthquake in 1998.