Özet:

Abstract Historic rural landscapes and their bio-cultural heritage are rapidly transforming and being lost due to many different reasons such as depopulation, urbanization, environmental problems, and the climate crisis all around the world. Camlihemsin, which is located approximately 40 km away from Rize city center on the Eastern Black Sea coast, has also been negatively affected by this transformation process. Most of the rural settlements in the Eastern Black Sea region have lost their authenticity and integrity values, as is common in Turkey. Contrary to the general tendency in Turkey and World, the historic rural landscape of Ortan and Yolkıyı settlements, which have been comprised of traditional mansions, auxiliary buildings, croplands, orchards, religious buildings, historic paths, water mills, and bridges, have been preserved. The migration movement of the Hemshinians from the Çamlıhemşin countryside to Russia, which started in the second half of the 19th century, has directly affected the physical structure of the Ortan and Yolkıyı traditional settlements. This article approaches the tangible and intangible values of the historic rural settlements of Ortan and Yolkiyi, which have heritage values that can be considered important on a national scale, with a holistic view. It is possible to read the direct effects of the migration process of the Hemshinians to Russia, in order to make a living, through the traditional fabric that has survived to the present day. Understanding the genius loci of the settlements, comprised of single-story shelters in a forested area in the beginning and transformed by the building of grand mansions related to the income gained from the migration process, will only be possible with a holistic view that will also take into account the human stories and intangible elements in the background. The rural architecture of Ortan and Yolkıyı settlements is a part of the vernacular building culture in the Eastern Black Sea region. So differences in details such as the extraordinary dimensions of the mansions and high quality in wood and stone craftsmanship cannot be noticed at first glance. This study focuses, not only, on the tangible physical characteristics of the historic rural settlements of Ortan and Yolkiyi but also, on the human stories in its background and develops proposals for the sustainable conservation of the bio-cultural heritage of the region. It is known that the inhabitants of Ortan and Yolkıyı, who had limited arable land and could not earn enough income from agriculture or animal husbandry, migrated from their homeland as early as the second half of the 19th century. This migration, which was initially thought to be temporary and targeted at Russia, has turned to the big cities of Turkey after the First World War, and currently, Ortan and Yolkiyi have become largely depopulated except in the summer months. It is thought that the preservation of the historic landscapes of Yolkıyı and Ortan, which have survived to the present day by preserving their authentic character shaped jointly by humans and nature, depends on a sustainable rural economy and a continuous life. Ensuring the continuity of life in the region depends on increasing the welfare of the people of the region and improving their living conditions. In addition to the research carried out in the Directorate of State Archives Ottoman Archives to find historical documents, the last generation representatives of the mansion owners and historians who have been studying in this field were reached and numerous oral interviews were conducted in order to understand the human stories related to migration. Also, many field studies were carried out to define the cultural and natural heritage values of the site. Besides the inventory and survey studies for understanding the vernacular architectural character, historic landscape character assessment was carried out through high-resolution aerial photographs obtained by drone. Transformations in the historic rural landscape have been documented by comparing current analyzes with aerial photographs obtained from the General Directorate of Mapping, the oldest of which is from the 1970s. In order to preserve the “message” behind the cultural and natural heritage, or in other words, the “spirit of the place”, human[1]oriented studies are needed that will consider the tangible and intangible heritage holistically. In this context, it is hoped that this research will provide important data for future studies that will be carried out with a holistic perspective, not only on the physical remains but also on the intangible elements in the background, for the understanding and sustainable conservation of historical rural landscapes and their bio-cultural heritage.

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