Abstract:

We do not have enough information on Ali Ruhi Efendi’s life. We know that he was born in Gambili (Hisarköy) which is a part of Girne. In 1826, during the reign of Sultan II. Mahmud, he was appointed as the tax collector of Cyprus by Tersane Hazinesi. Ali Ruhi Efendi fulfilled his service successfully and also in this period he had a lot of social structures done. During his governorship period he built four fountains, a mosque, a primary school, a library and a muvakkithane1. Ali Ruhi Efendi became famous on the island with these building activities. For the maintenance of these buildings he also established many vakfs. In a period in which Ottoman empire start to regress, in the island of Cyprus that host many kinds of ethnical identity, continuation of this kind of activities shows us that all members of the population tried to come together around the common cultural values. This study is about Ali Ruhi Efendi’s constructive functions. In this context, all the constructions that he contributed to are studied for the first time under the same topic and also we investigate the buildings that could not survive until today

Keywords: