Özet:

The most important factor in the establishment of the built environment of the cities in the Ancient Period was the financial support of the wealthy nobility who formed the city council. The quality of the structuring, which arose as a result of the nobility's desire to make the city they reside in beautiful and pleasant, must have definitely been directly proportional to the financial power of both the city and themselves. The financial challenges that began to emerge throughout the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity, as well as the resulting increased taxes, prompted wealthier citizens to spend less on urban public works. Financial and administrative power shifted from pagan urban nobility to Christian clergy and Christian philanthropists in Late Antiquity. The shift in power dynamics resulted in the rapid spread of Christian ecclesiastical structures in cities. It had not always been easy for religious structures to find a place in the urban built environment. As a solution for this issue, conversions in the form and function of pagan structures emerged. At this stage, it is observed that certain pagan structures were destroyed, while others were partially or totally converted. The magnitude and quality of this conversion emerge as being directly proportional to the city's financial power. It is seen that, in larger cities with better financial conditions, not only the preservation or the partial conversion of existing monumental structures, but also the maintenance, repair, and renovation of urban spaces, continues. The preservation of spaces associated with entirely discarded old religious beliefs implies the continuation of cultural memory as well as the existence of a preservative understanding. However, the fact that this preservative approach was more intensely pursued in relatively wealthy cities can be explained by the fact that the rise of this viewpoint was likewise tied to financial power.

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