Architects: AOMTD, KOOP Architects
Area: 42000 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: Egemen Karakaya
Manufacturers: Asmaz Ahşap Karkas Yapılar, Fibula Mimarlık, Karınca Reklam, Met Yapı, Temay Peyzaj, Şanlıbayrak Çelik
Lead Architect: Y. Burak Dolu / Arzu Özsavaşçı
City: Gelibolu
Country: Türkiye

Seddülbahir Fortress restoration project designed by KOOP Architects + AOMTD in Gallipoli, Türkiye has transformed the 17th-century Ottoman coastal stronghold into a public site for remembrance and education, completed in 2023. The project preserved surviving masonry towers and walls damaged by WWI bombardment, while introducing reversible timber structures at the Main Gate and Domed Building that suggest their original volumes without reconstructing them fully. The restoration team conducted extensive archival, archaeological, and conservation research over 25 years, collaborating with universities and government ministries. The adaptive reuse integrated a new museum replacing obsolete 1960s barracks, exhibiting Ottoman-era artifacts, and aligning new masonry with the historic walls. The Gallipoli Peninsula’s current identity as a national park contrasts with its violent past, and the fortress now functions as a “lieux de mémoire,” maintaining visible scars of war to encourage reflection on peace. Light timber and slatted structures permit air and sunlight to enter, underscoring life and reversibility. The project includes an artists’ workshop and redesigned village square serving the local community and visitors. Seddülbahir Fortress establishes a balanced approach combining conservation, interpretation, and new public functions while emphasizing the cultural value of remembering conflict.

Seddülbahir fortress / koop architects + aomtd

The Seddülbahir Fortress stands at the southern entrance of the Dardanelles, on the European shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Originally constructed in the mid-17th century by Hatice Turhan Sultan, mother of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV, Seddülbahir, meaning “the Wall of the Sea,” safeguarded the strategic waterway linking the Aegean Sea to Istanbul, the Ottoman capital. Despite significant coastal erosion and numerous earthquakes, the fortress and the adjacent village remained largely intact into the early 20th century. They sustained severe bombardment during WWI, when the Allied Forces targeted the Gallipoli Peninsula. Many of the masonry towers, walls, and most interior structures were heavily damaged, but the fortress continued functioning as a Turkish military outpost until 1997. That year marked the beginning of its documentation, restoration, and adaptive reuse.

A multi-disciplinary team, including architects, engineers, architectural historians, archivists, oral historians, restoration specialists, museologists, and landscape designers, carried out extensive archival, archaeological, conservation, restoration, and geodesic research. Collaborating with universities and government ministries for over 25 years, the team prepared Seddülbahir Fortress for public opening on March 18, 2023.

The Gallipoli Peninsula today forms a national park, presenting a landscape of manicured cemeteries and commemorative monuments honoring WWI casualties from many nations. Few traces remain of the site’s violent destruction. A central idea guiding the restoration was to preserve the memory of WWI devastation and create a space for reflection on peace. Several elements, including the West and South Towers, were conserved as ruins, serving as lieux de mémoire that illustrate war’s impact on architecture and landscapes.

The Main Gate and demolished sections like the Domed Building feature light timber silhouettes that suggest, rather than replicate, their original forms. The slatted wood frame of the Main Gate allows sunlight and air—essential to life—to permeate the entrance. This element, along with the Domed Building, underscores the importance of reversibility in restorative interventions. Contemporary wooden additions are used sparingly and reference Ottoman construction methods.

A new museum building replaced abandoned 1960s concrete barracks, displaying archaeological finds from the site, including an Ottoman-era road bisecting the museum itself. The masonry of the new structure relates visually to the original Ottoman walls, reducing its impact on the historic environment.

The Seddülbahir Fortress has become a place that encourages reflection on past conflict and the value of peace. Its entrance complex, museum, artists’ workshop, and redesigned village square serve both visitors and the local community, aiming toward a future where war remains an important but distant memory.