IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluopened the Seyyid-i Velayet and Asude Hanım Tombs in Fatih, which IMM Heritage teams restored and brought back to the historical heritage of the city in exactly one year. Saying, “We will continue to protect our cultural heritage and historical riches that Istanbul has,” İmamoğlu said, “The concept of the crazy project has changed. The concept of the crazy project means to serve the people of this city and this country first and foremost. It means serving your spirituality. It means paving the way for that beautiful generation of our children and young people at the point of walking towards the future with more knowledge, reason and science. Here, today, I am honored and proud to realize one of those beautiful projects.” İmamoğlu emphasized that they regularly manage the maintenance and repair of a total of 1 historical monuments.
IMM Heritage, within the body of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Cultural Heritage Department, restored the dilapidated Seyyid-i Velayet and Asude Hanım Tombs in Fatih Cibali District. Restoration works, which started on July 26, 2021, were completed in exactly one year. IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluopened two mausoleums, which are important building blocks of the city's historical heritage, as part of the "150 Project Marathon in 150 Days". İmamoğlu made a speech at the post-restoration opening ceremony for the tombs. Emphasizing that Istanbul is a fascinating city, İmamoğlu said, "One feels the honor and pride of living and serving in such a city, in such a rich and cultural asset," he said. Reminding that they recently opened the Basilica Cistern, one of the historical and symbolic structures of Istanbul, after the restoration, İmamoğlu emphasized the special personalities living in the Anatolian and Rumelian geography.
“WE MANAGE THE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF 1200 HISTORICAL WORKS REGULARLY”
Saying, “These beautiful people have special places, special moments, special memories in this city,” İmamoğlu said, “For that reason, we are in a different search with my fellow travelers in this city. They are doing very special work. I sincerely thank them all. I say 'special moments and memories'; we enter such a place, in such a street, we are faced with such a place that we are both surprised and sad. This can happen sometimes in Fatih, sometimes in Üsküdar, sometimes in Beyoğlu, and sometimes in other districts. In our services we carry out with this sensitive and meticulous work and with the sense of responsibility we put forth, we regularly manage the maintenance and repair of 1200 historical artifacts. We have completed the restoration of tens of buildings and we are currently continuing the restoration of 40 large works.
“WE ARE WORKING WITH MOBILEMENT”
Emphasizing that they continue to work in a state of mobilization that protects, guards, repairs the spiritual side of Istanbul and strives to carry it for the future in a sustainable way, İmamoğlu said, “Just as we serve 16 million Istanbulites indiscriminately and treat everyone at the same distance with this character, we offer equal service. If we are presenting it, the IMM Heritage team, which our Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality won in this period and will serve for many years, also strives to give equal care and importance to all our cultural heritages. We want to carry Istanbul to the future with all its beauties and values from the past.” Stating that they restored the Sayyid-i Velayet and Asude Hanım Tombs with this understanding, İmamoğlu said:
“Our İBB Heritage team handled this really ruined process that has been neglected and left unattended for many years. They acted quickly. And they started the restoration and landscaping business on July 26, 2021. At first, they invited me and I came. The scene I saw really made me very, very sad. I am deeply saddened by the fact that these spiritual areas of beautiful people who carry us to our past, carry us to the present and, when we take an example, will actually guide us, be companions and shed light on our philosophy even in the 21st century, even in the coming centuries, remain this way. In a short time, our friends completed their work. Thus, after the death of Asude Hanım Sultan, the foster mother of Beyazıt the Second, and Aşık Paşazade, we brought the tombs, who assumed the sheikhdom of the lodge, to their present state, with an appearance worthy of their values.”
CALLED TO THE CHILDREN
Expressing that they have turned the work in the tombs into a book, İmamoğlu also addressed the children of the neighborhood who attended the opening and listened to him with the following words:
“Of course, I want these beautiful children with good hearts and strong wills to learn about this place from those works. Each of our children and children, who learn, are equipped with knowledge, and look to the future with reason and science, will be the generations that will protect their past conscientiously and in the strongest way. We have no doubt that we will raise a very healthy generation when they act not blindly, not with superstitions, not with what they hear from the right and left, but with the data they get from real sources. On this occasion, we will send our special book truck tomorrow to our beautiful daughters and sons, those beautiful children who do not leave us alone here today. We will present them with a summer residence, beautiful books, gifts, so that they can look at this place and its surroundings better, and be more sensitive children and young people. We will continue to protect our cultural heritage and historical richness of Istanbul. The concept of the crazy project has changed. The concept of the crazy project means to primarily serve the people of this city and this country. It means serving your spirituality. It means paving the way for that beautiful generation of our children and young people at the point of walking towards the future with more knowledge, reason and science. Here today, I am honored and proud to realize one of those beautiful projects.”
POLAT: “THESE WORKS ARE MEANINGFUL FOR PRESERVING HISTORICAL MEMORY”
Mahir Polat, Deputy Secretary General of IMM, who spoke at the ceremony, explained the history of Seyyid-i Velayet and Asude Hanım Tombs in detail. Talking about the restoration works they carried out in and around the tombs, Polat said, “These works are meaningful in terms of preserving historical memory. But on the one hand, it is also important for the sustainability of these structures and their healthy transport to the future. Of course, all these works are done with human labor, but they are works that can be saved with the vision and support of a great manager. As in all our restorations of historical sites, we would like to thank our President, who is the architect of this process, for the guidance, instructions and support he has given us since the first day with his great sensitivity in the restoration of religious, cultural and mystical sites. Ekrem İmamoğluI owe him a very special thanks.”
The opening of both shrines took place after the prayers said after the speeches.
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