A Re-Functional Proposal in Başayaş Village, Ayaş: The Case of a Historical Village Mosque and Village House

Başayaş Village, located on the historic Silk Road, is an important settlement some five kilometers distant from Ayaş town center connected to the city of Ankara. Because of the establishment of a new village in 1990s, this historic village encountered the problem of abandonment, and as a result, today life continues just in ten dwellings. Consequently, historic houses of the village and Başayaş Village Mosque, estimated to be constructed dating back to the 14th -15th century, lost their original function started to be used either as a depot, stall or in the state of malfunction because of the abandonment. Aims of this study are; to compile this research as a preliminary study of a comprehensive research, by developing adaptive reuse suggestions for the cases of historic village mosque and the house on the west side of it located in an abandoned rural settlement as the evidence of a certain period. In addition, as part of architectural education, it aims to evaluate the work process and introduce the methods and contents of the research done regarding aims, objectives, contents, and expectations of the survey and restoration course. As part of architectural education, by creating awareness with this study; it is provided to document Başayaş Village Mosque and the house on the west side of it and within this scope, the Cultural Heritage Conservation Board registered the mosque. In addition, their conservation decisions by adaptive reuse and suggestions for sustainable rural tourism that could be constituted in Başayaş Village have been developed. Thus, the adaptive reuse and sustainability decisions developed with this study were aimed to contribute to rural cultural heritage studies.