Increasing the Accessibility of Iznik's Ancient Roman Theatre; a Hotel Project as an Urban Intervention

This article draws attention to the isolated and free-standing situation of the Iznik Ancient Roman Theater, which has significant historical, cultural, and architectural value. Iznik, which was founded in the 4th century BC, was a favorite settlement for different civilizations, including Bithynia, Rome, Byzantium, and Ottoman. New urbanization approaches began to transform the city, which had been slowly developing until the early 1940s. The urban modernization process began to pose a threat to the historical urban fabric of Iznik. The Ancient Roman Theater is one of the important historic buildings of the city that was built during the Trajan Period (AD 98–117). The archeological excavations of the historic theater site, which was first identified in 1743, started in 1980 by Dr. Bedri Yalman with the permission of the Ministry of Culture. The excavation and restoration process has been recently completed, and the theater is now open to visitors. However, Iznik's urban development has long neglected the undiscovered ancient theater. The historic site, isolated from the main urban axes of Iznik, has encountered problems of inaccessibility and invisibility. This article proposes an urban intervention by designing a hotel project that provides a connection between the main street and the historical theater. The project is designed through the course of Architectural Design Studio 5 at Bursa Technical University. The hotel project, a privately owned building for commercial purposes, aims to enhance the accessibility of the ancient theater by establishing a semi-public transition area that will foster cultural activities.