KAPUÇİNLERİN MARDİN’DEKİ MİSYONERLİK FAALİYETLERİ VE YAPILARI: KİLİSE, MANASTIR, HASTANE VE OKUL

The first Catholic missionary activities in the Ottoman Empire were initiated in the early 17th century by the Franciscans and Capuchins, with support mainly from France, but also from Spain and Italy. In this context, Capuchin missionary priests arrived in Mardin from the mid-17th century with the aim of converting the local Syriac, Chaldean and Armenian Christian communities to Catholicism and bringing them into the Roman (Vatican) Church. The Capuchins were active in three main centres: Mardin, Diyarbakır and Urfa. In Mardin, they built churches, monasteries, schools and hospitals, particularly in the Latifiye district, which is now a first-class urban conservation area. These buildings, along with those used by priests and nuns, had a significant impact on the religious and social fabric of the region. After the end of their activities in 1915, most of these buildings were demolished to make way for roads, and only a school building, consisting of a ground floor and a first floor, has survived to the present day. On the southern façade of this building, which opens onto a terrace, Latin and Arabic inscriptions and Catholic symbols can be seen above the entrance. Although this structure is considered to be the only tangible remnant of the Capuchin presence in the region, future research may reveal other buildings. This study examines the Capuchin missionary activities in Mardin chronologically and analyses the historical and architectural development of their religious and educational structures. It evaluates the architectural history, plan, facades and decorative features of the identified school building and compares it with similar structures. Photographs taken between 1853 and 1918, together with archival documents, shed light on buildings that no longer exist and reveal the spatial dimension of missionary work. As there has been no comprehensive academic research on the subject to date, this study represents the first in-depth investigation into the architectural and historical legacy of the Capuchin mission.