Multidimensional liminal threshold of the city of Ankara: The Namazgâh Hill

Namazgâhs, which can be seen in many Ottoman cities, are open-air places of worship and they stand out as an overly comprehensive and ambivalent concept that can vary in their functions, qualities and quantities. Throughout its history, the Namazgâh and the Namazgâh Hill in Ankara have served different functions: as a gathering place, a place of worship, a cemetery and a gateway to the city. While the origins of this Namazgâh remain a mystery, these various functions became particularly evident during the War of Independence, a critical period that contributed to the establishment of the new Republic. The aim of this thesis is to compile existing sources on the Namazgâh Hill, to determine as much as possible which functions it assumed and under what circumstances, to show that it is a multidimensional liminal space for the city of Ankara, to explain that it not only hosted liminal transformations but also underwent liminal transformations itself, and as a result, to create a comprehensive historical narrative of the site. For this purpose, the Ottoman and Republic State Archives, paintings, engravings, photographs, newspapers of the period, the memories of people who used to live or have visited Ankara, and ethnographic studies about this city will be used.