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Journals / Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 26 Sayı: 1

An Assessment of the Atranos Castle Tower Remains' seismic response and recommendations towards its protection

Atranos Kalesi Kule Kalıntılarının sismik tepkisinin değerlendirilmesi ve korunmasına yönelik öneriler

Selahattin Ersoy(ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY)0000-0001-9426-9841
Pages
149–156
Publication Date
2026-01-19
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

As a minimum intervention approach to limit further degradation, before any archaeological excavation program starts on the site, mortar fill to the existing bond beam voids is proposed.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Atranos Castle is an early Byzantine heritage founded by the emperor Hadrianus in the second century in Orhaneli, a district south of Bursa with mountainous geography.
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Key Findings & Data:About 5m long main wall foundation and two more towers’ base were also identified during field study.
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Conclusion & Impact:As a minimum intervention approach to limit further degradation, before any archaeological excavation program starts on the site, mortar fill to the existing bond beam voids is proposed.
🔬Design:Survey & Empirical Study
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Atranos kalesi · Kültürel Miras · Yığma sismik tepki

Abstract

Atranos Castle is an early Byzantine heritage founded by the emperor Hadrianus in the second century in Orhaneli, a district south of Bursa with mountainous geography. Two towers of the castle survived in partial to date. About 5m long main wall foundation and two more towers’ base were also identified during field study. The survey of the castle remains was done by use of a laser scanner and drone to reveal its disappearing cultural and archeological value. This partially collapsed tower has a partially circular shape in plan. Voids within the masonry body and early findings of the wood remnants in these holes reveal the existence of the bond beams. There were horizontally placed wooden bond beams within the tower walls at several levels in the original construction. The main purpose of these bond beams is to provide in-plane and out-of-plane stabilization of these masonry walls. The voids left after decayed wooden bond beams create weaknesses, such as stress concentration around the holes and a decrease in buckling resistance. A simplified finite element model of one of the partially collapsed towers is prepared and a parametric study is performed. Effects of the voids are examined and filling the voids with a mortar, modulus of elasticity of mortar close to the masonry wall, improved the response of the structure. As a minimum intervention approach to limit further degradation, before any archaeological excavation program starts on the site, mortar fill to the existing bond beam voids is proposed.

Özet

Atranos Kalesi, Bursa'nın güneyinde dağlık bir coğrafyaya sahip olan Orhaneli ilçesinde ikinci yüzyılda imparator Hadrianus tarafından kurulmuş erken bir Bizans mirasıdır. Kalenin iki kulesi kısmi olarak günümüze ulaşmıştır. Saha çalışması sırasında yaklaşık 5 metre uzunluğunda ana duvar temeli ve iki kule temeli daha tespit edilmiştir. Kale kalıntılarının araştırılması, kaybolmakta olan kültürel ve arkeolojik değerini ortaya çıkarmak için lazer tarayıcı ve drone kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Kısmen yıkılmış olan bu kule, plan olarak kısmen dairesel bir şekle sahiptir. Kâgir gövdedeki boşluklar ve bu deliklerdeki ahşap kalıntılarına ait ilk bulgular, bağ kirişlerinin varlığını ortaya koymaktadır. Orijinal yapıda kule duvarları içinde çeşitli seviyelerde yatay olarak yerleştirilmiş ahşap hatıllar bulunmaktaydı. Bu hatılların temel amacı, yığma duvarların düzlem içi ve düzlem dışı stabilizasyonunu sağlamaktır. Ahşap hatılların çürümesinden sonra kalan boşluklar, deliklerin etrafında gerilme yoğunlaşması ve burkulma direncinde azalma gibi zayıflıklar yaratmaktadır. Kısmen yıkılmış bir kulenin basitleştirilmiş bir sonlu eleman modeli hazırlanmış ve parametrik bir çalışma gerçekleştirilmiştir. Boşlukların etkileri incelenmiş ve boşlukların elastisite modülü yığma duvara yakın bir harçla doldurulmasının yapının tepkisini iyileştirdiği görülmüştür. Daha fazla bozulmayı sınırlandırmak için asgari müdahale yaklaşımı olarak, sahada herhangi bir arkeolojik kazı programı başlamadan önce, mevcut bağ kirişi boşluklarına harç dolgu yapılması önerilmektedir.

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Cite This Article

Ersoy, S. (2026). An Assessment of the Atranos Castle Tower Remains' seismic response and recommendations towards its protection. Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, Cilt: 26 Sayı: 1, 149–156. https://doi.org/10.35414/akufemubid.1635223

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