Tarihte Önemi Azalan Yerleşmelere Bir Örnek: Kiğı

Abstract

Settlements, not unlike the biological beings, are born, grow up, develop and finally disappear or die. These settlements are replaced by the new ones or they turn into new settlements by changing places due to the natural and human factors. In the previous ages, mountainous and high fields were selected for settlements because of the facility in their defense and concerns about security. Wide and tall castle walls were built in these places, thus establishing castle settlements. The use of fire guns in the following ages brought about a development in security environment and thus the loss of importance of castle settlements. Later, such high settlements were carried to the lower fields and began to lose their importance. Located in the Upper Fırat of the East Anatolia, Kiğı was a significant settlement in the pre-Republic period with developed functions of transportation, trade, industry, education and government. This functionality of the settlement began to dwindle as of the first half of the 2Cf century upon the invasions and battles against it. Thereafter, the settlement changed its place from the high field to the lower field, losing its functionality. Thus, it turned out to be a village settlement in the post-Republic period. Even though many efforts had been made to bring back its old developed level and functionality to the settlement after its replacement, no satisfactory achievement was secured. The population of Kiğı was 1041 in 1935 and rose to 6267 in 1980. However, its population was reduced to 4566 in 1990. Today it is a town settlement with a population of around 5000. In this study, we attempt to compare some of the functions of the town in the past whit that of at the present and invoke some recommendations for development of Kiğı town.