Renaissance traces adorn Giresun houses

Giresun might be a long way from Florence, but the traces of the Renaissance are prominent in one neighborhood of the Turkish Black Sea city.

Windows of some houses in Giresun's Zeytinlik neighborhood were designed with the art of the golden ratio as in the window behind Jesus in the "Last Supper" painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.

"Architects who built these houses in Giresun knew about the golden ratio. Let's call it 'architecture without an architect.' In Da Vinci's painting 'The Last Supper,' the window behind Jesus was made with the golden ratio. So, our examinations and measurements have shown that all of the windows in Zeytinlik houses were made in accordance to the golden ratio," said Celal Bayar University History of Art Department academic Gazanfer ?ltar.

The houses were built in the 19th century using tools brought from Marseilles by hazelnut traders, the academic said. 

When the cultivation of hazelnuts expanded in the city in the 19th century, it facilitated greater trade with Europe, ?ltar said. "This group, which generally included Greek people, engaged in the hazelnut trade from Giresun to Europe throughout the 19th century. As a result of this trade, the number of rich people grew in the city. These traders established a settlement for themselves in this region known as the Zeytinlik district."

Trade between Giresun and Marseilles

?ltar said the vessels that carried hazelnuts from Giresun to Marseilles returned with construction materials. "The houses of the Zeytinlik district were built with these materials brought from Europe."

Among the materials were Marseilles-type roof tiles, floor tiles, furniture, decorations and construction tools, which were soon used in all the houses of the...