Salih Efendi Street and the Old Houses of Kilis: Life Behind the Stone Walls

You stop in front of a doorway. You notice the wood, the surrounding stonework and the proportions of the entrance. You can’t see inside. Yet in traditional Kilis houses, much of daily life unfolded beyond that door, around a courtyard.

Walking along Salih Efendi Street, you begin to recognise this distinction. The house seen from the street reveals only part of itself. Outside are stone façades and doors. Beyond them may lie courtyards open to the sky, shaded transitional spaces and rooms used according to the season.

Understanding these houses takes a little patience. Sometimes the position of a window prompts as many questions as a long historical account.

Where Is Salih Efendi Street?

Salih Efendi Street lies within the historic fabric of central Kilis. It can form part of a walking route through the city’s older neighbourhoods.

The street takes its name from Mufti Salih Efendi, the father of Muhlis Efendi, who served as mayor of Kilis in 1907. Many houses along the street were included in restoration and streetscape improvements carried out in 2010 and 2011.

Keep that history in mind without assuming every building remains in the same condition today. In inhabited historic neighbourhoods, maintenance, repairs and uses can change over time.

What Should You Look at First?

The stone walls may catch your attention immediately. Look a little closer and you begin to notice how doors and windows are arranged across the façades.

Study one entrance, then turn towards the building opposite. Do the doorways differ in size? How are the openings proportioned? What details distinguish one surface from another?

These small comparisons make a walk more absorbing.

Pay attention to the light, too. Stone in sunshine looks different from stone in shade. Small recesses, joints and worn surfaces become clearer as the angle of light changes.

Before taking a photograph, move a few steps and look again.

What Makes Traditional Kilis Houses Distinctive?

Local limestone, courtyards and eyvans are characteristic elements of traditional Kilis houses. The city’s historic housing includes both one- and two-storey stone buildings.

Their arrangement responds to the region’s warm climate and to domestic life organised around a sheltered interior.

Judging a house by its street façade alone can therefore be misleading. Much of its layout becomes apparent through the relationship between the rooms and the courtyard.

Which spaces receive sunlight? Where does shade remain? How do people move from one room to another?

Questions like these bring architecture into everyday life. These houses accommodated cooking, rest, visitors and routines that shifted with the seasons.

The Courtyard: Open Air Within the House

A courtyard is more than an empty space left between rooms. It connects the surrounding parts of the house while bringing open sky into its interior.

Some historic Kilis houses also feature small ornamental pools and separate summer and winter sections. These details vary between buildings and shouldn’t be expected in every house.

If you have permission to enter an accessible courtyard, stand near its centre. Look up at the sky, then towards the doors around you. Notice how a building that appears enclosed from the street opens inward.

Move into a shaded corner and look again. The arrangement may become clearer as your position changes.

What Is an Eyvan?

An eyvan is generally a covered space open on one side towards a courtyard. It forms a transition between an enclosed room and the outdoors.

Its usefulness becomes easier to understand on a sunny day. Remaining in shade while keeping a connection with the open air matters in a warm climate.

If you see an eyvan, look beyond its arch or outline. Consider the depth of shade, its relationship with the courtyard and the rooms around it. The architectural form makes more sense when you think about how it could be used.

Are the Old Houses Found Only on This Street?

No. Salih Efendi Street is one starting point for exploring Kilis’s historic domestic architecture. Traditional stone houses also survive in other streets and neighbourhoods of the older settlement.

Hacı Ömer Ağa Street, Abidin Ağa Avenue and Akcurun Avenue are among the places associated with this housing fabric. Neşet Efendi Mansion and Akıncı Mansion are also examples of the city’s historic residential architecture.

Plan these as individual stops rather than assuming they form one continuously accessible visitor area. Check their locations and current uses separately. A building’s historical importance doesn’t necessarily mean its interior is open to the public.

Can You Go Inside the Houses?

Access depends on the property. Some buildings may be private homes, used for other purposes or closed to visitors.

An open door isn’t an invitation to enter. Ask first if you want to look inside, and show the same care when photographing a courtyard or interior.

The boundary between exploring a street and looking into someone’s private life can be only a few steps wide. Respecting it is part of visiting thoughtfully.

Look for Smaller Details in Your Photographs

Trying to fit the whole street into one frame can make its finer details disappear. A doorway meeting the stone wall, a window’s shadow or a change in surface texture may reward a closer view.

Avoid giving every mark on an old building an imagined history. It may result from wear, repair or a later alteration. If you don’t know its origin, describing what you can see is enough.

Ask permission before photographing people or private interiors. In a narrow passage, leave space for those using the street.

How Should You Plan Your Visit?

Include Salih Efendi Street in time set aside for exploring central Kilis on foot. If there’s a particular mansion you hope to enter, confirm its visiting arrangements first and build the walk around them.

In warm weather, consider the sun when choosing your walking time. Wear comfortable shoes and carry water. Leave room to explore nearby streets, checking your route as you go.

As you leave, think about which house has stayed in your mind. It may be neither the largest nor the most elaborate. Perhaps it’s the proportions of a doorway, a thin shadow across the stone or curiosity about a courtyard hidden from view.

Sometimes the old houses of Kilis hold your attention longest through the parts they keep to themselves.