FROM RESOURCE:

Diyarbakir is founded at an intersection of the Upper Tigris Basin, Mesopotamia, Syria, Iran, the Mediterranean and Anatolia, and was an important trade centre throughout its history. The dynamism and requirements brought on by this role also shaped its architecture. Hans, commercial buildings where caravans stopped over and merchants carried out their activities, are among the main components that define the city's character. Hasan Papa Hani is one of the largest extant Ottoman hans. Following restoration work initiated in 2006 by the Diyarbakir Foundations Directorate, the han today is a centre of social life with its breakfast-cafés and souvenir shops, and one of the most popular stops on tourist trails. Despite certain interventions that have harmed the unique structure of the building and debates over its role as a tourist attraction, Hasan Papa Hani remains one of the most important meeting points of the city. Architect and writer Mehmet Atli has interpreted photographs from three different periods of Hasan Papa Hani for this exhibition.