From Archival Records to Urban Traces: The Former Church of Agios Georgios and the Greek Boys School of Havran in the Late Ottoman Period

Abstract

This article examines two former civic monuments of Havrans emigrated Greek Orthodox communitythe Church of Agios Georgios and the boys primary schoolwhose urban and architectural history has remained unstudied until now. Drawing on a series of previously unexamined Ottoman archival documents, the study identifies the precise locations of these now-lost monuments and reconstructs their late 19^th-century rebuilding processes within their architectural and historical contexts. Beyond archival sources, it explores the transformation of their urban plots, demonstrating how morphological traces of these institutions persist in the contemporary urban fabric, after more than a century since their demolitions. By situating these findings within the broader demographic and administrative landscape of Havran in the Late Ottoman Period, the study sheds new light on the interplay between community life, architecture, and urban morphology in a modest Aegean town.