Title: Palu
Description: Palu: History, Culture, Administrative and Social Structure

Introduction
The most important stage that has been crowned by the victory in the long journey of the humanity in the history is the start of the settlements.  What has made the humanity be endowed with high humanitarian values and address of the life giving divine message has been all but result of the settled life style.  The humanity has been able to fully demonstrate the mighty power divinely remitted to it only after starting the settled life style.  It is the consequence of this that the humanity has made valuable habitations over the land they have habituated.

As it is, the fate of the habitations has always been intimately tied with the fate of the habitants.  However, the habitations, at times, has been demolished and turned into ruins by the ill choice of the habitants themselves.  These are often the situations that the humanity looks back and painfully regret.  This is especially true when the habitations have registered themselves in the history and have had their existence been written down in the civilisation registry files. However, as the life continues regardless, the necessity brought by the reality of evolution due to progressive thoughts keeps the humanity between the burning desire for the new and the regretting emotions for the lost in the past.  It is in this situation that, Hamdi Tanpinar, in his monumental work, Five Cities, writes:

“The principle theme of Five Cities are the sadness after the things lost from our lives and burning desires against the new.  These two feelings that seem to be contradicting in the first instance can be united in the word of compassion.  The cities that this compassion has chosen as its frame are the coincidences of my life.”

“Caravans on the roads to Halep was yours
Reputations of Silk Road was yours
………..
Seventy five thousand houses of residences were yours
Three hundred and sixty piece villages were yours” 

A poet saying these verses presents an elegy to Palu living a tragedy of turning from a prosperous habitation into a ruin.  Today Palu neither has caravans on the roads to Halep, nor Silk Road, nor seventy five thousand houses of residences, nor three hundred and sixty piece villages.

The old Palu that has embraced many civilisations in the past does not exist anymore.  

Palu that once has been the capital city of Urartians, principality centre of Cubukogullari, Artuklular, Akkoyunlular, autonomous state of Ottomans…

“As though has revolted your head
Is that possible can fit into history your tears?

…….

Civilisations lay in your bosom
So many histories lay in your bosom.”

Palu castle, which has been described once by these verses, as if has now bowed her head deeply sunk into her history.

What has reached to us from Palu, now living in memories, are just few photos and ruined historical remains.  Palu is a town with 4000 years of history.  But this town is now tired. She has become tired, worn-out, and almost diminished with her streets, houses, temples, and castle. We even have lost our memories of Palu once as she was. We have lost our accent, lullabies that our mothers used sing, our ancestors’ migration stories and mobilisation memories, our huge effort requiring intricate embroideries.  We abandoned all of them in a great rush. We abandoned our neighbours, bazaars, mosques, khans, bridge and castle, manufactures, and life long friends. We diminished the colours of our Palu.  But in fact it was us that we diminished; we abandoned ourselves; we made ourselves tired and wounded; we created a new life that is far from being wholesome. 

It may be late but we finally realised this. Towns can become civilised by only their self-values that has created them.  The place where countries find themselves in the race of civilisation and development can not be valued by just scientific and technological superiority and success in industrialisation.  One of the most important determinants for those civilised ones is for the countries to care for their cultural values and make them to meet the universal values. The individuals and institutions who care for their own culture, historical values, places where they live, and show respect to thoughts and values of different cultures will be our most important guaranties in the protection and nurturing of our democracy.  Finally we realised that, if we do not posses a local identity, we have loneliness and chaos. There will not be even a democracy. And importantly, if Palu ceases to exist we will not be able to bring up “civilised humans”, participating countryman, sensitive citizens.

With this modest study we do not turn backward, but, in contrary we look forward. We can take an aging town forward only to a degree that we can rescue her from neglected past.  In this study we try to revitalise our historic Palu with her beauties, history, culture, and people.
Subjects: Description and travel, History, Buldings, structures, Architecture
Places: Palu (Turkey)