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A 19th-century industrial grain mill in Istanbul’s Fatih district—built to supply bread for Istanbul and Anatolia— is being restored through a partnership between Ibn Haldun University and the Fatih Municipality, and will serve as the university’s Suleymaniye Campus once the work is complete.
The Unkapani Degirmeni (Unkapani Mill), described as one of the notable industrial structures of its time, long stood derelict after years of disuse and even functioned as a parking lot. Only kagir wall remnants—masonry stone-and-brick walls—survived.
A project prepared for conservation, restoration, and its new use will convert the site into university facilities that include classrooms, administrative units, and multi-purpose halls, allowing students to experience historic fabric and new functions side by side.
According to the Scientific Advisory Board Chair, Professor Can Binan, surviving walls are the principal original elements still in place. He noted that documentation on the mill’s internal industrial components is scarce due to neglect and the long period it served as a parking area.
The new plan is designed so that the added structures do not load any weight onto the remaining historic walls; instead, the old masonry will remain as a protective shell surrounding the new program. Binan said a scientific advisory board is overseeing the process and emphasized that visitors will be able to see both the preserved traces of the original mill and a contemporary, compatible use.
“For a long time it was used as a parking lot and left abandoned, so very few documents showing the original industrial parts of the mill came to light,” Professor Can Binan said. “Over time, what remained before us was a cultural asset where only the walls survived.”
Built in the 19th century to meet the bread needs of Istanbul and Anatolia, the mill once formed part of a broader supply network planned with distribution in mind, including access by sea routes for shipments to Istanbul and potentially to Anatolia.
Today, the structure is widely unknown because only its walls have endured over the years. With restoration moving forward, the university’s Suleymaniye Campus will open there after completion, bringing students into daily contact with the site’s layered history.
“Students will now be able to live with the historic fabric and what is new together,” Binan added, noting that the complex will host university units such as classrooms, administration, and multi-purpose halls.
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