Adapazarı

Lore & Background

Ancient settlers included Phrygians, Bithynians, Cimmerians, Lydians, Greeks, and Persians, but the city gained its identity from Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine rulers. During Alexander the Great's campaigns, the Persians were defeated. Today's inhabitants include Manavs as well as diverse groups such as Balkan immigrants, Laz, Circassians, and others, and the population historically included Christian Armenians and Greeks, some of whom later converted to Islam. The region was conquered by Orhan Gazi, a well-documented event in historical sources.

Reader's Guide

Adapazarı's significance lies in its blend of ancient history and modern industrial importance. As the capital of Sakarya Province, it hosts major industries including Toyota's automobile factory, Hyundai EURotem's train factory, and defense contractors like Tank Pallet 1st Main Maintenance and Otokar. The city's economy also relies on textiles, agriculture, and forestry. Sakaryaspor, the local football club, has won the Turkish Cup and produced notable players like Hakan Şükür and Tuncay.

Formative Years in the Ottoman Capital

This blend of French and Greek heritage would echo throughout his life. These early years of fieldwork and formal training laid the groundwork for a career that would span both Islamic and Byzantine artistic traditions.

Architectural Practice and Professional Networks in the Empire

From the mid-1890s onward, Raymond established himself as a working architect within the Ottoman Empire. His commission portfolio included the Bursa Institute of Sericulture, an Ankara agency building likely tied to the Régie de Tabac, and an Adapazarı agency building for the same tobacco administration. Beyond design work, he was deeply embedded in the professional and publishing world. He co-managed a bookshop, Librairie Raymond, with his brother César, which served as the outlet for his written publications.

Exile, France, and the Great Publications

His Greek-born wife faced direct threats, compelling the family to flee to Europe. In France he devoted himself to ambitious publishing projects. The following year, with financial support from American millionaire Charles Crane, he commissioned the second and third parts, printed in Prague by the Schulz press.

Hagia Sophia and the Byzantine Turn

The project drew on his own accumulated knowledge of the monument, the notes and drawings left by his father, and a substantial collection of interior photographs. The volume contains roughly 88 representations of varying sizes, rendered in ink, watercolour, gold-leaf, and silver. The accompanying text incorporates Procopius of Caesarea's description and an anonymous treatise on the Holy Wisdom. Raymond then turned to the Church of the Holy Apostles, producing 35 images using a rigorous technique he termed micro-mosaics, drawing on texts by Procopius, Constantine of Rhodes, and Constantine Mazarius.

Gallery