An Elegy for an Erased Heritage

• Prize
  Gold in Architecture/Others Architecture
• Photographer
  Esra Belgin, Germany
• Website
  http://esrabelgin.com
• Instagram
  @mnemosynea

This is the story of a building that once held a soul—now lost. I took these photos a decade ago, when it was already vanishing. In the early 20th century, "Narmanlı Han" echoed Istanbul’s artistic spirit. Poets, painters, wanderers found refuge within its stone walls. Today, that fragile beauty is gone. In its place stands a polished replica—restored for tourism, rebranded for commerce. This photo story is not just about a building—it is a lament for a cultural inheritance overwritten by profit. It is my farewell—to the "Narmanlı Han" that was, and the Istanbul that quietly let it go.