Holistic Conservation of Konaklı Pomak Houses in the Context of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage

This study examines the holistic conservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage through the case of the Pomak houses in the town of Konaklı, located in Niğde Province within the Cappadocia region of Türkiye. Konaklı is characterized by a multilayered cultural structure shaped by successive migration waves, and today communities of Thessaloniki, Romanian, and Bulgarian origin continue to sustain intangible heritage through language, culinary traditions, music, rituals, and everyday practices. However, the traditional Pomak houses have largely lost their original functions and face serious risks of deterioration and abandonment. Employing a qualitative case-study approach, the research documents the architectural characteristics, spatial organization, construction techniques, and current conditions of the houses through systematic field observation and on-site documentation, and evaluates these data together with the cultural practices of the local community based on literature review and comparative analysis. The findings underline that addressing tangible and intangible heritage in an integrated manner strengthens the continuity of local identity and supports the long-term safeguarding of rural architectural heritage. Based on this integrated assessment, adaptive reuse scenarios including a local cultural exhibition space, culinary heritage facilities, and small-scale production and sales units are proposed as conservation tools compatible with the cultural character of the settlement. The study concludes that a holistic conservation framework constitutes an effective model for sustaining vernacular architecture and safeguarding cultural continuity in rural settlements shaped by migration.