A Contextualised and Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Stone Carvings in Ottoman Epirus: The Case of the Bektashi Heritage of Konitsa (North-West Greece)

Stone carvings in the context of Ottoman-era Greece play an important role in folklore studies as well as vernacular architecture. They are associated with the history of itinerant stonemasons, their beliefs, as well as the cultural milieu of the building’s owners. However, research rarely contextualises them within the framework of the Ottoman era and the identities of local people who dwelled in these spaces. This contribution first provides an overview of interpretations put forward by scholars in diverse disciplines (folklore, architecture, heritage). It then offers a critical evaluation of these interpretations according to contemporary trends in Ottoman studies, combining methodologies from multiple disciplines, ranging from innovative theoretical concepts to interpretive drawings and photogrammetry. To do so we focus on case studies from the Ottoman-era Bektashi heritage of Konitsa (north-west Greece), including the house of Hussein Sisko, Hamko’s mansion, as well as the gate of Hagios Nikolaos, which incorporates stone carvings from an Ottoman-era mansion in secondary use. We advance an interpretation of stone carvings as narratives reflecting the multiconfessional identities of the liminal Ottoman provinces of the south-west Balkans. Taking as an example the two series of stone carvings from the gates of Hamko’s mansion, we propose that they are best viewed as forms of storytelling, reflecting the identity of the Bektashi owners, as warriors of the faith, while also vaguely expressing the values of the in-house rituals of the same dervish network ( tarikat ). Furthermore, on the basis of a proposed rearrangement of the stone carvings at the church of Hagios Nikolaos to reflect their original meaning when they were adorning the mansion of Elmaz Bey, we argue for potential multiple and multiconfessional understandings of such carvings, as well as temporal connotations that are easily forgotten, arguments that open new research avenues when placed in the context of the body of literature that argues for the long-lasting survival of meanings.