Akdağmadeni Postal Building

Standing in the Çarşı İçi area of the Ahisavi neighbourhood in the centre of Akdağmadeni district, this registered building was originally constructed as a shop and later converted into a PTT (post, telegraph and telephone) building. Popularly known as 'Saray Mağazası' (Palace Store), it was built between 1899 and 1902. Because of the sloping terrain, it appears as a single storey from the front façade but reveals two storeys when viewed from the rear street. Its façade is built of finely cut marble and features three triangular pediments, round windows and several inscriptions. The front has two low-arched doors and six windows. At the time the building went up, Akdağmadeni — which had gained district status in 1871 — was a thriving mining and trading town; the population growth and commercial activity generated by its lead and alum mines made it possible for the town's market quarter to support such carefully finished, marble-fronted shopfronts. Considered a particularly rare and distinctive building in the district, especially for its front façade, it stands today as one of the valuable surviving examples of late 19th-century commercial architecture in Akdağmadeni and remains registered among the town's protected cultural properties.