Part Three: Buca
27. Catholic Church of Saint John the Baptist
119. Sokak 17
1831-1840
The Catholic church of Buca is an aisleless church. The nave is covered by a barrel vault. Between the pilasters supporting the vault there are arched windows. Smaller windows can be found in the vault itself. The choir has a dome. The vault, walls and the dome are richly decorated. The church also has a bell tower.
28. Protestant Church of All Saints
Erdem Caddesi 86
1834; 1865
This small church has a cruciform plan. At the intersection of the cross arms is a space with a pointed roof. The windows have pointed arches in the Gothic Revival style. The interior is simple. The view of the church from the entrance path is very picturesque.
29. Forbes Mansion
Buca SSK Hastanesi
1908, reconstructed in 1910
The Forbes Mansion is probably the most majestic of the Levantine houses of Izmir. It was built in 1908, possibly on the site of an earlier house of the Forbes family. It burned down in 1909 and was rebuilt in 1910.
It is a two-storey mansion made up of multiple volumes. The main entrance has a portico with Ionic columns. There is a three-storey tower next to the entrance, with two projecting volumes with round arches nearby. Terraces of various proportions can be found in different parts of the building, framed by marble balustrades. The upper edge of the volume on the back is crenellated. Striking are the supports of the strongly protruding eaves on various heights.
Some original decorative elements survive on the inside, most notably in the entrance hall.
30. Baltazzi Mansion
Opposite 75. Sokak 10
1860s
This mansion was built by Demosthenes Baltazzi, a Greek Orthodox archaeologist with Italian background. It has a rectangular plan and two storeys. Entrance takes place through an arched recess in the middle of the main façade. The openings on the ground floor of the main façade are covered by friezes, which, together with the molding between the ground- and first-floor windows and the supports of the eaves, give the building a strong horizontal emphasis. There is a statue of Venus in front of the mansion, surrounded by an ornamental pool.
The Baltazzi family hosted Sultan Abdulaziz in this mansion in 1863. At the turn of the 20th century the building changed ownership and was later donated to Eleftherios Venizelos, the Prime Minister of Greece. It was confiscated by the Turkish Army in 1922.
31. De Jongh Mansion
Menderes Caddesi 20
1909
The members of the De Jongh family were of Dutch origin but had British citizenship. Their mansion is located in a large garden. It is a two-storey building with a large veranda on the ground floor. A canopy was added on the first floor later, when the building was used a sanatorium. The annexes, too, are later additions. The mansion housed the German consulate in the 1920s and 1930s.
32. Farkouh Mansion
Uğur Mumcu Caddesi 29
1903
This mansion was built by Hadji Davud Farkouh, a Syrian Arab who had converted into Christianity. He owned a shipping company which operated the ferry lines in Izmir. His mansion is a two-storey building. The entrance is through a triple-arched portal in the middle of the main façade. Above the entrance is a similar-looking loggia. There is a balcony on the both sides of the loggia.
33. Gavrili Mansion / Pengelley Mansion
Uğur Mumcu Caddesi 53
Ignatios Vatiadis, 1905
This mansion was the residence of the Greek Gavrili family. It was later used by the Pengelley family until their emigration to Kenya.
34. Christian Russo Mansion
81. Sokak 29
1900s
This building draws influence from various styles of architecture of the West, such as Carpenter Gothic, Baroque Revival and Art Nouveau. Its most striking elements are the high ornamented gables.
35. Gabriel Russo Mansion
Menderes Caddesi 9
This building has many typical features of a Levantine mansion: two storeys, a molding separating the storeys on the façade, rectangular windows, a portico, and strongly protruding eaves.
36. Barff Mansion
24. Sokak, near Dokuz Çeşmeler
1900s
This building, which belonged to a British family, looks quite modest if one does not count the elaborate wooden carvings of the porch, above the first-floor windows and under the eaves.
37. Francis Blackler Mansion / Falbo Mansion
Erdem Caddesi 67
1855
This mansion, invisible from the street, is said to be made up of a single storey. It has a gatehouse, possibly built to protect the mansion from the attacks of bandits that were roaming the countryside back then.
grande flânerie 