In addition to their architectural qualities, another important feature of the houses built in Sinasos during the last period of the Ottoman Empire is; These are fireplaces, cabinets, ceiling hubs, architectural plastic decorations consisting of various motifs and wall paintings inside the houses. These types of decorative elements in houses, which add an aesthetic identity to the space, give an idea about the owner’s worldview, taste and wealth. We undoubtedly get this idea mostly through the pictures on the walls.
When we take a brief look at the modernization process of Ottoman painting before looking at the wall paintings, many of which are seen in mansions in Mustafapaşa, we see that Ottoman painting entered a new process starting from the second quarter of the 18th century. Until this period, image depiction was limited to book pages intended to explain the texts of manuscript books. The change that started with the tulip era and then came with the European style of education was also reflected in daily life, and the effects of this situation were also seen in Ottoman painting. There has been an increase in the number of civil architectural works in Istanbul, and a new decoration such as wall paintings has been seen in the interior decorations of these works (Renda, 2002). In the 19th century, we encounter wall paintings in many residences in Nevşehir and its region, especially in Ürgüp and its affiliated Mustafapaşa village.
Wall Paintings in the Mansions in Mustafapaşa:
It is noteworthy that the wall paintings painted in the houses in Mustafapaşa have characteristics close to the western style. It can be seen that most of the paintings are products of high quality workmanship and knowledge. In most of the paintings, which we encounter with a variety of varieties such as panoramic landscapes (real or imaginary), figures in the landscape, single figures, and mythological scenes, perspective rules are applied and light-shadow plays are tried to be given. When we look at the overall Ottoman wall paintings made in this period, we see that the majority of them are landscape paintings, while figural expressions are much less common, and they are mostly painted as spots in the landscape without going into much detail. However, when we examine the Mustafapaşa examples, especially around the figures, it draws attention that they are handled both in the form of depictions consisting only of figure portraits, in a thematic narrative, and in a landscape.
Another piece of information we come across about the materials of the paintings in the village is that the paint and other materials in the murals were brought from the Ottoman capital, Istanbul. Greeks from Sinasos played a leading role in the dye trade in Istanbul as of the 1800s. Although there is a small-scale paint production industry in Kayseri, which is located close to Mustafapaşa, it is stated that it is not strong enough to compete with the merchants from Sinasos (Roides, 1986).
Painters:
Another feature of the murals in the village is that the name of the person who painted them is often mentioned. The murals of many houses in the village bear the signature of Kostis Meletiadis, one of the most important painters of the village. In Rizos’ manuscripts, there is information that Meletiadis, who was also a very good clarinet player, went to Italy and received training there, while working at a caviar shop in Unkapanı, Istanbul. In his study about the houses in Sinasos, Roides states that the European influence on the wall paintings in the houses may be related to Meletiadis.
Another painter who was active in the village during the Ottoman period, about whom we have much less information, is Georgios. It is stated that the painter in question painted saints and was a master of icons, while Meletiadis was more fond of painting landscapes (Balta, 2005; Roides, 1986). This painter, whose name we encounter in the murals of some houses and some surrounding churches, must be Georgios Iordanidis.
Apart from these private residences in the village, there are also murals painted in churches or monasteries (For example, the Basileios Church in Beydere). However, since the paintings in civil architectural examples and the paintings in religious buildings differ greatly from each other, especially in terms of purpose, content and source, it is necessary to evaluate these two branches separately. Monumental examples of religious architecture followed a different line of development than civil examples.
