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Workshop

The workshop is completed on Tuesday, December 13, between 5:30-7:00 PM at Zoom. 9 students participated the workshop.

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Yedikule Dungeons of the Future Istanbul on Metaverse

As we present the outcomes of our workshop, we want to thank to all the participants. Respecting privacy and individual preferences is of paramount importance to us. We sought express permission from each participant before publishing their names on our website, and this list only includes those who gave us their consent. We hope that the published outcomes will serve as an enlightening source of information, prompt new questions, and spur further research and collaboration. It's important to note that the original discussions and resultant insights were generated in Turkish. To ensure these ideas are accessible to a wider global audience, we've taken great care to translate the outcomes into English.

See the original versions

What do you think of Yedikule Dungeons of the future Istanbul on Metaverse?

About 50 years ago the Population and Immigration Administration unit moved here, between these high walls. In fact, it was a show of strength, just to present an image to the other party to show that citizenship cannot be easily obtained. The Golden Gate, standing in the middle of the walls, which does not identify with its name, is unfortunately a deaf wall where those who have been waiting for their turn for years lean on their backs and hide from the setting sun. It has long taken an attitude that does not remind us that it was the scene of the glorious transitions of those who won the victories centuries ago. I wonder if this was done on purpose, in a renovation work, that glorious door was filled with pale stones as if a curtain was drawn for the victories of the whole country. The next ones were getting ready for the night now. The vendors roaming the courtyard were waiting for the weather to get a little colder to sell the heat pads they had taken out of their pockets. Another announcement was made, “It is forbidden to sell within the Wall.” The wait was so long that those who asked when it would be their turn betrayed that they had just joined the group. The vendors were finishing right next to them.

It was a strange feeling that this long wait was just to be able to get outside the walls and roam freely. Everyone was waiting for his number. The man next to me whined in half Turkish as he was setting up the tent he bought yesterday, "I wonder how many more days we will have to wait". Everyone was waiting for his number. A new holographic number ball appeared on the top of the tower of the dome of the inscriptions, and there was movement in the middle of the courtyard. One person, trying to hide his excitement, quickly moved to the bottom of the tower and entered. "Lucky dog!" said another, poking his head out of his newly built tent. The courtyard was filled with tents, some tents rising several floors, which were supported by the bottom of the walls. People didn't want to miss their turn, they just wanted to get into one of the towers and get out again. The officers in the towers said nothing. The decision to be made inside was only about you. The decision just depended on how good you were at the game you were going to play with the cards in your hand. But no one knew what the cards were. Judging by the conversations in the courtyard, he said it was important who the officer was. But the officer is not a person, his mouth habit is of course, he is not a person, he is an officer. There are no people inside the towers… Governments no longer need people for a long time, all that is needed is control. What's being tested inside is how much control you can think of, across the courtyard. This is the issue discussed in the courtyard in general, how can a person prove that he is controllable, how can he be tested? No one came back from those who entered the courtyard and the towers. Therefore, this question has never found a definitive answer. But many different scenarios are being talked about… Some say that the emotions in the answers to the questions are looked at, some say that they are put to the test in the simulations inside. They say it may even matter which tower the sequence number appears on. But they are all different dungeon legends, so they call this uncertainty. Müge Halıcı

Seven tower dungeons.. For some it is the treasure place where all the wealth is gathered, for some it is a pile of stones surrounded by walls on 5 sides where freedom has been seized... But it is one of the largest space and research bases in the universe of the present.. The Great Istanbul earthquake in the 2050s Afterwards, these dungeons were heavily damaged, and the damaged parts were filled with mass hologram models. These dungeons, both close to the sea and in the center of the world, would provide communication between the earth and other planets and would be one of the biggest parts in solving the mystery in the depths of space. Various activities were shown in this space base and it was desired to create a communication network. This was a portal that would provide both the material transition and a short route to the mystery in the depths of space. This structure, where each tower was a key, was nearing completion. There was a dynamic and functional flow within the towers. Its old functions were adapted to the present day and its function was renewed. The works were going on at full speed. Speaking of reports by various scientists, quantum experiments, subatomic particles... That day had come. The construction of that portal that would reach the unreachable dimensions in the universe had come to an end. This system, which was built on the golden door, would have a return, but its return... Its return was a mystery. It's the legend of the Yedikule Dungeons, you know, "Entry can't get out, this is a place easily." The towers were ready to turn like a key to activate that passage in the Golden Gate. And the gate began to work. There was a loud noise and a gravitational force that sucked the dust into the ground. While everyone could not look at the dazzled door, the door suddenly became fixed. The door was wide open and it was like a mirror. So what was going on inside? It could be predicted that this place was the Yedikule dungeons, but there was something unpredictable, this was a parallel universe where the Yedikule Dungeons were located, and those dungeons were a Metaverse simulation in that universe.

There was a person assigned and prepared to pass through this door. Having passed the test for days and resistant to every common problem and issue, this person was up for the task. They greeted him with applause at the door. This traveler was also assigned to keep a diary. He would record every hour he went and collect the technologies, devices and materials he saw. He had encountered his first material. It was part of a helmet. The moment he touched this piece of helmet, he embarked on an eastern journey to the deepest reaches of history. The date was 1622, the square was very crowded, and many people were making a hoot. Breaking through this large group of people, there was a janissary group and a youth in the middle of them. The traveler began to take note of them and watched in amazement. This was Young Osman, who was killed by the young janissaries. He was being taken to the tower to be executed. The traveler broke through the crowd and proceeded to another unexplored spot. This time, he was curious and touched a plate at the bottom of the walls. This brought him back to earlier times in history. This was the Roman Period. He saw people's different clothes and orchards. He was taking notes. And he was becoming more and more aware that the piece he touched had thrown him into a corner of history. His travel diary was getting fuller. It was at the end of the page. He was walking towards the gate (portal) to return. He was proud of his grades. He had wandered through history and was returning to his world. But there was something he didn't know. There is an entrance to Yedikule Dungeons, but no exit. When he got to the door, he realized that the portal was closed. The name of this young man who stayed in the Yedikule Dungeons simulation in the parallel universe was Evliya.

According to a rumor, when this portal was opened, Evliya Çelebi, who was in the parallel universe, made the transition to our world and is currently wandering in Istanbul, perhaps any street in the world, and continues to write his travelogue. Who knows? Maybe he is very close to us right now and is painting us. Serkan Arbaş

Before entering the tower surrounded by wooden structures settled around the fort, materials from different periods from the past greet the conscious visitors. As you get closer to the tower, the orchards surrounding it are alive as a clue for its interior. While contributing to the city in agricultural production, this is an area created for the residents to continue their lives. When you enter the inner borders of Altınkapı, which has lost its former glory and changes in every period, a garden of the kind that will make you forget the clutter outside welcomes you. A person can isolate himself from the outside world in this unorganized festivity where many different grass, flower and tree specimens are side by side. When we go to the top of the fort, it becomes possible to see this contrast. On one side, there is the sea level, which looks like it will almost reach the inside of the tower, on one side there are wooden houses and on the other side there is a fortress resembling a huge forest. Ece Savaş

Yedikule Dungeons is the biggest and most frightening court palace in the world. It has 999 court councils that speak to the universe. Every criminal who is asked to be punished is tried in this court. The guilt of the prisoner is determined as a result of tests determined by the council. Thanks to the special plants grown in the orchards in the dungeon (by turning them into food), the prisoner becomes unable to lie. In addition, animals raised in certain parts of the dungeon were used to scare the prisoners. The magnificent courtroom, located in the fifth tower, has an architecture that can make the tiny prisoners in the middle of the hall speak without saying a word, by showing their might even greater, with the council members lined up 4 meters above the ground in a circle. Merve Şule Yörük

Yedikule Fortress is a Fortress, where the ground was excavated without damaging historical structures/objects with the help of the discipline of archeology, the functions used so far are continued at the elevations layer by layer in the inner part of the fortress, and the new functions are lowered to the ground as they are applied. On the one hand, the entire existing building was kept on the pillars together with the excavation, providing full access to the building from the environment, virtually squared off, so that it was included in the life of the city, and at the same time, it is a museum where the functions of the old times are continued/exhibited. Kartal Turhan

I think that the permanence of memory and history, the transmission of memory and the method of transmission will gain importance on the way to the future from these days when digitalization is gradually a part of our lives. In this journey where the future gains endless power with digitalization, the continuity of memory should be one of the main focal points. Due to its geographical and strategic location, Istanbul has become a rich city in terms of cultural heritage by hosting many different civilizations and cultures throughout history. The bond established between the cultural heritage/accumulation and the future and the past may have functions such as responding to the problems of that day/past/future, finding the origin of a problem from the past. In the Istanbul of the future, I think that Yedikule can serve as a memorial library with its historical, cultural, demographic background, geographical and climatic traces (data) that it carries abstractly, both with its structural integrity and features and the opportunities that digitalization provides us. The data that Yedikule carries about all the events and identities it has witnessed throughout history can serve as a strong link between the past and the future, enabling us to transfer this information and build the future without forgetting the past. Tugce Naz DEMIR