Abstract

This article takes a comparative approach, looking to two small cities in the Ottoman East- Mardin and Bitlis- and a group of mansions constructed by a new Armenian bourgeoisie in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Mardin and Bitlis were similar because of the important position that Armenian merchants held in prosperous local markets that were booming in the period following the Tanzimat reforms. This Armenian bourgeoisie were committed to their locality and showed this by playing an active role in new councils. However, they also displayed this commitment through the stylistic choices and symbolic vocabulary of their homes. This article argues how in both cities a boom in mansion-building took place in the aftermath of social turmoil and was a way for these wealthy Armenians to reaffirm their presence. In Bitlis, this was in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War and problematic relations with missionaries and Russian-Armenian incursions in the 1880s. In Mardin, it was in the 1890s to 1900s following the (averted) Hamidian Massacres. At these crucial junctures, local decorative traditions were used as a show of support for authority and to reinforce a social alliance.