Tower House of Hajrullah Çanta, Rahovec

The tower house (kulla) of Hajrullah Çanta is located in Rahovec, on “Republika” Square. It is presumed to have been built toward the end of the 18th century. From the time it was built until now it has undergone many transformations, both physical and functional.
Initially it served as a residential and lookout tower, while during the 19th century until 1908 it served as a military base of the Ottoman Empire. After this period it was again adapted for housing.
The tower house has an irregular quadrangular floor plan and is built with a high ground floor and an upper floor.
The northern and eastern facades border the building with the street, and have a simple linear treatment without any decoration. The front (southern) facade, which faces the inner courtyard, has a highly artistic treatment. This facade emphasizes the central part, which projects from the perimeter creating a light-and-shadow effect, as well as the gate and the windows on the ground floor with semicircular arches, made of carved stones in white, blue and yellow.
The walls on the ground floor are built of carved stones of rectangular shape, laid regularly so as to create horizontal bands. The walls on the upper floor are mainly built of clay bricks bound with lime mortar. On the northern facade, part of the wall on the upper floor is of stone, as on the ground floor. This fact leads us to presume that the tower was initially built entirely of stone, while the upper floor must have been rebuilt later with clay bricks.
The roof is hipped (four-sided), originally covered with stone slabs, while in the middle of the 20th century it was covered with clay tiles.
In the interior of the house, the original traditional elements have been preserved, characterized by a high level of woodcarving. Among the interior elements worth highlighting are: old wooden doors decorated with geometric forms, wooden ceilings made in the “shishe tavan” style, the doors of the wall cupboards, and double windows with wooden frames and metal grilles on the inner side.
In the southern part of the house lies the courtyard, surrounded by a wall, which separates the space of the house from the street on the southeastern side. New buildings have been built in the courtyard to meet the needs of the owners, obscuring the view of this tower house.
The position of the tower, the emphasized front facade, the materials and construction technique, and the interior decorated with woodcarving elements create the main characteristics of this tower house.