Asmalı Konak

TV Series · 2002–2003 · 21 people

Love and family intrigue in Cappadocia drive Asmalı Konak ("The Mansion with Vines"), a Turkish romantic drama that reached viewers on atv in 2002-2003. Running 54 episodes, it won the Golden Butterfly Award for Best TV Series. Çağan Irmak directed, Mahinur Ergün and Meral Okay wrote the script, and Ans Production produced it.

The story centers on Bahar, the daughter of an Istanbul bureaucrat family. While finishing her studies in New York she meets Seymen, falls in love, and follows him to Cappadocia to marry. Seymen is heir to the Karadağ family, an old household firmly tied to tradition that lives together in a grand house known as the Asmalı Konak. Nurgül Yeşilçay plays Bahar and Özcan Deniz plays Seymen. When the mansion's rules collide with Bahar's modern outlook, the landlord-style order, jealousy, betrayal and a struggle for power come to the fore. The cast also includes Selda Alkor (Sümbül Karadağ), Devrim Saltoğlu (Seyhan Karadağ), Aysun Metiner (Lale Karadağ), Şerif Sezer (Kader Hamzaoğlu) and Menderes Samancılar (Bekir Kirve).

Filming took place in Ürgüp, Cappadocia, where it is said to be the only series with a monument in its name. Tolga Kılıç and Cem Erman composed the music. The story continued on the big screen in the film Asmalı Konak: Hayat.

DirectorÇağan Irmak
Production companyAns Production
Networkatv

Reactions

You can pick up to 3 reactions.

Cast

Through different eyes

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

Asmalı Konak makes the stone mansions of Cappadocia part of the story, and in that it recalls the love of place in the fine old films. Bahar and Seymen's romance is like the meeting of two worlds, Istanbul and Anatolia. Masters such as Selda Alkor and Şerif Sezer give the acting a special depth. My heart does tire a little of how much the mansion's intrigues, jealousy and betrayal take center stage; the simplicity of the love story is sometimes left in the shade. But it is a carefully made production that earned its Golden Butterfly.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

By centering on the encounter between a modern young woman from Istanbul and a family firmly bound to tradition, Asmalı Konak brings an important tension of early-2000s Turkey to the screen: urban individualism versus a traditional family order built on the authority of the landlord. Through Bahar's eyes the mansion looks like a small seat of power whose rules have held for generations. That the show is remembered for its record ratings suggests the conflict struck a chord with many viewers. Still, the narrative sometimes wavers between criticizing the traditional order and romanticising it; the grandeur of the mansion can paper over the pressure inside it.

Series Binger A series devotee tracking character arcs, cast chemistry and season pacing.

At a relatively tidy 54 episodes, Asmalı Konak tells a far tighter story than today's endless series. The chemistry between Nurgül Yeşilçay and Özcan Deniz is the heart of the show; watching Bahar fight to fit into the mansion, you get attached to both of them. The power balances inside the sprawling Karadağ family are as gripping as the romance. The jealousy and betrayal moves do start to feel repetitive at times in later episodes, but when you finish you want more, and luckily the film Asmalı Konak: Hayat is there to answer that.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

Reviews (0)

Log in Log in to write a review.

Comments