A Discussion on Ottoman Istanbul

The Voyvoda Street Istanbul Lectures host Assist. Prof. Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu with a presentation entitled, "Konstantinopolis/Istanbul: The Reconstruction of Place and Image" scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, at 6:30 p.m.

"The cultural output of the Ottoman elite, which after 1453 transformed the site, and the image of Konstantinopolis, closely parallels the political and cultural dynamics of the Ottoman world during this period," says Kafesçioğlu. "While speculations about the city's "conquest" or "fall" usually allow a linear narrative, the close scrutiny of place and image presents a richly complex tableau, some aspects of which were fated to disappear in Istanbul's subsequent history. It's Byzantine legacy, the influence of early Ottoman architecture and urban culture, the broadening horizons of a growing empire, and the dynamics shaping capital cities of the early modern world, all played their part, to varying degrees, on the reconstruction of the city. Traces of its manifold character and of evolving political and historical thought thus appear in both visual and literary representations of Ottoman Istanbul."

Held on the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Istanbul Lectures center on the topic, "The Three Eras of Istanbul: Byzantine, Ottoman, and Republican."

Assist. Prof. Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu Kafesçioğlu, who has been teaching in the Department of History at Boğaziçi University since 1998, holds a BA and an MA in History from the same university, and a Ph.D. in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard University. She has conducted research on edifices commissioned by the Ottoman ruling elite in Aleppo and Damascus, and on the reconstruction of Konstantinopolis as the Ottoman capital. Kafesçioğlu is currently investigating representations of the material environment in Ottoman geographical texts, within the framework of 16th and 17th century empire, place, and history imagery.

Voyvoda Street Istanbul Lectures "Konstantinopolis/Istanbul: The Reconstruction of Place and Image" Assist. Prof. Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu Wednesday, February 14 , 2007 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Free admission The Ottoman Bank Museum Bankalar (Voyvoda) Caddesi 35/37 (0212) 334 22 70