Seyr ü Temâşâ: A travel to 19th century İstanbul

Istanbul, a unique historical city in the world, has always been one of the most remarkable cities of every century with its extraordinary cultural mix. By the 19th century, developments in transportation technology made travel not only more comfortable but also safe and removed the limited possibilities of travel. In this period, although travel was a journey for the sake of a privilege or an obligatory purpose, it was also the age of pleasure trips to see different countries and cultures closely. With the increased accessibility of transportation in Europe, the opportunity to travel has been offered not only to the elite but also to the middle class. In the 19th century, the engravings which offer information about the period as well as artistic value took place more in travel books, and it encouraged to take picturesque trips. The diversity and proliferation of travel books written about Istanbul for centuries has shown that the purpose of traveling to the East for Europeans is multifaceted. In this study, travelers who want to be in the scenery they see in the books come to Istanbul and take a journey that evolves from imaginary narratives and landscapes to real narratives and landscapes, shaped by their own cultural heritage and understanding of beauty.