Western Anatolian ancient cities in view of foreign travelers at the end of 17th century in the middle of 18th century, and beginning of 19th century

The basis of thesis titled ?Western Anatolian Ancient Cities in View of Foreign Travelers at The End of 17th Century In The Middle Of 18th Century, And Beginning Of 19th Century? is composed of the travelbooks written by the travellers as a result of their travels in the geography that they called Asia Minor The travellers started to search for the art works belonging to the Ancient Age, as a result of the influence of the ideological movements from Reneaissance. As a result of this, many travelers came to many famous ancient cities in Anatolia and Western Anatolia such as Assos, Troia, Pergamon, Ephesos, Tralleis, Smyrna, Hierapolis, Sardes, etc. The region is very rich in terms of the Works of Greece and Rome.The reason why this subject was chosen is that Western Anatolian region is in the first course in terms of hosting many important Ancient cities and works of World history and the desire to illuminate the reasons and ways of transferring the Works found out as a result of the archeological excavations made during the recession period of Ottoman Empire to the museums abroad. The travelbooks reagarded as historical documents are the basis of our study. We realize thart these Works evaluate ancient cities in a different point of view. We have directed our study in the light of 20 works.The first part of our study is titled as Orientalism. This part is made up of two sub-titles. We understand that foreign travelers traveled aiming at observing the Works of Ancient age with the effect of Orientalism. In the first sub-title, it is seen that the Ottoman Empire issued permission documents for the visits into its lands in that period. Our second sub-title mentions the qualifications of Mürur memorials. The second part gives information about 20 travelers who visited Ancient cities in Western Anatolia and travelbooks. The chronological order of the travelbooks written in the preiod from the 17th Century to the first half of the 19th Century. Among the travelbooks used, the ones mentioning Ancient cities hosting historical ruins and Works are of priority in terms of our study. In our third title, 12 ancient cities of Western Anatolia viewed to be important in terms of World history were analysed in the light of travelbooks. Also, the attitudes and views of the travellers in terms of reflecting the truths have been taken into consideration.In the last part of our study, the progress in Ottoman museology, the life of Osman Hamdi Bey who was the Head of the Imperial Museum (Müze-i Hümayun), the point of view of the Ottoman Empire to the ancient Works, archeological excavations, and the sensibility of the political and diplomatic situation of the period has been refered.Key Words: Traveler, Travelbook, Ancient Cities.