İDEALKENT

Yazarlar: Sibel ACAR

Konular:Sosyal

Anahtar Kelimeler:Istanbul,Nineteenth century,Travelogues,Guide books,Travel,Tourism.

Özet: It was not before the mid-nineteenth century that Istanbul, or Constantinople as it used to be known to Westerners, was easily accessible to masses of travelers. Until then, travelers had been envoys, soldiers, technicians, merchants, scientists, architects or artists who came to the city on various missions. Being mostly well educated, these people produced a large array of accounts of the Ottoman capital. When tourism appeared as a new phenomenon in the first half of the nineteenth century, it proliferated through the consumption of the existing knowledge on Istanbul. Accordingly, it paved way to a certain way of seeing of the city.  İstanbul attracted tourists because it was different than their everyday life with its natural, historical or cultural features. The sightseers traveled to visit the ‘attractions’ that were promoted as unique features of a place, such as old towns, archaeological sites, landscapes, historical monuments, and so on. They were commonly advised by travelogues and guidebooks on what was worth seeing. This study investigates what the city looked like in the nineteenth century from the viewpoint of its visitors on the basis of Istanbul narratives in travel accounts and guide books, and how this way of seeing was constructed collectively.   

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