YILLIK: Annual of Istanbul Studies 6 (2024)
The sixth volume of YILLIK: Annual of Istanbul Studies features four peer-reviewed research articles delving deep into Istanbul's historical, social, and cultural fabric. Günseli Gürel, recipient of the Early Career Article Prize, reevaluates the perceptions and historical narratives surrounding Hagia Sophia in Ottoman written accounts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Alaaddin Tok's study examines the development of a multi-layered energy infrastructure in late Ottoman Istanbul, characterized by the simultaneous use of wood, coal, and petroleum. The article by Oğulcan Avcı and Nurcan Boşdurmaz reassesses the historical trajectory of the Fatih Sultan Mehmed Mosque, built north of Anadoluhisarı by Sultan Mehmed II and demolished in the early Republican period. The authors aim to correct gaps and inaccuracies in the literature through archival documents and maps. In the final research article of this year’s YILLIK, Güzin Yeliz Kahya maps the spatial distribution of creative industries in Istanbul, arguing that urban cultural policies should embrace creative clusters in central and peripheral areas.
In the Meclis section, the second instalment of the Interventions to Istanbul Studies series, edited by advisory board member Koray Durak, presents articles amplifying the voices of Istanbul’s Rum (Greek) community to reestablish the city’s social fabric. Christine Philliou investigates the erased and rediscovered elements of Valide Han’s history, tracing the traces of the Rum community. Paul Magdalino discusses Ilias Makridis’ experiences in Istanbul between 1901 and 1912 through his unpublished memoir, shedding light on the Rum community of the period. Firuzan Melike Sümertaş examines the loss of Istanbul’s Rum Literary Society Syllogos and explores mapping as a counter-act. Koray Durak discusses Byzantine studies in the 1950s, Istanbul’s Greek-speaking community, and the Tenth International Congress of Byzantine Studies. Çiğdem Kafescioğlu offers a new perspective on the conquest of Istanbul, evaluating the post-conquest state of the Rum community. Stefanos Yerasimos presents a map of Beyoğlu drawn by a Rum child, revealing the spatial experiences of the Rum community.
In the Cabinet section, Özge Baykan Calafato evaluates photographs by Namık Görgüç and Selahattin Giz from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Photography Collection, exploring how photography in early Republican Turkey shaped and reinterpreted individuals’ representations of modern Turkish citizenship. The Reviews and Istanbul Bibliography section includes ten book reviews and two exhibition analyses. In a special review, İpek Türeli focuses on the exhibitions Istanbul as Far as the Eye Can See: Views across Five Centuries at Meşher and On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, a History at Pera Museum, assessing the historical development of Istanbul’s panoramic depictions. As always, the volume concludes with the Istanbul Bibliography 2024, compiling the latest research on Istanbul.
Istanbul Research Institute Publications 53
Periodicals 13
Istanbul, December 2024
ISSN: 2687-5012
