World Bulletin News Desk

Ottoman-era maps by great cartographers Katip Celebi and Piri Reis started to be exhibited in, Dolmabahce Palas, Istanbul, within a cultural project to travel other Turkish cities and abroad.

Hosting important original maps from the 17th century, the collection, "Ottoman Perspective to the World from Piri Reis to Katip Celebi" promote Ottoman perspective through world.

The exhibition is organized by the İstanbul-based Bahcesehir University Civilization Studies Center (MEDAM), aims to show the perspective of the Ottoman Empire from 1650 to 1660.

MEDAM President Bekir Karlıga explained in a recent interview with Today's Zaman that "Maps reveal the knowledge and technology of the period, and we thought showcasing them rather than adding our own interpretations or comments would be better."

The world maps of Piri Reis and his book "Kitab-ı Bahriye," which he presented to Suleiman the Magnificent in 1526, are the most important 16th century Ottoman naval and cartographic works, Professor Karlıga explained.

"Even though they are prepared in a traditional style, the works of Piri Reis are portolan charts based on his personal experiences, observations and earlier maps from the East and West. Although they lack longitude and latitude lines, they are as precise as scientific maps for practical naval purposes since they have a projection center and are adjusted for variation," Karlıga said.

Many original works such as the first and second world maps created by Piri Reis in 1513 and 1528-1529 respectively and the oldest Turkish World Map included in Divan-u Lügati't-Turk by Kasgarlı Mahmut, Turkish media reported.

Katip Celebi's work marked the beginning of the transition from traditional geographical methods to a more scientific study, Today's Zaman quoted Karlıağa as saying.

The show also features maps from other geographers of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as maps of Ottoman territories from various European geographers of the time.

The exhibition may be visited until June 17 and will be opened in 40 more cities after Istanbul. Some capitals abroad will also host the exhibition.

Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Antalya, Adana, and Kayseri as well as California, New York, Paris, Aix en-Provence, Tashkent and Damascus are among the host cities. Conferences on the work of Katip Celebi will be held to accompany the show.