1.
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
–
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today, the Blue Mosque, as it is popularly known, was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmeds tomb, a madrasah and a hospice, hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. It sits next to the Hagia Sophia, another popular tourist site, after the Peace of Zsitvatorok and the crushing loss in the 1603–1618 war with Persia, Sultan Ahmet I, decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to reassert Ottoman power. It would be the first imperial mosque for more than forty years, while his predecessors had paid for their mosques with the spoils of war, Ahmet I procured funds from the Treasury, because he had not gained remarkable victories. It caused the anger of the ulema, the Muslim jurists, big parts of the south shore of the mosque rest on the foundations, the vaults of the old Grand Palace. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has five domes, six minarets. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development and it incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. At its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade İznik style ceramic tiles, made at Iznik in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit, the tiles were made under the supervision of the Iznik master. The price to be paid for each tile was fixed by the sultans decree, as a result, the quality of the tiles used in the building decreased gradually. The upper levels of the interior are dominated by blue paint, more than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light, today assisted by chandeliers. On the chandeliers, ostrich eggs are found that were meant to avoid cobwebs inside the mosque by repelling spiders, the decorations include verses from the Quran, many of them made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time. The floors are covered with carpets, which are donated by the faithful and are replaced as they wear out. The many spacious windows confer a spacious impression, the casements at floor level are decorated with opus sectile. Each exedra has five windows, some of which are blind, each semi-dome has 14 windows and the central dome 28. The coloured glass for the windows was a gift of the Signoria of Venice to the sultan, most of these coloured windows have by now been replaced by modern versions with little or no artistic merit
2.
Culture of the Ottoman Empire
–
Ottoman culture evolved over several centuries as the ruling administration of the Turks absorbed, adapted and modified the cultures of conquered lands and their peoples. Tevfik Fikret, born in 1867, is considered the founder of modern Turkish poetry. Nevertheless, a number of genres - the travelogue, the political treatise, from the 19th century, the increasing influence of the European novel, and particularly that of the French novel, began to be felt. Şemsettin Samis Taaşuk-u Talat ve Fitnat, widely considered the first Turkish novel, was published in 1872, other notable Ottoman writers of prose were Ahmet Mithat and Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil. The most significant figure in the field, the 16th-century architect and engineer Mimar Sinan, was a Muslim convert of Armenian descent and his most famous works were the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne and the Suleiman Mosque in Constantinople. One of his pupils, Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, designed the early 17th century Blue Mosque, the Diwani script is a cursive and distinctively Ottoman style of Arabic calligraphy developed in the 16th and early 17th centuries. It was invented by Housam Roumi, reaching its greatest development under Süleyman I the Magnificent, the highly decorative script was distinguished by its complexity of line and by the close juxtaposition of the letters within words. Other forms included the flowing, rounded Nashki script, invented by the 10th-century Abbasid calligrapher Ali Muhammad ibn Muqlah, noted Ottoman calligraphers include Seyyid Kasim Gubari, Şeyh Hamdullah, Ahmed Karahisari, and Hâfiz Osman. The weaving of such carpets originated in the cultures of central Asia. Turks used carpets, rugs and patterned kilims not just on the floors of a room, but also as a hanging on walls and doorways and they were also commonly donated to mosques, which often amassed large collections of them. Hereke carpets were of high status, being made of silk or a combination of silk and cotton. Other significant designs included Palace, Yörük, Ushak, and Milas or Türkmen carpets, Yörük and Türkmen represented more stylized designs, whereas naturalistic designs were prevalent in Palace. The Ottoman Empire was noted for the quality of its gold- and silversmiths, jewelry had particular importance as it was commonly given at weddings, as a gift that could be used as a form of savings. Silver was the most common material used, with gold reserved for more pieces, designs often displayed complex filigree work and incorporated Persian. Apart from the traditions of its constituent peoples, the Ottoman Empire evolved a distinct style of court music. This was a vocal form, with instrumental accompaniment, built on makamlar. Another distinctive feature of Ottoman music were the mehterân, the bands used by the Janissaries. These bands were the ancestors of modern bands, as well as of the brass ensembles popular in traditional Balkan music
3.
Ottoman Empire
–
After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
4.
Ottoman miniature
–
Ottoman miniature or Turkish miniature was an art form in the Ottoman Empire, which can be linked to the Persian miniature tradition, as well as strong Chinese artistic influences. It was a part of the Ottoman book arts, together with illumination, calligraphy, marbling paper, the words taswir or nakish were used to define the art of miniature painting in Ottoman Turkish. The studios the artists worked in were called Nakkashanes, the head painter, and much more often the scribe of the text, were indeed named and depicted in some of the manuscripts. The understanding of perspective was different from that of the nearby European Renaissance painting tradition, the miniatures followed closely the context of the book they were included in, resembling more illustrations rather than standalone works of art. The colors for the miniature were obtained by ground powder pigments mixed with egg-white and, later, contrasting colors used side by side with warm colors further emphasized this quality. The most used colors in Ottoman miniatures were bright red, scarlet, green, the worldview underlying the Ottoman miniature painting was also different from that of the European Renaissance tradition. The painters did not mainly aim to depict the human beings and other living or non-living beings realistically, although increasing realism is found from the later 16th century and onwards. Like Plato, Ottoman tradition tended to reject mimesis, because according to the worldview of Sufism, the Ottoman artists hinted at an infinite and transcendent reality with their paintings, resulting in stylized and abstracted depictions. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Herat workshop of Persian miniaturists was closed, after the Ottoman emperor Selim I briefly conquered Tabriz in 1514, taking many manuscripts back to Istanbul, the Nakkashane-i Irani was founded in Topkapı Palace for imported Persian artists. There were also books on botany and animals, alchemy, cosmography, and medicine, technical books, love letters, books about astrology. Nakkaş Osman was the most important miniature painter of the period, matrakçı Nasuh was a famous miniature painter during the reigns of Selim I and Suleyman the Magnificent. He created a new painting genre called topographic painting and he painted cities, ports, and castles without any human figures and combined scenes observed from different viewpoints in one picture. During the reigns of Selim II and Murat III, the classical Ottoman miniature style was created, the renowned miniature painters of the period were Nakkaş Osman, Ali Çelebi, Molla Kasım, Hasan Pasha, and Lütfi Abdullah. By the end of the 16th century and in the beginning of 17th century, especially during the reign of Ahmed I and they had existed at the time of Murat III, who ordered an album of them from the painter Velijan. In the 17th century, miniature painting was popular among the citizens of Istanbul. Artists under the name of Bazaar Painters worked with artisans in the bazaars of Istanbul at the demand of citizens. A new cultural genre known in Ottoman history as the Tulip period occurred during the reign of Ahmed III, some art historians attribute the birth of the unique style called Ottoman Baroque to this period. The characteristics of the period carried the influences of French baroque, in this period, a grand festival for the circumcision rituals for the sons of Ahmed III was organized
5.
Iznik pottery
–
The designs combined traditional Ottoman arabesque patterns with Chinese elements. The change was almost certainly a result of intervention and patronage by the recently established Ottoman court in Istanbul who greatly valued Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. During the 16th century the decoration of the pottery gradually changed in style, becoming looser, initially turquoise was combined with the dark shade of cobalt blue and then the pastel shades of sage green and pale purple were added. Finally, in the middle of the century, a very characteristic bole red replaced the purple, the ceramic collection of the Topkapi Palace includes over ten thousand pieces of Chinese porcelain but almost no Iznik pottery. Following the establishment of the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century, after this initial period, Iznik vessels were made in imitation of Chinese porcelain, which was highly prized by the Ottoman sultans. As the potters were unable to make porcelain, the vessels produced were fritware, the originality of the potters was such that their use of Chinese originals has been described as adaptation rather than imitation. Chinese ceramics had long admired, collected and emulated in the Islamic world. This was especially so in the Ottoman court and the Safavid court in Persia which had important collections of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, such Chinese porcelains influenced the style of Safavid pottery and had a strong impact on the development of Iznik ware. By the mid-16th century, Iznik had its own vocabulary of floral, decoration progressed from pure symmetry to subtle rhythms. Although it is now believed that all the pottery was produced in Iznik the earlier names associated with the different styles are often used. In the 19th century until the 1860s all Islamic pottery was known as Persian ware. However, between 1865 and 1872 the Musée de Cluny in Paris acquired a collection of polychrome pottery with a design that included a bright sealing-wax red. The ewer has an inscription in Armenian script under the glaze on its base stating that the vessel was in commemoration of Abraham, servant of God, as a result, pottery with similar spiral patterns became known as Golden Horn ware. It was not until the 1930s that art historians realised that the different styles of pottery were probably all produced in Iznik. This chronology has been generally accepted, the Abraham of Kutahia ewer of 1510 is not the only vessel with a possible Kütahya origin. Lane argued that it was unlikely that either the Abraham of Kutahia ewer or the bottle had been made in Kütahya. The designs, materials and manufacturing technique appear to have similar to that used in İznik. Kütahya is further from Istanbul with less access to the capital and was probably only a small pottery producing centre in the 16th century
6.
Islamic calligraphy
–
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, based upon the alphabet in the lands sharing a common Islamic cultural heritage. It includes Arabic, Ottoman, and Persian calligraphy and it is known in Arabic as khatt Islami, meaning Islamic line, design, or construction. The development of Islamic calligraphy is strongly tied to the Quran, chapters, deep religious association with the Quran, as well as suspicion of figurative art as idolatrous has led calligraphy to become one of the major forms of artistic expression in Islamic cultures. As Islamic calligraphy is highly venerated, most works follow examples set by well established calligraphers, in antiquity, a pupil would copy a masters work repeatedly until their handwriting was similar. The most common style is divided into angular and cursive, each divided into several sub-styles. Some styles are often written using a metallic-tip pen, Islamic calligraphy is applied on a wide range of decorative mediums other than paper, such as tiles, vessels, carpets, and inscriptions. Before the advent of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for writing, the advent of paper revolutionized calligraphy. While monasteries in Europe treasured a few volumes, libraries in the Muslim world regularly contained hundreds. Coins were another support for calligraphy, beginning in 692, the Islamic caliphate reformed the coinage of the Near East by replacing visual depiction with words. This was especially true for dinars, or gold coins of high value, generally the coins were inscribed with quotes from the Quran. By the tenth century, the Persians, who had converted to Islam, so precious were calligraphic inscribed textiles that Crusaders brought them to Europe as prized possessions. A notable example is the Suaire de Saint-Josse, used to wrap the bones of St. Josse in the Abbey of St. Josse-sur-Mer near Caen in northwestern France, Kufic is the oldest form of the Arabic script. The style emphasizes rigid and angular strokes, which appears as a form of the old Nabataean script. The Archaic Kufi consisted of about 17 letters without diacritic dots or accents, afterwards, dots and accents were added to help readers with pronunciation, and the set of Arabic letters rose to 29. It is developed around the end of the 7th century in the areas of Kufa, Iraq, the style later developed into several varieties, including floral, foliated, plaited or interlaced, bordered, and squared kufi. There were no set rules of using the Kufic script, the common feature is the angular, linear shapes of the characters. Common varieties include square Kufic, a known as bannai. Contemporary calligraphy using this style is popular in modern decorations
7.
Meddah
–
Meddah is the name given to a traditional Turkish story teller, who played in front of a small group of viewers, such as a coffeehouse audience. This form of performance was popular in the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century onwards. The play was generally about a topic, the meddah playing different characters. The meddah would use such as an umbrella, a handkerchief, or different headwear, to signal a change of character. There was no limitation on the shows, a good meddah had the skill to adjust the story depending on interaction with the audience. Meddahs were generally traveling artists whose route took them from one city to another, such along the towns of the spice road. The repertoires of the meddahs also included stories, modified depending on the audience, artist. The Istanbul meddahs were known to integrate musical instruments into their stories, in 2008 the art of the meddahs was relisted in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The meddah originally started as the narrators of religious and heroic tales, such kıssahan existed during the Seljuq period and usually told Arabic and Persian epics, stories of Ali and Hamza, as well as tales from One Thousand and One Nights. These stories expanded over time to include such as Battal Gazi. The tradition of kıssahan continued into the Ottoman period, as evidenced by the documentation of a kıssahan working in the palace named Mustafa during the reign of Mehmed II. In time, all became known as meddah and their stories became more and more secular. They began to imitate animals and make innuendos to attract the attention of the audiences, according to a scholar, this occurred when the Mohammeddan clergy forbade any reference to the saints in the plays. Between the 16th and the 18th centuries, the meddah increased their influence in the society and they remained popular into the 20th century. However, the tradition of the ended by the middle of the 20th century, with Sururi, active until the 1930s. Whilst traditional story-telling weakened in Turkish society, the function the meddah had was taken up by the ashik
8.
Ottoman classical music
–
Classical Turkish music, sometimes known as Ottoman classical music, developed in Istanbul and other major Ottoman cities and towns through the palaces and Sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire. Above all a vocal music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo singer with an instrumental ensemble. In recent times, instruments might include tambur, ney, kemençe, keman, kanun, sometimes described as monophonic music, the variety of ornamentation and variation in the ensemble requires the more accurate term heterophonic. Ottoman music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makams, there are more than 600 makams that have been used so far. Out of these, at least 119 makams are formally defined, in the Sufi teaching, each makam represents and conveys a particular psychological and spiritual state. Sometimes, in certain makams, Ottomans would use different instrumental and vocal musical pieces in order to certain medical and psychological conditions. A number of systems were used for transcribing classical music. Turkish classical music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the most respected of which is Istanbuls Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti, a full fasıl concert would include four different instrumental forms and three vocal forms, including a light classical song, şarkı. A strictly classical fasıl remains in the same throughout, from the introductory taksim to the end. Tanrıkorur argues that the differences between the traditional music genres stemmed from the cultural clash between the East and the West that emerged during the Tanzîmat Era. Older instruments still in use include lavta, Ottoman classical music comprises many vocal and instrumental forms, among which are the suites called fasıl. A fasıl typically includes many instrumental and/or vocal movements, including taksim, peşrev, şarkı, beste, Ottoman music has various genres including the spiritual, improvised and fasil music. Other famous proponents of this genre include Dede Efendi, Prince Cantemir, Baba Hamparsum, Kemani Tatyos Efendi, Sultan Selim III, the most popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir Nurettin Selçuk, who was the first to establish a lead singer position. Other performers include Bekir Sıdkı Sezgin, Alaeddin Yavaşça, Müzeyyen Senar, Emel Sayın, the long list of Turkish words on the screen are names of individual makam. Each makam has its own quality and repertoire, click on any of these to get a list of the music available to view. TurkMusikisi, the premier Turkish-language website dedicated to Ottoman music, highly recommended, regardless of Turkish ability. Secular classical music, selection from gazel improvisation sung by Safiye Ayla mp3,829 kB,0,00,53 duration Mosque music, selection from Merhaba bahrı sung by Kâni Karaca mp3,1. It explores the history, reviews the instruments of Turkish classical and folk music and it is available in four languages, Turkish, English, French and German
9.
Oil wrestling
–
Oil wrestling, also called grease wrestling, is the Turkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil, the term Güreş is shared with other forms of wrestling practiced by Turkic-speakers across Europe and Central Asia, such as the Uzbek kurash, Tuvan khuresh and Tatar köräş. Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet, thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latters kisbet. To win by this move is called paça kazık, if there is no winner, play continues for another 15 minutes—10 minutes for the pehlivan category, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor. The annual Kırkpınar tournament, held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1362, is the oldest continuously running, oil wrestling festivals also take place in northern Greece in the Eastern Macedonia and West Thrace. In recent years, this style of wrestling has become popular in other countries, particularly the Netherlands. Cognate forms of wrestling practiced by Turkic-speakers are found throughout Western Eurasia under the names Köraş, Khuresh, Kurash. Oil wrestling can be traced back to the ancient Sumer and Babylon, greco-Roman traditions also point to the practice of oil wrestling. Turkish wrestlers started covering themselves according to Islamic law after the 10th century, the Turkish word for wrestling can be traced back to the old Oghuz Turkic languages, which originate from the Eurasian steppes, where wrestling has also been practiced. This form continued to what is known as Yağlı Güreş or Turkish oil wrestling. In the Ottoman Empire, wrestlers learned the art in special schools called tekke, which were not merely athletic centres, wrestlers oil one another prior to matches as a demonstration of balance and mutual respect. If a man defeats an opponent, he kisses the latters hand. Ottoman chroniclers and writers attest that the Kırkpınar Games have been every year since 1362. The games have been cancelled only about 70 times, the original site was some 35 kilometres distant. In 1924, they were moved to the present location after the Balkan War, there are some organized oil wrestling competitions outside Turkey, particularly by the Royal Dutch Power Sport Federation in the Netherlands. Süleyman Şahin Gazanfer Bilge Alper Yazoğlu * Hüseyin Şahin * James Olais Seyfettin Selim * Gubby * • These aghas were awarded a golden belt, Kırkpınar Karakucak Wrestling in Turkey Kurash Khuresh Award winning photo documentary by Michael Craig
10.
Turkish archery
–
Turkish archery is a tradition of archery which became highly developed in the Ottoman Empire, although its origins date back to the Eurasian Steppe in the second millennium BC. The sport of archery declined gradually until the reign of Mahmud II who made efforts to revive it. He also ordered his archery student, Mustafa Kani, to write a book about the history, construction, after the death of Mahmud II in 1839, archery resumed its decline. The living art of Turkish bowyery was lost in the 1930s with the death of the last bowyer and famous calligrapher, Neçmeddin Okyay, the Turkish bow is a recurved composite bow used in the Ottoman Empire. The construction is similar to that of other classic Asiatic composite bows, with a core, animal horn on the belly. However, several features of the Turkish bow are distinct, the curvature tends to be more extreme when the bow is unstrung, with the limbs curling forward into the shape of the letter C. With some bows, the tips of the limbs even touch. The grip area is not recessed like other Asianic bows and is flat on the belly. The dramatic curvature of the bows makes stringing them very different from straighter bows found in Europe, there is an old saying in Turkey that there are 120 ways to string a bow, though the most common methods involve sitting on ground with ones feet pressed against the grip. Heavier bows usually require the use of a long, looped strap called a kemend to pull the limbs back, for many years the excellence of Turkish bows could be seen from historical records. Turkish thumb rings were made of wood, metal, ivory, bone and these rings signified that the person wearing them was a warrior. Surviving examples are made of precious metals and richly decorated. Some are carved from precious stones, the siper and majra are devices used to draw arrows past the bows front limb where the arrow would normally rest. The siper is a type of shelf strapped to the bow hand. They are most commonly used for Flight Archery, to achieve the greatest distance, the Majra is a thin piece of wood with a channel cut in it and small loop for the archers draw hand. The device allows the archer to pull back arrows that are shorter than were intended for the bow. In modern times they are used in Flight Archery to shoot shorter arrows to cut down on weight. Like many other Eastern archery styles, Turkish archery uses a thumb draw and this grip prevents the arrow from moving if the archer is on a horse and/or firing at an unusual angle
11.
Ottoman cuisine
–
Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its continuation in the cuisines of Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, and parts of the Caucasus, and the Middle East. It is clear that Ottoman cuisine was unified and refined in imperial Istanbul, the Balkans, Greece, Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent. are common heirs to what was once the Ottoman life-style, and their cuisines offer treacherous circumstantial evidence of this fact. Of course, they represent at the time a good deal of local or regional culinary traditions. This diverse cuisine was amalgamated and honed in the Imperial Palaces kitchens by chefs brought from certain parts of the empire to create and these chefs were tested and hired by their method of cooking rice, a simple dish. They were brought over from various places for the purpose of experimenting with exotic textures and ingredients. Each cook specialized in specific tasks, all dishes intended for the sultan were first passed by the palate of the Chesnidjibashi, or imperial food taster, who tested the food for both poison and taste. Culinary cultures of the Ottoman Empire
12.
Turkish carpet
–
It denotes a knotted, pile-woven floor or wall covering which is produced for home use, local sale, and export. Carpet weaving represents a traditional art, dating back to pre-Islamic times, during its long history, the art and craft of the woven carpet has integrated different cultural traditions. The arrival of Islam and the development of the Islamic art also influenced Turkish carpet design, the history of its designs, motifs and ornaments thus reflects the political and ethnic history and diversity of the area of Asia minor. However, scientific attempts were unsuccessful, as yet, to attribute a particular design to an ethnic, regional. When political contacts and trade became more intense between Western Europe and the Islamic world after the 12th century AD, also woven carpets became known in Europe. When Western European art historians developed a scientific interest in oriental carpets in the late 19th century, within the group of oriental carpets, the Turkish carpet is distinguished by particular characteristics of dyes and colours, designs, textures and techniques. Usually made of wool and cotton, Turkish carpets are tied with the Turkish, examples range in size from pillow to large, room-sized carpets. The earliest known examples for Turkish carpets date from the thirteenth century, distinct types of carpets have been woven ever since in workshops, in more provincial weaving facilities, as well as in villages, tribal settlements, or by nomads. Carpets were simultaneously produced for different levels of society, with varying materials like sheep wool. No silk piled carpets made in Turkey have been found that were before 1870, not till the early 20th century were silk pile carpets knotted in Turkey using silver and gold threads with patterns based upon 16th century Imperial Safavid Iranian carpets. Turkish carpets are regarded as objects of art in their country of origin, in Europe, Turkish carpets appear in Renaissance paintings, providing a context of prestige and dignity which is still understood today. Since the late century, Turkish and oriental carpets have been subject to art historic and scientific interest in the Western world. More recently, also woven carpets have attracted collectors and scientists interest. In the late century, projects started to revive the traditional art of Turkish carpet weaving by using hand-spun, naturally-dyed wool. The raw material to produce carpets had to be available during the migration. Sheep and goats provided the wool, natural dye could be derived from plants, as such, woven tissues could serve both utilitarian and decorative purposes, depending on the shape and size in which they were produced. The beginning of carpet weaving remains unknown, as carpets are subject to use, deterioration, controversy arose over the accuracy of the claim that the oldest records of flat woven kilims come from the Çatalhöyük excavations, dated to circa 7000 BC. The excavators report remained unconfirmed, as the paintings depicting kilim motifs were said to have disintegrated shortly after their exposure
13.
Ottoman clothing
–
Ottoman clothing is the style and design of clothing worn by the Ottoman Turks. While the Palace and its court dressed lavishly, the people were only concerned with covering themselves. Starting in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, administrators enacted sumptuary laws upon clothing, the clothing of Muslims, Christians, Jewish communities, clergy, tradesmen, and state and military officials were particularly strictly regulated during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. In this period men wore outer items such as mintan, zıbın, şalvar, kuşak, potur, entari, kalpak, sarık on the head, çarık, çizme, çedik, Yemeni on the feet. The administrators and the wealthy wore caftans with fur lining and embroidery, whereas the class wore cübbe and hırka. Womens everyday wear was şalvar, a gömlek that came down to the mid-calf or ankle, a short, fitted jacket called a hırka, and a sash or belt tied at or just below the waist. For formal occasions, such as visiting friends, the added an entari. Both hırka and entari were buttoned to the waist, leaving the open in front. Both garments also had all the way to the throat. All of these clothes could be colored and patterned. However, when a left the house, she covered her clothes with a ferace. She also covered her face with a variety of veils or wraps, bashlyks, or hats, were the most prominent accessories of social status. While the people wore külahs covered with abani or Yemeni, the cream of the society wore bashlyks such as yusufi, örfi, katibi, kavaze, during the rule of Süleyman a bashlyk called perişani was popular as the palace people valued bashlyks adorned with precious stones. Kavuk, however, was the most common type of bashlyk, for this reason, a related tradesmenship was formed in the 17th century. Fur was a material of prestige in that period, political crises of the 17th century were reflected as chaos in clothes. The excessively luxurious compulsion of consumption and showing off in the Tulip Era lasted till the 19th century, the modernization attempts of Mahmut II in 1825 first had its effects in the state sector. While sarık was replaced by fez, the employed in Bab-ı Ali began to wear trousers, setre. Womens clothes of the Ottoman period were observed in the mansions, entari, kuşak, şalvar, başörtü, ferace of the 19th century continued their existence without much change
14.
Culture of Turkey
–
Many of these traditions were initially brought together by the Ottoman Empire, a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state. The present-day Republic of Turkey, which was declared in 1923 after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, is still a country that spans Europe. During the early years of the republic, the government invested an amount of resources into fine arts such as paintings. This was done as both a process of modernization and of creating a cultural identity, Turkish culture has undergone profound changes over the last century. Today, Turkey may be the country that contains every extreme of Eastern and Western culture. The Ottoman system was a state that enabled people within it not to mix with each other and thereby retain separate ethnic. Political, legal, religious, cultural, social, and economic changes were designed to convert the new Republic of Turkey into a secular. These changes were implemented under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as a result, Turkey is one of the most westernized Islamic nations. The Book of Dede Korkut and the Epic of Köroğlu have been the main elements of the Turkish epic tradition in Anatolia for several centuries, the two primary streams of Ottoman literature were poetry and prose. Of the two, the Ottoman Divan poetry, a highly ritualized and symbolic art form, was the dominant stream, the vast majority of Divan poetry was lyric in nature, either ghazals or qasidas. There were, however, other genres, most particularly the mathnawi. The tradition of Ottoman prose was exclusively non-fictional in nature, as the tradition was limited to narrative poetry. The Tanzimat reforms of 1839–1876 brought changes to the language of Ottoman written literature, and introduced previously unknown Western genres, primarily the novel, Most of the roots of modern Turkish literature were formed between the years 1896 and 1923. Broadly, there were three primary literary movements during this period, the Edebiyyât-ı Cedîde movement, the Fecr-i Âtî movement, the Edebiyyât-ı Cedîde movement began with the founding in 1891 of the magazine Servet-i Fünûn, which was largely devoted to progress along the Western model. Accordingly, the magazines literary ventures, under the direction of the poet Tevfik Fikret, were geared towards creating a Western-style high art in Turkey, poetry is the most dominant form of literature in modern Turkey. The folk poetry as indicated above, was influenced by the Islamic Sunni. Furthermore, as evidenced by the prevalence of the still existent ashik tradition. Much of the poetry and song of the tradition, being almost exclusively oral until the 19th century
15.
History of Turkey
–
See History of the Republic of Turkey for the history of the modern state. The history of Turkey, understood as the history of the region now forming the territory of the Republic of Turkey, the earliest representations of culture in Anatolia were Stone Age artifacts. The remnants of Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattian, Akkadian, Assyrian, after the fall of the Hittites, the new states of Phrygia and Lydia stood strong on the western coast as Greek civilization began to flourish. They, and all the rest of Anatolia were relatively soon after incorporated into the Achaemenid Persian Empire, as Persia grew in strength, their system of local government in Anatolia allowed many port cities to grow and to become wealthy. All of Anatolia got divided into satrapies, ruled by satraps appointed by the central Persian rulers. Some of the satraps revolted periodically but did not pose a serious threat, in the 5th century BC, Darius I built the Royal Road, which linked the principal city of Susa with the west Anatolian city of Sardis. Anatolia played a role in Achaemenid history. In the earliest 5th century BC, some of the Ionian cities under Persian rule revolted, which culminated into the Ionian Revolt. This revolt, after being suppressed by the Persian authority, laid the direct uplead for the Greco-Persian Wars. After Achaemenid Persian rule, the Greek Alexander the Great finally wrested control of the region from Persia in successive battles. The Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexanders territories, and which included Anatolia, became involved in a war with Rome culminating in the battles of Thermopylae. The resulting Treaty of Apamea in saw the Seleucids retreat from Anatolia, the Kingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes, Romes allies in the war, were granted the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Roman control of Anatolia was strengthened by a hands off approach by Rome, allowing control to govern effectively. The Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting an area in Central. They were bordered by the Scythians to the north, the Celts and the Illyrians to the west, the Ancient Greeks to the south and they spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. The study of Thracians and Thracian culture is known as Thracology, starting around 1200 BC, the western coast of Anatolia was heavily settled by Aeolian and Ionian Greeks. Numerous important cities were founded by colonists, such as Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna and Byzantium. The territory of Thrace later became unified by the Odrysian kingdom, founded by Teres I, a type of soldier of this period called the Peltast probably originated in Thrace
16.
Minorities in Turkey
–
Minorities in Turkey form a substantial part of the countrys population, with at least an estimated 30% of the populace belonging to an ethnic minority. The amount of minorities is suspected to be underestimated by the Turkish government. Ethnic Albanians, Pontic Greeks, Kurds, Arabs, Bosniaks, Circassians, although many minorities have no official recognition, state-run TRT television and radio broadcasts minority language programs and elementary schools offer minority language classes. Groups of nomadic and semi-nomadic itinerants found mainly in central and western Anatolia and they speak an argot of their own and follow the Alevi faith. Afghans are one of the largest irregular migrant groups in Turkey, from the period 2003-2007, the number of Afghans apprehended were significant, with statistics almost doubling during the last year. Most had fled the War in Afghanistan, in 2005, refugees from Afghanistan numbered 300 and made a sizeable proportion of Turkeys registered migrants. Most of them were spread out over satellite cities with Van, in the following years, the number of Afghans entering Turkey greatly increased, second only to migrants from Iraq, in 2009, there were 16,000 people designated under the Iraq-Afghanistan category. Despite a dramatic 50 percent reduction by 2010, reports confirmed hundreds living and working in Turkey, as of January 2010, Afghans consisted one-sixth of the 26,000 remaining refugees and asylum seekers. By the end 2011, their numbers are expected to surge up to 10,000, making them the largest population, african quarters of 19th-century İzmir, including Sabırtaşı, Dolapkuyu, Tamaşalık, İkiçeşmelik, and Ballıkuyu, are mentioned in contemporary records. There are an estimated 500, 000–6,000,000 people of Albanian descent in Turkey, According to the Turkish government there are only 1.3 million Albanians, with 500,000 considering themselves to have an Albanian national consciousness and the remainder being assimilated. However, these assumptions of the Turkish government are rejected by scholars who explain they are without any basis. Arabs in Turkey number between 800,000 and 1 million, and they live in provinces near the Syrian border, particularly the Hatay region. However, including recent Syrian refugees, they make up to 5. 3% of the population, most of them are Sunni Muslims. However, there is a group of Alawis, and another one of Arab Christians in communion with the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Armenians are indigenous to the Armenian Highlands which corresponds to the half of modern-day Turkey, the Republic of Armenia, southern Georgia, western Azerbaijan. Prior to the Genocide in 1914, the Armenian population of Turkey numbered at about 1,914,620, the Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire before the Armenian genocide had an estimated 2,300 churches and 700 schools. After the Armenian genocide however, it is estimated that 200,000 Armenians remained in Turkey, today there are an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 Armenians in Turkey, not including the Hamshenis. Armenians today are concentrated around Istanbul
17.
Languages of Turkey
–
Article 3 of the Constitution of Turkey defines Turkish as the only official language of Turkey. Article 42 of the Constitution explicitly prohibits educational institutions to teach any language other than Turkish as a tongue to Turkish citizens. No language other than Turkish shall be taught as a tongue to Turkish citizens at any institutions of training or education. Foreign languages to be taught in institutions of training and education, the provisions of international treaties are reserved. Due to Article 42 and its restrictive interpretation, ethnic minorities have been facing severe restrictions in the use of their mother languages. This particular constitutional provision has been contested both internationally and within Turkey, the provision has been criticized by minority groups, notably the Kurdish community. But the government claims that these are Turkeys only minorities, in 2013, the Ministry of Education included Kurdish, Abkhaz, Adyghe and Laz languages to the academic programme of the basic schools as optional classes from the fifth year on. Ethnologue lists many minority languages in Turkey some of which are spoken by large numbers of people, -Abaza Central, Eskisehir, Samsun, Yozgat, Adana, and Kayseri provinces. Alternate Names, Abazin, Abazintsy, Ahuwa, Tapanta Dialects, Ashkaraua, Bezshagh, Classification, North Caucasian, West Caucasian, Abkhaz-Abazin Comments, Muslim. Abkhaz Northeast, Artvin Province, also Coruh, Bolu, alternate Names, Abxazo Dialects, Abzhui, Bzyb, Samurzakan. Classification, North Caucasian, West Caucasian, Abkhaz-Abazin Comments, Muslim, Adyghe Central and western Anatolia, Kayseri, Tokat, Karaman Maras, and many other provinces. Alternate Names, Adygey, Cherkes, Circassian Classification, North Caucasian, West Caucasian, Circassian Comments, Albanian, Tosk Edirne, Istanbul, Kirklareli, and Tekirdag provinces, center is Arnavut, otherwise scattered throughout western Turkey. Alternate Names, Shqip Classification, Indo-European, Albanian, Tosk Comments, Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Siirt provinces, very small area in Gaziantep Province. Classification, Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic Comments, Christian, Arabic, North Mesopotamian Spoken Mardin, Sirnak, Batman, Siirt, and Sanliurfa provinces. Alternate Names, Syro-Mesopotamian Vernacular Arabic Classification, Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic Comments, Armenian Many in Istanbul, and in east Turkey, Kars Province, scattered elsewhere. Alternate Names, Armjanski, Ermenice, Haieren, Somkhuri Dialects, Classification, Indo-European, Armenian Comments, Hemshin are Armenian Muslims, living near the Laz language area. More Information Azerbaijani, South Kars and Igdir provinces, Classification, Turkic, Southern, Azerbaijani Comments, Muslim. Balkan Gagauz Turkish Surguch dialect in Edirne Province, alternate Names, Balkan Turkic Dialects, Gajol, Gerlovo Turks, Karamanli, Kyzylbash, Surguch, Tozluk Turks, Yuruk
18.
Turkic mythology
–
Turkic mythology embraces Tengriist and Shamanist traditions as well as all cultural and social subjects being a nomad folk. Later, especially after Turkic migration some of the myths were decorated with Islamic symbols and it has many common points with Mongol mythology. Turkic mythology was influenced by other local mythologies, for example, in Tatar mythology elements of Finnic and Indo-European myth co-exist. Subjects from Tatar mythology include Äbädä, Alara, Şüräle, Şekä, Pitsen, Tulpar, and Zilant. Besides Buddhism, Turkic mythology was influenced by Manichaeism, irk Bitig, a 10th-century manuscript found in Dunhuang is one of the most important sources for Turkic mythology and religion. This book is written in Old Turkic alphabet like the Orkhon inscriptions, Kök Tengri is the first of primordial deities in the religion of the early Turkic people. He was known as yüce or yaratıcı tengri after the Turks started to migrate and leave middle Asia, the words Tengri and Sky were synonyms. It is unknown how Tengri looks and he rules the fates of entire people and acts freely. But he is fair as he awards and punishes, the well-being of people depends on his will. Tengri worship is first attested in the Old Turkic Orkhon inscriptions of the early 8th century, Umay is the goddess of fertility and virginity. Umay resembles earth-mother goddesses found in other world religions and is the daughter of Tengri. Öd Tengri Is the god of time being not well-known, as it states in the stones, Öd tengri is the ruler of time. Boz Tengri Like Öd Tengri, he is not known much and he is seen as the god of the grounds and steppes and is a son of Kök Tengri. Kayra is the Spirit of God, primordial god of highest sky, upper air, space, atmosphere, light, life and son of Kök Tengri. Ülgen is the son of Kayra and Umay is the god of goodness, the Aruğ denotes to good spirits in Turkic and Altaic mythology. They are under the order of Ülgen and doing things on earth. Erlik is the god of death and the underworld, also a god of the manly seem, since his name Erklik is also used for male. Later Erlik was used depriving him of this rather anti-hero status, the titel khan in his name is because of his ruler position
19.
Turkish folklore
–
The tradition of folklore—folktales, jokes, legends, and the like—in the Turkish language is very rich, and is incorporated into everyday life and events. Perhaps the most popular figure in the tradition is Nasreddin, who is the character of thousands of jokes. —Yes, I do, answered Nasreddin. —Can I have some, I need some to make an ointment with. —No, you cant have any, answered Nasreddin. If I gave my forty-year-old vinegar to whoever wanted some, I wouldnt have had it for forty years, would I. The two workers supposedly spent much of their time entertaining the workers, and were so funny and popular that they interfered with work on the palace. If they sprout, this means the marriage will be successful, in the Eastern Black Sea region, it is believed that there is an invisible lace between the feet of those children who have trouble walking when theyre young. A lace is tied between the feet of child and the lace is cut by the child of family or the first to leave the mosque after Friday prayer. It is believed that once the invisible lace has been cut, in Turkish folklore, childless women, cows that dont get pregnant, and children wetting their beds are supposedly cured by passing under a blackberry bush known as Avat. “Avat is believed to be a herb of paradise. ”In Trabzon. Desperate patients with diseases are said to have been shown to the moon on a wooden shovel “If that continues I will put you on a shovel. This event can only be explained with the “paganist” beliefs comes from “Caucasia”, at first the police understood that the hunter killed a man called Evliya but later they saw that the “saint” was a tree so they let the hunter go. It was an example of Colchis culture that can be seen today which was mixed with Islam in Trabzon under the name of saint and common before one God religions that people used to believe in nature. It is possible to see things in Hemsheen region of Rize “the branches are praying three days before and during bairam, so we do not cut live branches during bairam. Cemre are three fireballs that come from the heavens to warm earth at the end of each winter, each cemre warms one aspect of the nature. The first cemre falls to air between February 19–20, the second cemre falls to water between February 26–27. The third cemre falls to ground between 5–6 March, taram Baba, the night demon or nightmare which is believed to kidnap children, in some Balkanic Turks tradition. Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignácz Kúnos http, //aton. ttu. edu/ the Uysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative at Texas Tech University
20.
Turkish cuisine
–
Turkish cuisine is largely the continuation of Ottoman cuisine, which in turn borrowed many elements from Circassian, Central Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Balkan and Greek cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including those of Southeast Europe, Central Europe, Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cuisine of the Black Sea Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy, the cuisine of the southeast is famous for its variety of kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, şöbiyet, kadayıf, and künefe. Especially in the parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, Central Anatolia has many famous specialties, such as keşkek, mantı and gözleme. Dishes directly cognate with mantı are found also in Chinese and Korean cuisine, a specialtys name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between Urfa kebap and Adana kebap is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of hot pepper that the kebab contains, Urfa kebap is less spicy and thicker than Adana kebap. Although meat-based foods such as kebabs are the mainstay in Turkish cuisine as presented in countries, native Turkish meals largely center around rice, vegetables. Turks usually prefer a rich breakfast, a speciality for breakfast is called menemen, which is prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, onion, olive oil and eggs. Invariably, Turkish tea is served at breakfast, the Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, means before coffee. Homemade food is preferred by Turkish people. Although the newly introduced way of life pushes the new generation to eat out, a typical meal starts with soup, followed by a dish made of vegetables or legumes boiled in a pot, often with or before rice or bulgur pilav accompanied by a salad or cacık. In summertime many people prefer to eat a dish of vegetables cooked with olive oil instead of the soup, either before or after the main course. Although fast food is gaining popularity and many major foreign fast food chains have opened all over Turkey, Turkish people still rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of Turkish cuisine. In addition, some traditional Turkish foods, especially köfte, döner, kokoreç, kumpir midye tava börek, eating out has always been common in large commercial cities. Esnaf lokantası are widespread, serving traditional Turkish home cooking at affordable prices, in the hot Turkish summer, a meal often consists of fried vegetables such as eggplant and peppers or potatoes served with yogurt or tomato sauce. Menemen and çılbır are typical dishes, based on eggs. Sheep cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons and melons also make a summer meal
21.
Religion in Turkey
–
Islam is the largest religion in Turkey according to the state, with 99. 4%. Recent independent polls show dramatically lower percentages, with 9. 4% being not religious at all, the same studies show that roughly 90% of irreligious people are younger than the age of 35. Most Muslims in Turkey are Sunnis forming about 72%, and Alevis belonging to Shia denomination form about 25% of the Muslim population, there is also a Twelver Shia community which forms about 3% of the Muslim population. Among Shia Muslim presence in Turkey there is a small but considerable minority of Muslims with Ismaili heritage, Christians and Jews, who comprise the non-Muslim religious population, make up 0. 2% of the total. However, currently all public schools from elementary to high school hold mandatory religion classes which only focus on the Sunni sect of Islam, in these classes, children are required to learn prayers and other religious practices which belong specifically to Sunnism. Thus, although Turkey is officially a state, the teaching of religious practices in public grade schools has been controversial. Its application to join the European Union divided existing members, some of which questioned whether a Muslim country could fit in, Turkish politicians have accused the countrys EU opponents of favouring a Christian club. In the early 2000s, Islamic groups challenged the concept of a state with increasing vigor after Recep Tayyip Erdoğans Islamist-rooted Justice. In a poll conducted by Sabancı University,98. 3% of Turks revealed they were Muslim, a poll conducted by Eurobarometer, KONDA and some other research institutes in 2013 showed that around 4.5 million of the 15+ population had no religion. Another poll conducted by the institutions in 2015 showed that the number has reached 5.5 million. Over 20% of the population belongs to the Alevi faith, thought by most of its adherents to be a form of Shia Islam, a minority consider it to have different origins. Closely related to Alevism is the small Bektashi community belonging to a Sufi order of Islam that is indigenous to Turkey, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has a presence in eight districts of the country. Islam arrived in the region that comprises present-day Turkey, particularly the provinces of the country. As of today, there are thousands of mosques throughout the country which are still active. Large mosques built in the Republic of Turkey period include the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara, however, the Turkish government does not recognize the ecumenical status of Patriarch Bartholomew I. Other Eastern Orthodox denomination is the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with strong influences from Turkish nationalist ideology, Istanbul, since 1461, is the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople. There have been 84 individual Patriarchs since establishment of the Patriarchate, the first Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople was Hovakim I who ruled from 1461 to 1478. Sultan Mehmed II allowed the establishment of the Patriarchate in 1461, the Patriarch was recognized as the religious and secular leader of all Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and carried the title of milletbaşı or ethnarch as well as patriarch
22.
Turkish art
–
Turkish art refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical area of what is present day Turkey since the arrival of the Turks in the Middle Ages. Turkey also was the home of much significant art produced by earlier cultures, including the Hittites, Ancient Greeks, Ottoman art is therefore to the dominant element of Turkish art before the 20th century, although the Seljuks and other earlier Turks also contributed. The 16th and 17th centuries are generally recognized as the finest period for art in the Ottoman Empire, in particular the long reign of Suleiman the Magnificent from 1520–1566 brought a combination, rare in any ruling dynasty, of political and military success with strong encouragement of the arts. They were not necessarily located in the palace, and may have been able to undertake work for other clients as well as the sultan. Many specialities were passed from father to son, other forms of art represented developments of earlier Islamic art, especially those of Persia, but with a distinct Turkish character. As in Persia, Chinese porcelain was collected by the Ottoman court. The reign of the Ottomans in the 16th and early 17th centuries introduced the Turkish form of Islamic calligraphy and this art form reached the height of its popularity during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. As decorative as it was communicative, Diwani was distinguished by the complexity of the line within the letter, the hilya is an illuminated sheet with Islamic calligraphy of a description of the Prophet Muhammad. The tughra is an elaborately stylized formal signature of the sultan, other important media were in the applied or decorative arts rather than figurative work. Other Turkish art ranges from metalwork, carved woodwork and furniture with elaborate inlays to traditional Ebru or paper marbling, in the 18th and 19th centuries Turkish art and architecture became more heavily influenced by contemporary European styles, leading to over-elaborated and fussy detail in decoration. European-style painting was slow to be adopted, with Osman Hamdi Bey for long a somewhat solitary figure and he was a member of the Ottoman administrative elite who trained in Paris, and painted throughout his long career as a senior administrator and curator in Turkey. Many of his works represent Orientalism from the inside, as it were, a transition from Islamic artistic traditions under the Ottoman Empire to a more secular, Western orientation has taken place in Turkey. Modern Turkish painters are striving to find their own art forms, sculpture is less developed, and public monuments are usually heroic representations of Atatürk and events from the war of independence. Literature is considered the most advanced of contemporary Turkish arts. M. süleyman the Magnificent,1988, British Museum Publications ISBN0714114405 Binney, Edwin. Turkish Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts, from the Collection of Edwin Binney, new York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Calif. Los Angeles County Museum of Art,1973, catalogue of an exhibition held at the named museums. Echoes of Anatolia, Works of Contemporary Turkish-American Artists, exhibition Has Been Realized through the Generosity of the Contributing Artists and the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D. C.24 p. amply ill. Without ISBN Culture of the Ottoman Empire
23.
Turkish literature
–
The Ottoman and Azeri forms of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, are highly influenced by Persian and Arabic literature, and used the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. The history of the broader Turkic literature spans a period of nearly 1,300 years, the oldest extant records of written Turkic are the Orhon inscriptions, found in the Orhon River valley in central Mongolia and dating to the 7th century. For the next 900 years, until shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922, with the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the two traditions came together for the first time. Throughout most of its history, Turkish literature has been sharply divided into two different traditions, neither of which exercised much influence upon the other until the 19th century. The first of two traditions is Turkish folk literature, and the second is Turkish written literature. For most of the history of Turkish literature, the salient difference between the folk and the written traditions has been the variety of language employed. The folk tradition, by and large, was oral and remained free of the influence of Persian and Arabic literature, when the Ottoman Empire arose early in the 14th century, in northwestern Anatolia, it continued this tradition. Out of this confluence of choices, the Ottoman Turkish language—which was always distinct from standard Turkish—was effectively born. This style of writing under Persian and Arabic influence came to be known as Divan literature, Turkish folk literature is an oral tradition deeply rooted, in its form, in Central Asian nomadic traditions. However, in its themes, Turkish folk literature reflects the problems peculiar to a people who have abandoned the nomadic lifestyle. Another example is the mysterious figure of Nasreddin, a trickster who often plays jokes, of a sort. The religion henceforth came to exercise an influence on Turkish society and literature, particularly the heavily mystically oriented Sufi. The word aşık is in fact the term used for members of the Bektashi order. There are three basic genres in the tradition, epic, folk poetry, and folklore, the Book of Dede Korkut endured in the oral tradition of the Oghuz Turks after settling in Anatolia. Alpamysh is an epic, still preserved in the literature of various Turkic peoples of Central Asia in addition to its important place in the Anatolian tradition. The Book of Dede Korkut was the element of the Azerbaijani–Turkish epic tradition in the Caucasus. Concurrent to the Book of Dede Korkut was the so-called Epic of Köroğlu, complicating matters somewhat is the fact that Köroğlu is also the name of a poet of the aşık/ozan tradition. The epic tradition in modern Turkish literature may be seen in the Epic of Shaykh Bedreddin, many of the works of the 20th-century novelist Yaşar Kemal, such as the 1955 novel Memed, My Hawk, can be considered modern prose epics continuing this long tradition
24.
Music of Turkey
–
Much of its modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the early 1930s drive for Westernization. With the assimilation of immigrants from various regions the diversity of musical genres, Turkey has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Polish, Azeri and Jewish communities, among others. Many Turkish cities and towns have vibrant local music scenes which, in turn, despite this however, western-style pop music lost popularity to arabesque in the late 70s and 80s, with even its greatest proponents Ajda Pekkan and Sezen Aksu falling in status. It became popular again by the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of an opening economy, with the support of Aksu, the resurging popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Tarkan and Sertab Erener. Ottoman court music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makams, a number of notation systems were used for transcribing classical music, the most dominant being the Hamparsum notation in use until the gradual introduction of western notation. Turkish classical music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the most respected of which is Istanbuls Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti, a full fasıl concert would include four different instrumental forms and three vocal forms, including a light classical song, şarkı. A strictly classical fasıl remains is the same throughout, from the introductory taksim. Composers and Performers Other famous proponents of this genre include Sufi Dede Efendi, Prince Cantemir, Baba Hamparsum, Kemani Tatyos Efendi, Sultan Selim III, the most popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir Nurettin Selçuk, who was the first to establish a lead singer position. Other performers include Bülent Ersoy, Zeki Müren, Müzeyyen Senar, from the makams of the royal courts to the melodies of the royal harems, a type of dance music emerged that was different from the oyun havası of fasıl music. In the Ottoman Empire, the harem was that part of a house set apart for the women of the family and it was a place in which non-family males were not allowed. Eunuchs guarded the sultans harems, which were large, including several hundred women who were wives and concubines. There, female dancers and musicians entertained the women living in the harem, belly dance was performed by women for women. This female dancer, known as a rakkase, hardly ever appeared in public and this type of harem music was taken out of the sultans private living quarters and to the public by male street entertainers and hired dancers of the Ottoman Empire, the male rakkas. These dancers performed publicly for wedding celebrations, feasts, festivals, modern oriental dance in Turkey is derived from this tradition of the Ottoman rakkas. However, Çiftetelli is now a form of music, with names of songs that describe their local origins. Dancers are also known for their use of finger cymbals as instruments. Romani are known throughout Turkey for their musicianship and their urban music brought echoes of classical Turkish music to the public via the meyhane or taverna. This type of music with food and alcoholic beverages is often associated with the underclass of Turkish society
25.
Media of Turkey
–
The media of Turkey includes a wide variety of domestic and foreign periodicals expressing disparate views, and domestic newspapers are extremely competitive. In addition, the companies are willing to use their influence to support their owners wider business interests, the media exert a strong influence on public opinion. Censorship in Turkey is also an issue, and in the 2000s Turkey has seen many journalists arrested, on Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index it has fallen from being ranked around 100 in 2005 to around 150 in 2013. By circulation, the most popular newspapers are Hürriyet, Sabah, Posta, Sözcü. Newspapers with oppositional editorial line against the government corresponds to 65% of daily newspapers in circulation while pro-government newspaperss share is 25%, the broadcast media have a very high penetration as satellite dishes and cable systems are widely available. The Radio and Television Supreme Council is the government body overseeing the broadcast media, the largest operator is the Doğan Media Group, which in 2003 received 40 percent of the advertising revenue from newspapers and broadcast media in Turkey. In 2003 a total of 257 television stations and 1,100 radio stations were licensed to operate, of those licensed,16 television and 36 radio stations reached national audiences. In 2003 some 22.9 million televisions and 11.3 million radios were in service, aside from Turkish, the state television network offers some programs in Arabic, Circassian, Kurdish, and Zaza. The Constitution of Turkey, at art,28, states that the press is free and shall not be censored. Between 2007 and 2010 around 3,700 websites and platforms including YouTube, MySpace, some themes have long remained quasi-taboo in the Turkish media, including the role of the Army, the Cyprus issue and the rights of the Kurdish and Armenian minorities. The interests of media owners in the media conglomerates inevitably cast a shadow over the objectivity. In 2006 RTÜK introduced a voluntary ombudsman mechanism that media outlets can introduce in order to evaluate their audiences reactions, yet, ombudsmen lack independence, as they are high-ranking employees of the same media groups. Turkey hosts around 3,100 newspapers, including 180 national ones, only 15% of these are daily newspapers. Turkish print outlets privilege columns and opinions over pure news, and are often politically polarised, broadcast media include hundreds of TV stations and thousands of radio stationsm including some in minority languages. The introduction of Kurdish-language media has been hailed as a big progress, more than two thirds of the media are owned by few cross-media groups, whose activities expand in other economic sectors. These media conglomerates thus rely on alliances with parts of the political, as a result, the media landscape of Turkey is highly diverse but also very biased and nationalistic, and media coverage and critical positions reflects media owners preferences and interests. Independent journalism is a rare and dangerous endeavour, at risk of job insecurity. In November 2013 the Savings Deposit and Insurance Fund was used to transfer assets to supportive businessmen
26.
Television in Turkey
–
Television in Turkey was introduced in 1968 by the government media provider TRT. The first Turkish television channel, ITU TV, was launched in 1952, first national television in TRT1. Color television was introduced in 1981, back then it was the only channel with the name of TRT1, and it broadcast in several times of the dateline. Turkeys first private television channel Star started it broadcast on 26 May 1989, until the 1990s there was only one television channel controlled by the state, but with the wave of liberalization, privately owned broadcasting began. Turkeys television market is defined by a handful of big channels, led by Kanal D, ATV and Show, with 14%, 10% and 9. 6% market share, respectively. The most important reception platforms are terrestrial and satellite, with almost 50% of homes using satellite at the end of 2009, three services dominate the multi-channel market, the satellite platforms Digitürk and D-Smart and the cable TV service Türksat. As of 2013, pay television services in Turkey include Digiturk, D-Smart, TeleDünya, Türksat KabloTV, the Uzan Group made the first digital television transmissions in Turkey with Turkeys first television channel Star TV. As they were on the lead with their channels Star, TeleOn and Kral, in 2003, the platforms name was changed as DigiFun Club, but it was short lived before became defunct. Turkeys first pay television provider, CINE5 from MultiCanal launched in late 1994 and it held the rights to the latest movie premieres, series and especially sports such as the Turkish Football League. In 2000, CINE5 launched CINE+Digital on Turksat with some specialty channels, Turkeys first and leading digital platform, Digiturk, owned by the Çukurova Group, launched in 1999. Digiturk was a lot more professional and had a lot of advantages over the platforms such as Star Digital and CINE+Digital. Digiturk has the rights of airing the main sports live coverage in Turkey with its channel Lig TV, Digiturk is transmitted to the air via Eutelsat 7 East satellite with the usage of Turksat 42 East satellite. There are options with its own receiver or the subscription with module, Digiturk recently launched HD channels of itself such as Lig TV HD, MovieMax HD, EuroSport HD, National Geographic HD, SporMax HD and İZ HD. Turkeys second digital platform is D-Smart owned by the Dogan Holding, actually, the first HD television broadcasts were carried out by the Dogan Holding with the two channels Kanal D HD and Discovery Channel HD on their D-Smart platform. Currently, there are some HD channels via D-Smart which are Discovery HD, EuroSport HD, HD Smart, Kanal D HD and Star TV HD. Recently, D-Smart has had deals with Turkeys MTV Group, MCD. D-Smart uses Turksat 42 East for the transmissions, cable network is renamed as Teledünya which has some HD channels at the moment also called as National Geographic HD and EuroSport HD. Lately the cable network has had deals with Turkeys MTV Network Group, MCD
27.
Cinema of Turkey
–
Yeşilçam is the sobriquet that refers to the Turkish film art and industry. The first movie exhibited in the Ottoman Empire was the Lumiere Brothers 1895 film, LArrivée dun train en gare de La Ciotat, the first Turkish-made film was a documentary entitled Ayastefanostaki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı, directed by Fuat Uzkınay and completed in 1914. The first narrative film, Sedat Simavis The Spy, was released in 1917, Turkeys first sound film was shown in 1931. In terms of production, Turkey shared the same fate with many of the national cinemas of the 20th century. Between the years 1896–1945, the number of locally produced films did not even reach 50 films in total, equal to less than a single years annual film production in the 1950s and 1960s. Domestically produced films constituted only a fraction of the total number of films screened in Turkey prior to the 1950s. Film production in Turkey increased drastically after World War II, with a total of 49 films produced in 1952, this single year equaled a greater output produced in Turkey than all previous years combined. During the 1960s, Turkey became the fifth biggest film producer worldwide as annual film production reached the 300 film benchmark just at the beginning of the 1970s, compared to other national cinemas, the achievements of the Turkish film industry after 1950 are still remarkable. The number of ticket sales decreased from a peak of 90 million tickets in 1966 to 56 million tickets in 1984. Accordingly, the number of film theatres declined from approximately 2,000 in 1966 to 854 in 1984 and 290 in 1990, during the 1990s the average number of films produced per year remained between 10-15, usually half of them not even making it into the theatres. Since 1995 the situation has improved, after the year 2000, annual ticket sales rose to 20 million and since 1995, the number of theatres has steadily increased to approximately 500 nationwide. Currently, Turkish films attract audiences of millions of viewers and routinely top the blockbuster lists, the distribution of these films are mainly handled by multinational corporations such as Warner Bros. and United International Pictures. However, the developments of these companies must be seen as necessary adaptations to the technological progress of the western film industries whose films they were importing. The Regional System became much more important after the 1950s, when film production dramatically increased. This system became the foundation of Yeşilçam, which was the heart of Turkish film production between the years 1955–1975. After 1965, a so-called Combined System led by a trust of regional leaders is said to have control of almost everything regarding production. A leading figure of the trust was producer Türker İnanoğlu, who is active in the media business today, now running Ulusal Film. The first film showing in Turkey was held in the Yıldız Palace, public shows by Sigmund Weinberg in the Beyoğlu and Şehzadebaşı districts followed in 1897
28.
Sport in Turkey
–
Among all sports in Turkey, the most popular one is football. Turkeys top teams include Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş, in 2000, Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, other popular mainstream sports include basketball and volleyball. Turkey hosted the Finals of EuroBasket 2001 and the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the national team also reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Championship. At club level, Anadolu Efes won the Korać Cup in 1996, finished second in the Saporta Cup of 1993, also, Beşiktaş have come out as the winners of Eurochallenge in 2012-2013 season with only a single defeat, all stages of the tournament included. Turkish basketball players such as Mehmet Okur, Hidayet Türkoğlu and Ersan İlyasova have also successful in the NBA. Womens volleyball teams, namely Fenerbahçe, Eczacıbaşı and Vakıfbank, have won numerous European championship titles, Fenerbahçe also won the CEV Womens Volleyball World Club Championship in 2010. In 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships Kemal Koyuncu won silver in Mens 1500 metres, the traditional Turkish national sport has been the Yağlı güreş since Ottoman times. Edirne hosts the annual Kırkpınar oiled wrestling tournament since 1361, another major sport in which the Turks have been internationally successful is weightlifting. Turkey has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades, football has seen a rapid transformation earning it third place in the coveted 2002 FIFA World Cup. Its domestic teams are dominated by Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, of these, Fenerbahçes European triumph came in the now defunct 1967 Balkans Cup. Galatasaray has seen the most success, winning the 2000 UEFA Cup and European Super Cup, in recent years, Turkey has exported many of its players into top foreign teams, including Internazionale, FC Barcelona, Parma, Milan, and Bayern Munich, among others. As well as sending players abroad, the Turkish league has attracted players into Turkey. Turkey is currently bidding to host UEFA Euro 2020, Basketball is also gaining popularity in Turkey. Turkey came second in European Basketball Championship in 2001 in Istanbul, Turkey also came ninth in the 2002 FIBA World Championship. Turkeys greatest success in basketball came when it hosted the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Türkoğlu captained the side and made the all-tournament team, Turkey also advanced to the quarter-finals in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, achieving a non-expected sixth place. Turkey womens national team won silver medal in EuroBasket Women in 2011
29.
Flag of Turkey
–
The flag of Turkey is a red flag featuring a white star and crescent. The flag is called al bayrak, and is referred to as al sancak in the Turkish national anthem. The current design of the Turkish flag is derived from the late Ottoman flag. The measures, geometric proportions, and exact tone of red of the flag of Turkey were legally standardized with the Turkish Flag Law on May 29,1936, the star and crescent design appears on Ottoman flags beginning in the late 18th or early 19th century. The introduction of the star and crescent on red as the flag of the Ottoman Empire dates to the Tanzimat reforms of 1844. When full, it descended into his own breast, then from his loins there sprang a tree, which as it grew came to cover the whole world with the shadow of its green and beautiful branches. Beneath it Osman saw the spread out before him, surmounted by the crescent. The real legend, Turks fought a bloody battle. It was so bloody that a lake of blood was formed. Survivors of the saw that moon and stars shined over the blood. Red on the flag is the blood of matryrs, fundamentals of the Turkish flag during the Republic period of Turkey were laid down by Turkish Flag Law No.2994 on May 29,1936. 2/7175 dated July 28,1937, and Supplementary Regulation No, 11604/2 dated July 29,1939, were enacted to describe how the flag law would be implemented. The Turkish Flag Law No.2893 dated September 22,1983, according to Article 9 of Law No. 2893, a statute including the fundamentals of the implementation was also published, in a RGB colour space, the red colour of the Turkish flag is composed of 89% red,3. 9% green, and 9% blue. In a CMYK colour space, it is composed of 0% cyan,95. 6% magenta,89. 9% yellow and it has a hue angle of 356.4 degrees, a saturation of 91. 6%, and a lightness of 46. 5%. The red colour on the Turkish flag is red and this colour can be obtained by blending #FF142E with #C70000. The closest websafe colour is, #d11919.34875 G, thus, a common mistake in rendering the flag is to omit the white hem at the hoist. 2893 dated September 22,1983, establishing the proportions, production, and rules of usage of the flag of Turkey Turkey at Flags of the World
30.
National emblem of Turkey
–
The star and crescent is retained from the 19th-century Ottoman flag, and has acquired its status as de facto national emblem following the abolition of the Ottoman coat of arms in 1922. It was used on national identity cards by the 1930s and it was also used on the old Turkish identity cards. The escutcheon contains a star and crescent which are vertically oriented and surrounded by the gold-tone text T. C. A variant of this oval escutcheon is used by the Turkish embassies, the seal of the President of Turkey has a large 16-pointed star in the center, which is surrounded by 16 five-pointed stars, symbolizing the 16 Great Turkic Empires. Its appearance is regulated by law, in 1925, the Ministry of National Education held a contest for a national emblem. Namık İsmail, a painter, won the contest with his coat of arms depicting Asena, however, this coat of arms was never used. In 2014, MPs of AKP in TBMM attempted to pass a motion in order to create a new coat of arms for the country. Coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire Flag of Turkey Turkey Coats of arms of Europe
31.
Architecture
–
Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements, Architecture can mean, A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. The art and science of designing buildings and nonbuilding structures, the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. A unifying or coherent form or structure Knowledge of art, science, technology, the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level to the micro-level. The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering services in connection with the design and construction of buildings. The earliest surviving work on the subject of architecture is De architectura. According to Vitruvius, a building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas, utilitas, venustas, commonly known by the original translation – firmness, commodity. An equivalent in modern English would be, Durability – a building should stand up robustly, utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing, according to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, for Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only true Christian form of architecture. The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, Architecture was the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men. That the sight of them contributes to his health, power. For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance and his work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way adorned. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, but suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, This is beautiful, le Corbusiers contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design, function came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural
32.
Bursa
–
Bursa is a large city in Turkey, located in northwestern Anatolia, within the Marmara Region. It is the fourth most populous city in Turkey and one of the most industrialized metropolitan centres in the country, the city is also the administrative centre of Bursa Province. Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363, the ski resort of Mount Uludağ towers over it. The mountain was called the Mysian Olympus by the Romans who lived there before, Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, Bursa also has thermal baths and several museums, including a museum of archaeology. The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa, Bursa is also home to some of the most famous Turkish dishes such as İskender kebap, specially candied marron glacés, peaches and Turkish Delight. Bursa houses the Uludağ University, and its population can claim one of the highest overall levels of education in Turkey, the historic towns of İznik, Mudanya and Zeytinbağı are all situated in Bursa Province. In 2015, Bursa had a population of 2,340,000, the earliest known human settlement near Bursas current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC. It was followed by the ancient Greek city of Cius, which Philip V of Macedon granted to Prusias I, Prusias rebuilt the city and renamed it Prusa. After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, an early Roman Treasure was found in the vicinity of Bursa in the early 20th century. Composed of a womans silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum, Bursa became the first major capital city of the early Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326. As a result, the city witnessed a considerable amount of growth throughout the 14th century. After conquering Edirne in East Thrace, the Ottomans turned it into the new city in 1363. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I built the Bayezid Külliyesi in Bursa between 1390 and 1395 and the Ulu Cami between 1396 and 1400, Bursa remained to be the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453. The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487, during the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal silk products. Following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Bursa became one of the centres of the country. The economic development of the city was followed by population growth, the most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place in the 1940s until the 1990s, when the communist regime in Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey. About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa, Bursa is settled on the northwestern slopes of Mount Uludağ in the southern Marmara Region
33.
Edirne
–
Edirne served as the third capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1363 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empires fourth and final capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of Edirne Province in Turkish Thrace, the citys estimated population in 2014 was 165,979. The city was founded as Hadrianopolis, named for the Roman Emperor Hadrian and this name is still used in the Modern Greek. The name Adrianople was used in English, until the Turkish adoption of Latin alphabet in 1928 made Edirne the internationally recognized name. The Turkish, Edirne, Bulgarian, Одрин, Albanian, Edrêne, Slovene, Одрин and Serbian, Једрене / Jedrene are adapted forms of the name Hadrianopolis or of its Turkish version, see also its other names. The area around Edirne has been the site of no fewer than 16 major battles or sieges, military historian John Keegan identifies it as the most contested spot on the globe and attributes this to its geographical location. According to Greek mythology, Orestes, son of king Agamemnon, built this city as Orestias, at the confluence of the Tonsus and the Ardiscus with the Hebrus. The city was founded eponymously by the Roman Emperor Hadrian on the site of a previous Thracian settlement known as Uskadama, Uskudama, Uskodama or Uscudama and it was the capital of the Bessi, or of the Odrysians. Hadrian developed it, adorned it with monuments, changed its name to Hadrianopolis after himself, licinius was defeated there by Constantine I in 323, and Emperor Valens was killed by the Goths in 378 during the Battle of Adrianople. In 813, the city was seized by Khan Krum of Bulgaria who moved its inhabitants to the Bulgarian lands towards the north of the Danube. During the existence of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, the Crusaders were decisively defeated by the Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan in the Battle of Adrianople. Later Theodore Komnenos, Despot of Epirus, took possession of it in 1227, in 1369, the city was conquered by the Ottoman sultan Murad I. The city remained the Ottoman capital for 90 years until 1453, Edirne is famed for its many mosques, domes, minarets, and palaces from the Ottoman period. Under Ottoman rule, Edirne was the city of the administrative unit, the eponymous Eyalet of Edirne, and after land reforms in 1867. Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, was born in Edirne, Sultan Mehmed IV left the palace in Constantinople and died in Edirne in 1693. During his exile in the Ottoman Empire, the Swedish king Charles XII stayed in the city during most of 1713, baháulláh, the founder of the Baháí Faith, lived in Edirne from 1863 to 1868. He was exiled there by the Ottoman Empire before being banished further to the Ottoman penal colony in Akka and he referred to Edirne in his writings as the Land of Mystery. Edirne was briefly occupied by imperial Russian troops in 1829 during the Greek War of Independence, the city suffered a fire in 1905
34.
Seljuk architecture
–
Seljuk architecture is the name given to architecture built during the time when the Seljuk Turks ruled most of the Middle East and Anatolia between. After the 11th century the Seljuks of Rum emerged from the Great Seljuk Empire developing their own architecture, though they were influenced and inspired by the Armenians, Byzantines and Persians. The architecture can be found in a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia, the homeland of the Seljuk architecture was Turkmenistan and Iran, where the first permanent Seljuk buildings were built. However, the Mongol invasions and earthquakes destroyed most of these buildings, in 1063 Isfahan was established as capital of the Great Seljuk Empire under Alp Arslan. The most significant alteration carried out in the twelfth century was the conversion of the mosque plan into a four-iwan plan mosque. In Syria and Iraq the surviving monuments are represented by madrassas, the madrassas such as the Mustansiriya in Baghdad or the Muristan in Damascus were built to a four-iwan plan, while the tombs were characterized by conical muqarnas domes. Some examples of Seljuk Empire architecture include, Tomb of Ahmed Sanjar Kharraqan towers The greatest number of surviving Seljuk monuments are in Anatolia. The Seljuks of Rum built monumental stone buildings of simple design and harmonious proportion, for the most part severely plain. In their construction of caravanserais, medreses and mosques, the Rum Seljuks translated the Iranian Seljuk architecture of bricks, as such, Anatolian architecture represents some of the most distinctive and impressive constructions in the entire history of Islamic architecture. Later this Anatolian architecture would be transmitted to Sultanate India, most Anatolian Seljuk works are of dressed stone, with brick reserved for minarets. The use of stone in Anatolia is the biggest difference with the Seljuk buildings in Iran, the buildings make frequent use of muqarnas. In the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum the courts are often covered to protect against the colder and snowier winters of the Anatolian plateau. Thus some madrasas such as the Çifte Minareli Medrese in Erzurum have an open court, Seljuk power extended as far as the Aegean coast, so there are Seljuk türbes even in—appropriately—the town of Selçuk, next to Ephesus, south of İzmir. The great caravanserais, or hans, are among the finest and most characteristic of Seljuk buildings, built during the 13th century to encourage trade throughout the empire, several dozen survive in good condition. After the Mongol invasions of the century, the wealth. The few late 13th century-early 14th century buildings that include the bimarhane in Amasya. One of the last Seljuk architectural endeavors was the tomb of Ismat al-Dunya wa l-Din ibint al-malik al-Adil built by her daughters after 1243
35.
Byzantine architecture
–
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or Eastern Roman Empire. Byzantine architecture was influenced by Roman and Greek architecture and later Sassanian. Early Byzantine architecture drew upon earlier elements of Roman architecture, stylistic drift, technological advancement, and political and territorial changes meant that a distinct style gradually resulted in the Greek cross plan in church architecture. Most of the structures are sacred in nature, with secular buildings mostly known only through contemporaneous descriptions. Prime examples of early Byzantine architecture date from Justinian Is reign and survive in Ravenna and Istanbul, secular structures include the ruins of the Great Palace of Constantinople, the innovative walls of Constantinople and Basilica Cistern. A frieze in the Ostrogothic palace in Ravenna depicts an early Byzantine palace, remarkable engineering feats include the 430 m long Sangarius Bridge and the pointed arch of Karamagara Bridge. The period of the Macedonian dynasty, traditionally considered the epitome of Byzantine art, has not left a legacy in architecture. The cross-in-square type also became predominant in the Slavic countries which were Christianized by Salonikas missionaries during the Macedonian period, only national forms of architecture can be found in abundance due to this. Those styles can be found in many Transcaucasian countries, such as Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and other Slavic lands, the Paleologan period is well represented in a dozen former churches in Istanbul, notably St Saviour at Chora and St Mary Pammakaristos. Unlike their Slavic counterparts, the Paleologan architects never accented the vertical thrust of structures, as a result, there is little grandeur in the late medieval architecture of Byzantium. Other churches from the years predating the fall of Constantinople survive on Mount Athos. Those of the type we must suppose were nearly always vaulted. The most famous church of this type was that of the Holy Apostles, vaults appear to have been early applied to the basilican type of plan, for instance, at Hagia Irene, Constantinople, the long body of the church is covered by two domes. At Saint Sergius, Constantinople, and San Vitale, Ravenna, churches of the central type, finally, at Hagia Sophia a combination was made which is perhaps the most remarkable piece of planning ever contrived. This unbroken area, about 260 ft long, the part of which is over 100 ft wide, is entirely covered by a system of domical surfaces. Above the conchs of the small apses rise the two great semi-domes which cover the hemicycles, and between these bursts out the vast dome over the central square. On the two sides, to the north and south of the dome, it is supported by vaulted aisles in two storeys which bring the form to a general square. At the Holy Apostles five domes were applied to a cruciform plan, after the 6th century there were no churches built which in any way competed in scale with these great works of Justinian, and the plans more or less tended to approximate to one type
36.
Armenian architecture
–
Armenian architecture comprises architectural works with an aesthetic or historical connection to the Armenian people. The greatest achievement of Armenian architecture is generally agreed to be its medieval churches, a composite roof composed of finely-cut tuff shingles Frescoes and carvings, if present, are usually ornate and include swirling intertwining grapevines and foliage. Heavy use of tall structural arches, both for supporting the cupola as part of the drum, the ceiling, and the vertical walls. Roofs intersecting to support the dome, both in basilicas and centrally-planned churches, sculptural decoration of external walls, including figures. Within the bounds of the common characteristics, individual churches display considerable variation which may reflect time, place. Armenian buildings tend to be rather low-slung and thick-walled in design, Armenia has abundant resources of stone, and relatively few forests, so stone was nearly always used throughout for large buildings. Small buildings and most residential buildings were constructed of lighter materials. The stone used in buildings is typically quarried all at the same location, in cases where different color stone are used, they are often intentionally contrasted in a striped or checkerboard pattern. Powder made out of stone of the same type was often applied along the joints of the tuff slabs to give buildings a seamless look. Unlike the Romans or Syrians who were building at the same time, Armenian architecture employs a form of concrete to produce sturdy buildings. It is a mixture of mortar, broken tuff. As the wet mortar mixture dries it forms a strong concrete-like mass sealed together with the tuff around it and, due to tuffs properties, frescos of marble or another stone were often affixed to the side of these buildings, usually at a later date. The gradual development of Armenian architecture, during the third millennium B. C, prehistoric Armenian architecture was already distinctive. The most common feature of this form of architecture was its groundwork, an example of such architecture can be found in Nakichevans Gyul-Tepe. These buildings were approximately 6–7 metres wide and 5 or so high, urban architectural traditions, and other forms of art in the years before Christ continued to develop and later were partily influenced by Greco-Roman art. Urartian architecture is known for its use of intricately cut rocks, used as foundations for mud brick buildings, usually constructed in a compact manner. Urartian temples had massive walls at lower levels and a relatively small interior space, usually square. Higher levels were in mud brick, which has not survived, garni includes local elements of sacred numerology and geometry
37.
Iranian architecture
–
Iranian architecture or Persian architecture is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BCE with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Turkey and Iraq to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and from the Caucasus to Zanzibar. Persian buildings vary from peasant huts to tea houses and garden, in addition to historic gates, palaces, and mosques, the rapid growth of cities such as the capital, Tehran has brought about a wave of demolition and new construction. Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience, without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it has achieved an individuality distinct from that of other Muslim countries. Traditionally, the guiding formative motif of Iranian architecture has been its cosmic symbolism by which man is brought into communication and participation with the powers of heaven. This theme has not only given unity and continuity to the architecture of Persia, according to Persian historian and archaeologist Arthur Pope, the supreme Iranian art, in the proper meaning of the word, has always been its architecture. The supremacy of architecture applies to both pre- and post-Islamic periods, traditional Persian architecture has maintained a continuity that, although temporarily distracted by internal political conflicts or foreign invasion, nonetheless has achieved an unmistakable style. In this architecture, there are no buildings, even garden pavilions have nobility and dignity. In expressiveness and communicativity, most Persian buildings are lucid - even eloquent, the combination of intensity and simplicity of form provides immediacy, while ornament and, often, subtle proportions reward sustained observation. g. g. Anahita Temple, Khorheh, Parthian era e. g. Hatra, the compounds at Nysa, Sassanid era e. g. Ghaleh Dokhtar. Chehelsotoon, Ali Qapu, Agha Bozorg Mosque, Kashan, Shah Mosque, available building materials dictate major forms in traditional Iranian architecture. This technique, used in Iran from ancient times, has never completely abandoned. The abundance of heavy plastic earth, in conjunction with a lime mortar, also facilitated the development. Certain design elements of Persian architecture have persisted throughout the history of Iran, the most striking are a marked feeling for scale and a discerning use of simple and massive forms. The consistency of decorative preferences, the high-arched portal set within a recess, columns with bracket capitals, through the ages these elements have recurred in completely different types of buildings, constructed for various programs and under the patronage of a long succession of rulers. Similarly, the dome on four arches, so characteristic of Sassanid times, is a still to be found in many cemeteries, the pre-Islamic styles draw on 3000 to 4000 years of architectural development from various civilizations of the Iranian plateau. Iran is recognized by UNESCO as being one of the cradles of civilization, each of the periods of Elamites, Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanids were creators of great architecture that, over the ages, spread far and wide far to other cultures. Although Iran has suffered its share of destruction, including Alexander The Greats decision to burn Persepolis, the Achaemenids built on a grand scale
38.
Mamluk architecture
–
Mamluk architecture was a flowering of Islamic art during the reign of the Mamluk Sultanate which is most visible in medieval Cairo. Religious zeal made them generous patrons of architecture and art, it was influenced by the Ancient Egyptian. Trade and agriculture flourished under Mamluk rule, and Cairo, their capital, became one of the wealthiest cities in the Near East and the center of artistic and intellectual activity. This made Cairo, in the words of Ibn Khaldun, the center of the universe and the garden of the world, with domes, courtyards. The architectural identity of Mamluk religious monuments stems from the purpose that individuals erected their own memorials. Each building reflected the individual tastes, choices, and name. Mamluk architecture is oftentimes categorized more by the reigns of the sultan, than a specific design. Interestingly, the elite were often more knowledgeable in the art of buildings than many historians. Mamluk sultans and emirs were known for their zealous patronage of art and their projects could include a single mausoleum or a small charitable building, while their larger architectural complexes typically combined many functions into one or more buildings. These could include charitable functions and social services, such as a mosque, khanqah, madrasa, bimaristan, maktab, sabil, or hod, or commercial functions, such as a wikala/khan or rabʿah. These buildings and their institutions were protected by waqf agreements, which rendered them the status of charitable endowments or trusts which were legally inalienable under Islamic law. As such, the zeal of the Mamluk rulers was also motivated by very real pragmatic benefits. While the organization of Mamluk monuments varied, the funerary dome and these attributes are prominent features in a Mamluk mosques profile and were significant in the beautification of the city skyline. In Cairo, the dome and minaret were respected as symbols of commemoration. Patrons used these visual attributes to express their individuality by decorating each dome, patterns carved on domes ranged from ribs and zigzags to floral and geometric star designs. The funerary dome of Aytimish al-Bajasi and the dome of Qaitbays sons reflect the diversity. The creativity of Mamluk builders was effectively emphasized with these leitmotifs, expanding on the Fatimid Caliphates development of street-adjusted mosque façades, the Mamluks developed their architecture to enhance street vistas. In addition, new concepts and architectural solutions were created to reflect their assumed role in history
39.
Fall of Constantinople
–
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the then 21-year-old Mehmed the Conqueror, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453, the capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state that had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a blow to Christendom. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. The conquest of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire was a key event in the Late Middle Ages, which also marks, for some historians, Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the following centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once. The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remaining empire splintered into a number of Byzantine successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and they fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, thereafter there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and, most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. The Black Plague between 1346 and 1349 killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople, the Empire of Trebizond, an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, also survived on the coast of the Black Sea. This optimism was reinforced by friendly assurances made by Mehmed to envoys sent to his new court, but Mehmeds actions spoke far louder than his mild words. Since the mutual excommunications of 1054, the Pope in Rome was committed to establishing authority over the eastern church, nominal union had been negotiated in 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon, and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the Latin church. Emperor John VIII Palaiologos had also recently negotiated union with Pope Eugene IV, finally, the attempted Union failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V and the hierarchy of the Roman church. Although some troops did arrive from the city states in the north of Italy. Some Western individuals, however, came to defend the city on their own account. One of these was a soldier from Genoa, Giovanni Giustiniani. A specialist in defending walled cities, he was given the overall command of the defense of the land walls by the emperor. In Venice, meanwhile, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople
40.
Hagia Sophia
–
Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The building was converted into an Ottoman mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935, famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have changed the history of architecture. It remained the worlds largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years and it was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The church contained a collection of relics and featured, among other things. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed the Conqueror, by that point, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair. Nevertheless, the Christian cathedral made an impression on the new Ottoman rulers. Islamic features—such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets—were added and it remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey, Hagia Sophia was, as of 2014, the second-most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost 3.3 million visitors annually. According to data released by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, from its initial conversion until the construction of the nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul. The first church on the site was known as the Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία, or in Latin Magna Ecclesia, inaugurated on 15 February 360 by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch, it was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed. The nearby Hagia Eirene church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was completed, both churches acted together as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire. Writing in 440, Socrates of Constantinople claimed that the church was built by Constantius II, a tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century, reports that the edifice was built by Constantine the Great. Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia, after it had collapsed. Since Eusebius was bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, the edifice was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium and it was claimed to be one of the worlds most outstanding monuments at the time. The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the emperor Arcadius, during the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burned down. Nothing remains of the first church today, a second church on the site was ordered by Theodosius II, who inaugurated it on 10 October 415
41.
Mosque
–
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni jurisprudence for a place of worship to be considered a mosque, many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents, the mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for salat as well as a center for information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the congregation in prayer, the first mosque in the world is often considered to be the area around the Kaaba in Mecca now known as the Masjid al-Haram. Others regard the first mosque in history to be the Quba Mosque in present-day Medina since it was the first structure built by Muhammad upon his emigration from Mecca in 622. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad went on to another mosque in Medina. Built on the site of his home, Muhammad participated in the construction of the mosque himself and helped pioneer the concept of the mosque as the focal point of the Islamic city. The Masjid al-Nabawi introduced some of the still common in todays mosques, including the niche at the front of the prayer space known as the mihrab. The Masjid al-Nabawi was also constructed with a courtyard, a motif common among mosques built since then. Mosques had been built in Iraq and North Africa by the end of the 7th century, the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala is reportedly one of the oldest mosques in Iraq, although its present form – typical of Persian architecture – only goes back to the 11th century. The shrine, while operating as a mosque, remains one of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims, as it honors the death of the third Shia imam. The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As was reportedly the first mosque in Egypt, serving as a religious, like the Imam Husayn Shrine, though, nothing of its original structure remains. With the later Shia Fatimid Caliphate, mosques throughout Egypt evolved to include schools, hospitals and it was the first to incorporate a square minaret and includes naves akin to a basilica. Those features can also be found in Andalusian mosques, including the Grand Mosque of Cordoba, still, some elements of Visigothic architecture, like horseshoe arches, were infused into the mosque architecture of Spain and the Maghreb. The first mosque in East Asia was reportedly established in the 8th century in Xian, however, the Great Mosque of Xian, whose current building dates from the 18th century, does not replicate the features often associated with mosques elsewhere. Indeed, minarets were initially prohibited by the state, mosques in western China were more likely to incorporate elements, like domes and minarets, traditionally seen in mosques elsewhere. In turn, the Javanese style influenced the styles of mosques in Indonesias Austronesian neighbors—Malaysia, Brunei, Muslim empires were instrumental in the evolution and spread of mosques. Although mosques were first established in India during the 7th century, reflecting their Timurid origins, Mughal-style mosques included onion domes, pointed arches, and elaborate circular minarets, features common in the Persian and Central Asian styles
42.
Articulation (architecture)
–
Articulation, in art and architecture, is a method of styling the joints in the formal elements of architectural design. In highly articulated works, each part is defined precisely and stands out clearly, the articulation of a building reveals how the parts fit into the whole by emphasizing each part separately. The opposite of distinct articulation is continuity and fusion which reduces the separateness of the parts, distinct articulation emphasizes the strategic break while the articulation of continuity concentrates on smooth transitions. Continuity reduces the independence of the elements and focuses on the largest element of the whole, while reducing focus on the other independent elements, architecture is said to be the art of the articulation of spaces. And geometry is the basic tool, but it is not the architects system of communication. That system is the defining of object in the surrounding space, articulation is the geometry of form and space. Vertical wall articulation set Romanesque churches apart from their predecessors, dividing the church height into bays using pilasters gave the interior space a new vertical unity. It also added a new three-dimensional vision by using the line of the arcade. The use of the compound pier allowed the wall columns to rise together with other shafts supporting walls such those supporting arches and this structure is a combination of both articulation and fusion styles. The smooth covering creates in the other, larger symbolic forms in rhythmic succession on the roof. The result here is sensuous, related to earth and sky, as the fused forms are more natural in form than are sharp angles with strong definition. The sharper forms, the result of the smooth surface fusion, the design of Casa da Música in Portugal produced a building in which the formal intellectual underpinning is equaled by the continuity, the fusion of forms, in its attempt to achieve sensual beauty. Its emotionality comes through in its exuberant external design where articulation in structure has been overwhelmed by continuity, in this structure, fusion and continuity dominate over articulation. The organically shaped curves on the building have been designed to appear random, according to the architect, the randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light. Thus there is an interaction between space and form, the articulated form emphasizes the buildings distinct parts. Articulation accentuates the visible aspect of the different parts of a building, sometimes the effect completely obscures the sense of the whole, breaking it down into too many pieces, but in most cases the articulation expresses a balance between the two. The result is often a potential sensuality, as the forms are closer to the form of the human body than are sharp angles with strong definition. A highly articulated art form expresses its cultures sense of it place in the world, the distinct elements synchronise so beautifully to form a rigid looking structure
43.
Vault (architecture)
–
Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that requires a counter resistance, when vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required. However, when the vault is built above ground, various replacements are employed to supply the needed resistance, an example is the thicker walls used in the case of barrel or continuous vaults. Buttresses are used to supply resistance when intersecting vaults are employed, the simplest kind of vault is the barrel vault, which is generally semicircular in shape. The barrel vault is an arch, the length being greater than its diameter. As in building an arch, a support is needed while rings of voussoirs are constructed. Until the topmost voussoir, the keystone, is positioned, the vault is not self-supporting, with a barrel vault, the centering can then be shifted on to support the next rings. Amongst the earliest known examples of any form of vaulting is to be found in the village of Khirokitia on Cyprus. Dating from ca.6000 BCE, the circular buildings supported beehive shaped corbel domed vaults of unfired mud-bricks, similar Beehive tombs, called tholoi, exist in Crete and Northern Iraq. Their construction differs from that at Khirokitia in that most appear partially buried, the inclusion of domes, however, represents a wider sense of the word vault. The distinction between the two is that a vault is essentially an arch which is extruded into the third dimension, whereas a dome is an arch revolved around its vertical axis. Pitched-brick vaults are named for their construction, the bricks are installed vertically and are leaning at an angle, examples have been found in archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia dating to the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC which were set in gypsum mortar. A barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault and resembles a barrel or tunnel cut lengthwise in half, the effect is that of a structure composed of continuous semicircular or pointed sections. The earliest known examples of barrel vaults were built by the Sumerians, possibly under the ziggurat at Nippur in Babylonia, which was built of fired bricks cemented with clay mortar. The earliest barrel vaults in ancient Egypt are thought to be those in the built by the 19th dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II. The vault being over 800 feet long,10 feet in span, the enormous Eyvan-e Khosro at Ctesiphon was built over 1,500 years ago during the Persian Sasanian period as a throne room. The arch is about 37 metres high,26 metres across and 50 metres long, built entirely without centering, the rings relieved the centering from the weight imposed, and the two layers of bricks carried the concrete till it had set. As the walls carrying these vaults were built in concrete with occasional bond courses of brick
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
-Jerusalem-Temple_Mount-Dome_of_the_Rock_(SE_exposure).jpg)
