ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency
This month different areas
of Turkey host Piri Reis collections and exhibitions, with Istanbul’s
Maritime Museum opening a new show for the 500th anniversary of the Piri
Reis World Map
The Piri Reis map was drawn in 1513 by the Ottoman
admiral. The approximately one-third of the map that survives shows the
western coasts of Europe and North Africa and the coast of Brazil with
reasonable accuracy. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores and
Canary Islands are depicted, as is the mythical island of Antillia and
possibly Japan. AA photos
Events are underway around Turkey in honor of the half-millennium
since famous Ottoman maritime cartographer created a world map, with
important exhibitions and collections scheduled for Istanbul.
“In this exhibition we can see something more than a map,” Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik
said
in opening an exhibition at Istanbul’s Maritime Museum, adding that the
exhibition also showed Turkish history and Turkish maritime history.
Noting
that until today it had been difficult to say there were any strategic
works concerning the seas, Çelik said it was essential for Turkey, a
country surrounded by water on three sides, to use the sea more
affectively. “All the political developments in the recent days such as
the
Arab Spring and developments in the eastern Mediterranean parts of the world show us how important the seas are for us.”
Significant figure in maritime history
Piri
Reis was one of the most significant figures in the rise of the Ottoman
Empire, Çelik said, adding that he was important both in the marine
sciences and as a researcher.
Turkish officials have prepared a series of events within the scope of the celebrations and commemoration program.
The fact that UNESCO is remembering Piri Reis, who wrote his name in
history for his contributions to world cartography, after 500 years is
crucial in refreshing the world’s memory and remembering what Turks gave
the world of science, he said.
Upon Turkey’s proposal, UNESCO
included the 500th anniversary of Piri Reis’ world map in the 2013
celebrations and commemorations program for its 36th General Conference
that was held in
Paris in 2011.
The
Piri Reis map was drawn in 1513 by the Ottoman admiral. The
approximately one-third of the map that survives shows the western
coasts of
Europe and North Africa and the coast of
Brazil
with reasonable accuracy. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores
and Canary Islands are depicted, as is the mythical island of Antillia
and possibly Japan. The historical importance of the map lies in its
demonstration of the extent of Ottoman exploration of the new world by
approximately 1510.
The map was discovered accidentally in 1929 by
German theologian Gustav Adolf Deissmann, who was commissioned by the Education Ministry to catalogue the
Topkapı Palace library’s non-Islamic items.
Although
Piri Reis was not an explorer and never sailed to the Atlantic, he
compiled over 20 maps of Arab, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Indian and
older
Greek
origins into a comprehensive representation of the known world of his
era. The work included the recently explored shores of both the African
and
American continents.
Çelik,
meanwhile, also lamented the disappearance of past naval traditions,
saying, “30 years ago, ships [waited] in front of Beşiktaş’s Barbaros
Hayrettin Paşa grave and saluted it. This was a tradition. Now many
traditions have been forgotten.”
Kitâb-ı Bahriyye maps become a collection
Meanwhile, Piri Reis’ “Kitâb-ı Bahriyye,” made between 1521 and 1525, has now become a 40-piece collection.
The
book was translated into Turkish upon the order of Mehmed II. Apart
from the maps, the book also contained detailed information on the major
ports, bays, gulfs, capes, peninsulas, islands, straits and ideal
shelters of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as techniques of navigation
and navigation-related information on astronomy, together with
information about the local people of each country and city and the
curious aspects of their culture.
Antalya Maps and Cadastre manager Ramazan Eciş said the collection consists of 40 pieces.
The maps give people a look at the shores of
Antalya shores 500 years ago, he said, adding that the pieces show how sociological and geographic changes affected the shores.
