MAURIZIO BORIANI

 

When Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 it seemed for a while that everything had been lost and that relations between Western Europe and the capital of the new empire would be dramatically curtailed. In reality diplomatic, cultural and commercial exchanges soon resumed. So while they were often at war with the West, the sultans permitted and facilitated the development not only of trade but also of cultural relations. It was not uncommon for them to request the services of artists and architects from Europe and in particular Italy, aware of their reputation and appreciative of their worth and skill. In fact it was in the early decades of the 19th century that job opportunities for Europeans and Levantines grew even more substantial: conscious of the need to reform the administration and political conduct of the empire, clearly in decline when compared with the military, technological and economic successes of the European powers, the sultans embarked on a crash course of reforms. Every sector of the administration of the state and the economy had to be involved in the programme of modernization: roads and railways, urban infrastructures, the army, public buildings and spaces, banks and insurance companies, commercial activities; to achieve this the contribution of Europeans would be indispensable: engineers, architects, physicians, technicians and workers with expertise in these new sectors, as well as craftsmen and artists, were offered great opportunities for employment.

The article is a presentation of the achievements of Italian architects and architectural conservators in Istanbul in the 19th and early 20th century.

 

Keywords: Turkey, Istanbul, Italian architects, 19th and early 20th century architecture