Seetzen shows deep interest in the description and collection of musical instruments, used in 1800-Istanbul. He mentions a lot of instruments in different cultural, social and religious contexts, e.g. weddings, dances and religious ceremonies. So he is not only giving descriptions on the shape and characteristics of instruments, but often gave information on the use […]
When looking at the location of Tophane, we have the possibility to compare different sources with different media of representation. First there are of course the written descriptions by Ulrich Japer Seetzen from 1802-1803. At the very beginning of his time in Istanbul Seetzen shortly describes the location which he calls „Top-hanä“. 15. Dezember 1802: […]
Seetzen visited the old Palace of Belisar for several times (6th of March, 2nd and 11th of April 1803). Nowadays called the Tekfur Sarayi („Palace of the Sovereign“), the building was also known as Porphyrogennetos-Palace. The impressive palace is one of the last examples of secular Byzantine buildings in Istanbul and located next to the old Theodosian Walls in […]