DOHA: Qatar National Library brought the legacy of 17th-century Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi to life on September 2, as it hosted a lecture by Turkish travel writer Seymen Bozaslan.
The event, titled “In the Footsteps of an Ottoman Traveler: Retracing the Routes of Evliya Çelebi,” retraced the journeys detailed in Çelebi’s monumental travelogue, the Seyahatnâme, through Bozaslan’s lens as a modern explorer.
Bozaslan shared insights from his years-long journey across Turkey, during which he followed the path of Çelebi, connecting historical accounts with modern-day observations and imagery.
A highlight of the event was the presentation of a 4-meter-long manuscript map of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, attributed to Çelebi himself. The manuscript, preserved in the Library’s Heritage Collection, was reproduced as a fold-out facsimile in Bozaslan’s latest publication.
