1845 Map of Istanbul

Mavi Boncuk |

This map was prepared by the students of the Mühendishane-i Berri-i Hümayun (Imperial School of Naval Engineering) on 27 Cemaziyelahir 1261/3 July 1845. The map is in color, has a scale of 1:2,000,13 and consists of two sections. The southern section shows the southern parts of the Bosphorus, including the walled city and its surroundings, while the northern section shows the part of the Bosphorus that is on the northern side of Rumelihisarı and extends to Rumelikavağı. Each section measures 152 cm × 192 cm. They were made folded because of the map printing technique of the time and for ease of handling. The southern section is folded into 42 parts and the northern section into 48. The map was drawn on paper and manipulated on cloth.

Map source:  İÜ Nadir Eserler Ktp., Harita, no. 92760-92761. For a print of the map see A. Yaşar Koçak et. al. (editors), Sultan II. Abdülhamid Devri Harita ve Planlarında İstanbul, Istanbul: İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür A.Ş., 2013. pp. 43-46. A copy of the same map is available in the archive of M. Sinan Genim. 

This map, which was prepared by the students of Mühendishane-i Berri-i Hümayun (the Imperial School of Naval Engineering) in 27 Rabi’al-awwal 1261/6 June 1845, is made in two sections. The southern section has 42 parts and measures 1894 × 1510. The northern section is the same size and has 48 parts. The existence of this map shows that the same map was duplicated every other three months by Mühendishane.

Dârü’s- saltanat-i seniyye olan Istanbul’un hâricinde vâki‘ Zeytinburnu ve Üsküdar’da kâ’in Fenerbahçesi’nden Karadeniz Bogazi’nda vâki‘Rumeli ve Anadolu fenerlerine varincaya kadar nefs-i Istanbul’un ve civârinda vâki‘ Eyyûb-i Ensarî ve Hasköy ve Kasimpasa ve Galata ve Beyoglu ve Tophane ve Besiktas ve Üsküdar ve mahall-i sâ’irede mevcûd cevâmi‘-i serîfe ve mevâki‘-i meshûre ve kislâk-i hümâyûn ve ebniye-i sâ’ire ve bi’l-cümle tarîk-i âmm u tarîk-i hâs ve bostân u meydân ve bâg u bahçe ve iskele ve mevâki‘-i sâ’ire ve kurb-i civârinda olan ba’zi karyelerin harîta-i mevzi’yesidir ki bu defa Mühendishâne-i Hümâyûn sâkirdâni kullari ma‘rifetiyle ta‘lîm-gûnâ bi’l-hendese mesâha olunarak müceddeden ahz u tersîm olunmusdur 27 C. 1261. Iki bin zirâ‘-i Osmânî mikyâsidir.

This is the map showing mosques, famous places, winter quarters of the sultan, other buildings, and the main roads, special roads, squares, vineyards, gardens, and ports, which are located in neighborhoods in, outside of, and near Istanbul, the place of the supreme sultanate, that are located in Zeytinburnu and Üsküdar, Beşiktaş, Tophane, Beyoğlu, Kasımpaşa, Hasköy, and Eyyub-i Ensari. It was drawn with geometrical measures by the students of Mühendishane-i Hümayun as a training exercise on 27 Cemaziyelahir 1261. It has the scale of two thousand Ottoman zira.

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