DOI article:
Klusáková, Ludʹa: Leidenský skicář: města podél cesty z Vídně do Cařihradu (1577-1585)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51726#0067
an stereotype with the Ottoman reality in the course of
their journey through the Ottoman Empire. Efforts to ar-
ticulate a factually true information appeared in the sec-
ond half of the sixteenth Century and their influence
reached into the seventeenth and, in some cases, even well
into the eighteenth Century. The iconography and the trave-
logues both contributed to the formation of a stereotype
of an Ottoman town. As the imperial road went through
several important European provinces of the Ottoman
Empire and many towns were located on this road, the
author of the sketchbook had a unique possibility to de-
pict diverse types of towns. This article focuses first on
the last three stops on the Habsburg territory (Hainburg,
Bratislava, Komárno). Once the author entered the terri-
tory under the Ottoman rule, the urban scenery changed
immediately. Then the focus turns to the old administra-
tive centres (Buda, Belgrade, Sophia and Edirne), and on
towns stimulated by highways, traffic on them and by large
service complexes (külliye). A comparative study of the
sketches, travelogues and the results of Contemporary his-
toriography offers an opportunity to discuss the ways in
which the 16lll-century itinérants perceived Ottoman towns,
and how they interpreted them for the purpose of public
opinion formation. Towns on the imperial road were used
by the Ottoman state as effective instruments of transmis-
sion of cultural values, as well as of intégration and trans-
formation into the Ottoman systém. At the same time they
functioned as a first rate “informant” for every visiter of
the country. However this material contributes to the his-
torical knowledge about the impact of the Ottoman power
on Balkan towns in the period of its greatest expansion.
Thus the Leiden Sketchbook discloses a deep layer in the
urban “palimpsest”, it tells part of the dramatic story of
the incorporation of the conquered territory, of the phases
of ottomanization of Balkan towns. It is also a testimony
of the limits of the foreigner’s ability to observe and to
understand.
63
their journey through the Ottoman Empire. Efforts to ar-
ticulate a factually true information appeared in the sec-
ond half of the sixteenth Century and their influence
reached into the seventeenth and, in some cases, even well
into the eighteenth Century. The iconography and the trave-
logues both contributed to the formation of a stereotype
of an Ottoman town. As the imperial road went through
several important European provinces of the Ottoman
Empire and many towns were located on this road, the
author of the sketchbook had a unique possibility to de-
pict diverse types of towns. This article focuses first on
the last three stops on the Habsburg territory (Hainburg,
Bratislava, Komárno). Once the author entered the terri-
tory under the Ottoman rule, the urban scenery changed
immediately. Then the focus turns to the old administra-
tive centres (Buda, Belgrade, Sophia and Edirne), and on
towns stimulated by highways, traffic on them and by large
service complexes (külliye). A comparative study of the
sketches, travelogues and the results of Contemporary his-
toriography offers an opportunity to discuss the ways in
which the 16lll-century itinérants perceived Ottoman towns,
and how they interpreted them for the purpose of public
opinion formation. Towns on the imperial road were used
by the Ottoman state as effective instruments of transmis-
sion of cultural values, as well as of intégration and trans-
formation into the Ottoman systém. At the same time they
functioned as a first rate “informant” for every visiter of
the country. However this material contributes to the his-
torical knowledge about the impact of the Ottoman power
on Balkan towns in the period of its greatest expansion.
Thus the Leiden Sketchbook discloses a deep layer in the
urban “palimpsest”, it tells part of the dramatic story of
the incorporation of the conquered territory, of the phases
of ottomanization of Balkan towns. It is also a testimony
of the limits of the foreigner’s ability to observe and to
understand.
63