In September 2011, the Netherlands Institute for Turkey (NIT) launched a project to digitize and publish Machiel Kiel’s photographic archive. A former director of the NIT, Prof. Kiel is a renowned Dutch academic with an intrinsic connection to the Ottoman architectural monuments of the Balkan countries, which he pioneered. His archive is an invaluable resource for researchers of this heritage. Created mostly between the 1960s and 1990s, the archive also includes visual documentation of many monuments that have not survived or have been significantly altered in the second half of the twentieth century. It is hoped that the publication of Kiel’s archive by the NIT will significantly advance international research on this heritage. In May 2012, the NIT made available online approximately 1,300 images of Ottoman-Islamic architectural monuments in Southeastern European countries (excluding Turkey), digitized and processed as part of the first phase of the project. In March 2013, NIT completed the second phase of the project and made nearly 500 images of Ottoman monuments in Turkish Thrace accessible online. In November 2013, another 500 images of Ottoman architectural monuments in the Balkans were added to the first phase of the project, bringing the total number of images of the reagion accessible by NIT to almost 1800.
As the History Department, we found it appropriate to prepare this seminar in order to introduce this digital archive to students and to inform those interested in Ottoman history about such an archive. The seminar location and time are included in the poster image.
