Ēidem Kafesciolus elegant study examines the creation of the Ottoman capital of Istanbul through the reformulation of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The book provides clarity, nuance, and new perspectives on a formative period in the citys history. It is well written, engaging, packed with valuable observations, and based on important new archival documents. This is a significant contribution to urban history in general and to the history and architecture of Byzantine Constantinople and Ottoman Istanbul in particular.
Robert Ousterhout, University of Pennsylvania Linking the rebuilding of the conquered city to the building of the empire, Kafesciolu traces interventions to urban and architectural forms, interweaving them with shifting political, ideological, and religious issues. The arguments are powerful and convincingly presented. The research is top-notch and integrates material from many sources, including an impressive range of hitherto untapped archival documents.
Zeynep Ēelik, New Jersey Institute of Technology This latest title in the award-winning Buildings, Landscapes, and Societies series does not disappoint. Elegantly designed with a double column layout that is easy on the eye, this book is profusely illustrated with eight color plates, five maps, and 152 black-and-white photographs, plans, or other drawings to scale. This book is highly recommended for academic and research libraries supporting historical research.
Janine J. Henri ARLIS/NA Reviews Kafesciolu argues that the foundations of Istanbuls later development were laid out in the first decades following the conquest, but this involved a complex dynamics in which diverse cultural traditions, Ottoman and Byzantine, along with Renaissance ideas of ordering the urban environment encountered each other. . . . [ Constantinopolis/Istanbul] will undoubtedly remain an important resource for new Istanbul studies for years to come.
Ipek Türeli CAA Reviews For Byzantinists, 1453 is an ending, for Ottomanists, a beginning. For the history of the city neither is correct, one of the important contributions of this book. Byzantinists need to engage this new book and to rise to its challenges. . . . Constantinopolis/Istanbul is our best analysis of the early history of the Ottoman City.
Robert S. Nelson Art Bulletin Constantinopolis/Istanbul is a painstakingly researched and documented and lavishly illustrated account of the city from 14531581. Its numerous maps, photographs, and plates combine with the written analysis to produce an in-depth study which will be of great value to both specialists and general readers.
Valerie Kennedy Sixteenth Century Journal There is much to recommend in Cidem Kafesciolus carefully researched and elegant book, not the least of which is a thorough analysis of the transformation of Byzantine Constantinople into Ottoman Istanbul.
Andrea Bubenik Parergon
