Brief Biography: Evliya Celebi, the son of a jewelry designer for the Ottoman court, was born March 25, 1611 in Istanbul. He received training in a traditional Islamic school (medrese), in his father's workshop, and in the palace training school (Enderun). After being taken into service by the Ottoman court, he developed a passion for travel. First he traveled about Istanbul itself recording information on buildings, markets, festivals, customs, food, and culture. Then in 1640, he started a whole series of travels outside of Istanbul, often in some official capacity. He explored the area of Syria and Palestine between 1648 and 1650 and again when he made the pilgrimage or haj to Mecca in the 1680's. His death occured sometime after 1682, but it is unclear whether he died in Egypt or in Istanbul.. His collection of notes from all his travels formed a ten volume work called the Seyhatname ("Book of Travels"). The first eight volumes were published between 1896 and 1928 in Arabic and the last two between 1935-1938 using the Latin alphabet.
Brief Itinerary: