The Department of Ottoman History of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies is the only research unit in Greece exclusively dedicated to the systematic study of Ottoman history. The Department specialises in the research of the social, economic and cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, including its transition and transformation processes in relation to its precursor and successor states. To achieve its objectives, the Department has developed since 1987 pioneering structures for a. training young scholars in Ottoman and Turkish history and b. carrying out research in Ottoman history, with emphasis on: i. The study of Ottoman archives, ii. Ottoman monuments and artefacts, and iii. the publication of historical works of synthesis.
The original aim of the project was to record and study the tombstones of the Muslim population of Ottoman Rethymno. Over the years, however, the study of the Muslim gravestones of the Ottoman period was extended to the entire island of Crete.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the library of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies has acquired a digital collection of the Ottoman almanacs (salname) of the Balkan and island provinces of the Ottoman Empire. These 87 rare volumes of the second half of the nineteenth centuries have been digitized in CDs and DVDs and contain precious information on the provinces of Edirne, the Aegean islands, Crete, Salonica, Ioannina and Manastir (Bitola). Researchers may study this material in the IMS library.
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In 1988, the Department of Ottoman History started under the IMS the operation of a two-year "Programme of Training and Specialisation in Turkish Studies", which became in 1994 the "Postgraduate Programme in Turkish Studies" of the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete, in collaboration with the Institute for Mediterranean Studies. Since 2018, the programme has evolved into the "Inter-institutional Postgraduate Programme in Ottoman History", organised and conducted by the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies.
Postgraduate students are taught the modern Turkish language, Ottoman diplomatics and palaeography, as well as Turkish and Ottoman history. The Department of Ottoman History provides its specialised staff and space for the courses and seminars. It also provides the postgraduate students with the specialised library of Ottoman and Islamic Studies, as well as with its infrastructure. In addition, many students and graduates of the Postgraduate Programme are employed as fellows in the research programmes of the Department of Ottoman History.
Teaching Staff - Visiting Professors
The teaching staff of the Postgraduate Programme in Turkish Studies includes Gülsün Aksoy-Ayvali, Antonis Anastasopoulos, Elias Kolovos, Marinos Sariyannis and Yannis Spyropoulos.
Various well-known scholars have given lectures or seminars in the Programme:
The Institute for Mediterranean Studies has created a specialised library of Islamic and Turkish studies, the only one of its kind and size in our country. The personal library of Victor Ménage († professor of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London) constitutes a particularly important section as it contains numerous rare editions of books and journals of turkological interest. Recently, the library of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies was enriched by the donation of the personal library of Professor Elizabeth Zachariadou.
The Department also has collections of microfilms and digital archives of primary Ottoman archive material from various archives in Greece. The Department of Ottoman History offers access to its library and archival material for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of Crete, other universities in Greece and abroad, and to any interested person.
The Library of the Department has been enriched with donations of books by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Naples, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Genoa, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Bank of Greece, the Prefecture of Rethymno, the Turkish Foundation History, and the Turkish Embassy in Athens.
Halcyon Days in Crete
The Department of Ottoman History of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies has organised since 1991 eleven International Symposia of Turkology in Rethymno under the title “Halcyon Days in Crete”. The symposia take place every three years with the participation of twenty to thirty renowned Ottomanists from around the world. They constitute the only standing international symposia of Ottoman studies held in Greece.
List of 'Halcyon Days in Crete' Symposia
The volumes with the papers of the first four symposia have been edited by Elizabeth Zachariadou. The volumes with the papers of the next three symposia have been edited by Antonis Anastasopoulos. The proceedings of the eighth symposium have been edited by Elias Kolovos and those of the ninth symposium by Marinos Sariyannis.
The volumes with the papers of the first three symposia have been published in Turkish by Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları. Turkish editions of the next three volumes are under way by Küre Yayınları.
The Programme of Turkish Studies kindly acknowledges financial support that it has received for its 'Halcyon Days in Crete' symposia from the:
Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, A. G. Leventis Foundation, Eleni Nakou Foundation, Academy of Athens, University of Crete, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Hellenic Ministry of Tourism, Hellenic Ministry of the Environment, Urban Planning and Public Works, Prefecture of Rethymno, Municipality of Rethymno, Historical and Folklore Society of Rethymno, Bar Association of Rethymno, British Council, Emporiki Bank, Finansbank, Forty-Nine Thirteen Foundation.
CIÉPO 20
On June 27-July 1, 2012, the Department of Ottoman History of the Institute of Mediterranean Studies, in collaboration with the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete, organised the 20th CIÉPO Conference of the Comité International des Études Pré-Ottomanes et Ottomanes. CIÉPO is one of the largest and most prestigious international conferences in the field of Turkish and Ottoman studies today. A total of 224 papers were presented at CIÉPO 20, 83 of which were published in the volume New Trends in Ottoman Studies: Papers Presented at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium, Rethymno 27 June-1 July 2012 (see Publications).
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