New documentary on Evliya Çelebi launched

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The journey of the famous 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi on pilgrimage is featured in the new documentary, which has been launched in Istanbul.

A new documentary made as part of the “Evliya Çelebi Hac Yolunda” (Evliya Çelebi’s Pilgrimage) project has been recently launched. 

The sacred travel of the famous 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi on pilgrimage, which was told in the ninth volume of his famous “Sehayatname” (Book of Travel), is shown in the documentary. 

The project, which was initiated in 2011 and was launched by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the year of Evliya Çelebi, was promoted to the world of art at a ceremony held at Istanbul’s Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. The ceremony started with a cocktail party and the opening of a photography exhibition with the same title before the documentary was screened. 

Visual document of a 400-year history 

The project, which is a kind of visual document of a 400-year-old history, aims to bequeath this heritage to future generations by depicting the traces of the Ottomans in sacred lands. The 90-minute film was directed by Mustafa Akay while Seyit Ali Kahraman acted as a consultant. Sinan Albayrak plays the role of Evliya Çelebi in the film. 

In the promotion of the documentary, the Topkapı Palace Museum President Associate Professor Haluk Dursun made a speech titled “From the Hagia Sophia Tomb Keeping to the Palace… Evliya Çelebi,” and provided information about the traveler’s life. 

Kahraman, who consulted the documentary and also translated the 10th volume of Evliya Çelebi’s eyahatname, said that Çelebi was an Ottoman intellectual who had educated himself. “He is an Ottoman intellectual, historian and geographer. His personality should be taken as a model,” he said. 

Celebrations marked the 400th anniversary of the birth of the 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi last year under the auspices of UNESCO. 

Çelebi journeyed through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of 40 years. He began his travels in Istanbul, taking notes on buildings, markets, customs and culture. In 1640, he started his first journey outside the city. His collection of notes from all of his travels formed a 10-volume work called the “Seyahatname.”