| About this website and the project behind it In September 2011 the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT) has launched a project for the digitization and publication of the photographic archive of Machiel Kiel. A former director of the NIT, Prof. Kiel is a renowned Dutch scholar intrinsically connected with the study of Ottoman architectural monuments in the Balkan countries, which he pioneered. His archive represents an invaluable source for researchers of this heritage. Created for the most part between the 1960s and 90s, it also contains visual documentation of many monuments that have not survived, or have been significantly altered in, the second half of the twentieth century. The publication of Kiel’s archive by the NIT is hoped to significantly advance international research on this heritage. | In May, 2012, the NIT made available online almost 1300 images digitized and processed within phase 1 of the project, pertaining to Ottoman-Islamic architectural monuments in the Southeast-European countries (outside Turkey). Completing phase 2 of the project in March 2013 the NIT made available online close to 500 images of Ottoman monuments located in Turkish Thrace. In November 2013 phase 1 of the project was supplemented by 500 additional images of Ottoman architectural monuments in the Balkans thus the total number of images of the reagion, made available by the NIT almost reached 1800. During phase 3 more than 2500 images of Christian monuments and mural painting from the Ottoman period will be classified and displayed. The NIT will successively make available this material to the public. For further information, please contact the curators of the project - Grigor Boykov (griboykov@yahoo.com) & Maximilian Hartmuth (kielarchive@nit-istanbul.org) |
| How can I get in touch with the persons responsible for the website? Please write an email to the curators of the project - Grigor Boykov (griboykov@yahoo.com) & Maximilian Hartmuth (kielarchive@nit-istanbul.org). Image IDs – what do the abbreviations mean? C or M = Cami/Mosque; T = Türbe (mausoleum) or Tekke (dervish convent); H = Hamam (bathhouse) or Han (inn); P = Pasha; K = Kervansaray (caravanserai). May I re-use these images in my own publications? Yes. It is this project’s objective to promote research on this little-known heritage. Our only condition is that the photos’ author and copyright holder, Machiel Kiel, is properly credited as such, ideally directly under the reproduction of the image in question in a caption. Please write to us at kielarchive@nit-istanbul.org with reference to the image’s unique ID no. (e.g. “Prizren, Kadiri tekke [XXXIX-23-1974]”) and we shall supply you with an image in higher resolution and further instructions. I have found a mistake! What to do about it? First off, thanks for considering to contribute to the success of our project. Please send us an email at kielarchive@nit-istanbul.org with reference to the image's unique ID no. (e.g. "Prizren, Kadiri tekke [XXXIX-23-1974]") and information about the kind of error (e.g. wrong identification a building). |
Why is the quality of the images different (and sometimes not great)? We have digitized all images available to us in different media – negatives, photos, diapositives, even contact prints – taken at different times and with different cameras since the 1960s. We have included all images, irrespective of their quality, that we thought might be of use to researchers interested in this heritage. Are these really all of Prof. Kiel’s images? No. However, what is published here is the bulk of Prof. Kiel’s material on Ottoman-Islamic architecture in the region. For the next two phases of the project, see ABOUT. Is it possible to request from you a photo made by Prof. Kiel that is not found here? If it pertains to Ottoman (Islamic) architectural monuments in the Balkans, it is unlikely that we have a copy of it if it is not published here. |