Author(s): Musa GÜMÜŞ
Through its profound world of meaning, Evliya Celebi’s Seyahatname (Travel Book), which provides us significant hints regarding the Ottoman people during the 17th century, is a historical, literary, and sociological source. Evliya Çelebi had travelled almost all Ottoman territories and his journey took over fifty years. In his ten-volume Itinerary, Çelebi reflected his world shaped by his experiences and knowledge based on what he lived through, people who met, flavors he tasted, beauties he saw, and troubles he went through during his journeys. Along with an acute ability in depicting, his recounting the places he travelled in a detailed and artistic way points out how a connoisseur storyteller Çelebi is. With this distinguished characteristic, Itinerary of Evliya Çelebi achieves the quality of masterpiece in its genre. We can find out the elements of local culture, traces of faith, the usual and awkward reactions, nutritional tastes, and entertainment culture of the 17th century’s Ottoman people through Çelebi’s Itinerary. In this paper, I will focus on putting forward Ottoman people’s entertainments culture and perception of social life especially in the Balkans. In this context, I will deal with some places in Balkan cities, which are important centers, such as Sofya, Filibe, Manast?r, Köstence and Bosnia. These entertainment places are cited by Çelebi as mesiregâh” teferrücgâh” ?ikârgâh” , seyrângâh” . I endeavor to examine through the lenses of Çelebi both these entertainment and termal water (bana, germâb) sites and how people used to live at close quarters.
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