Abstract
The building of modern docks in the Golden Horn was a major modernisation project undertaken in Istanbul at the end of the 19th century. The account of this venture has already been the object of extensive studies, namely the book by W. Müller-Wiener. The present paper attempts the cartography of harbour works carried out between 1870 and 1910, bringing into light new data, based mostly on unpublished material from various sources in France, Britain and Turkey. It examines the preparation of the enterprise, and its wider relevance within the broader perspective of the technical innovations introduced by foreign firms and their engineers in the Eastern Mediterranean region. It produces new evidence about unidentified projects and entrepreneurial schemes, and emphasises on the urban and architectural modernisation that harbour building entailed for the city.
