Evliya Çelebi

Today, March 25, is the anniversary of the birth of Evliya Çelebi, one of the greatest Ottoman men of letters. He is also one of the least-appreciated. As someone who has lived in Istanbul for many years, immersing myself of late in Evliya's life and work, I remain perplexed that he is scarcely celebrated in Turkey today.

Today, March 25, is the anniversary of the birth of Evliya Çelebi, one of the greatest Ottoman men of letters. He is also one of the least-appreciated. As someone who has lived in Istanbul for many years, immersing myself of late in Evliya's life and work, I remain perplexed that he is scarcely celebrated in Turkey today.

Excavation works carried out in the eastern province of Erzincan's Kemah district have unearthed a millennium-old Turkish neighborhood. 

Atatürk University History of Art Department Professor Hüseyin Yurtta? said after discovering Bey Mosque and bath, the team had focused on civil architecture and continued excavations by looking at Evliya Çelebi's "Book of Travels." 

?Stamboul Sketches: Encounters in Old Istanbul? by John Freely (Eland, 208 pages, £12.99)

Boza has been a favorite drink in the Middle East for thousands of years, but it?s the Ottomans who brought it to perfection The cry ?Boza? stridently rings out on the streets of Istanbul during the evenings at this time of year. It is a drink with origins extending far back in the Middle and Far East.

This week we celebrate the anniversaries of two famous journeys, three centuries apart.