“1876-1954 Konya Photographic Compendium” published by IRCICA and Konya Metropolitan Municipality was introduced to cultural circles and the press at IRCICA on 30 October 2024. The album resulted from an ambitious joint project conducted over the past years to compile the photographs of Konya from IRCICA archive, the Municipality’s archive, and some major personal collections. With its rich informative texts, the two-volume album is a splendid documentation on the historical and cultural heritage of Konya to serve future generations of researchers. It contains 601 photographs in total, the oldest dated 1876 and the most recent, 1954. The images and their annotations in English and Turkish depict the city structures, monuments, streets, social life, economic activities, and well-known personalities of the city, with emphasis on architectural heritage from earlier periods, especially the Seljukid and the Ottoman, and also record later changes concerning the monuments.
IRCICA Director General Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç and the Metropolitan Mayor of Konya Mr. Uğur İbrahim Altay addressed the book launch, giving information on the aims and contents of the album. The book launch was attended by the rector of the National Defense University, Prof. Erhan Afyoncu, the President of the Turkish Institute of Manuscripts and Provincial Director of Culture of Istanbul Dr. Coşkun Yılmaz, the President of the Center for Islamic Studies (ISAM) Prof. Murteza Bedir, faculty members, researchers, and students.
