The School of History and Archaeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is pleased to announce that the 24th Conference of the Comité International des Études Pré-Ottomanes et Ottomanes (International Committee for Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Studies) will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 23-27 June 2020.
The aim is to provide a platform of a high scholarly level, which will promote the knowledge and sustain the memory of Ottoman history. The city of Thessaloniki, with its diverse past and strong academic community, constitutes the ideal venue for this meeting.
The Conference will include four days of sessions to be held at the Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center (23-26 June). During the excursion that is scheduled for the last day (27 June), participants will have the chance to visit Ottoman sites at a nearby destination.
“Prints and Impressions from Ottoman Smyrna: the Collection de costumes civils et militaires, scènes populaires, et vues de l’Asie-Mineure Album (1836-38) at Harvard University’s Fine Arts Library”. Continue reading →
Self Testimonies from the Ottoman Empire
The series „Memoria : Fontes minores ad Historiam Imperii Ottomanici pertinentes“ is available in Open Access on our MENAdoc repository.
Series on MENAdoc
This series is based on many smaller sources that have not been considered by the scientific community because of their relatively uncommon language or because they are privately owned.
These include diaries, memoirs, letters and other personal documents of the inhabitants of the Ottoman capital Istanbul from the second half of the 19th century to the early years of the Republic of Turkey. Continue reading →
Celebrations in the Eastern Mediterranean: Private and Public
The 20th Annual Postgraduate Colloquium of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies has long provided a forum where postgraduates of the centre can come together with students from the field as well as postgraduates in related subject areas from other universities, both in the UK and further afield.
This event usually takes place in Summer Term and is attended by established academics and early career researchers whose intellectual input raises the academic standards the colloquium.
This year the focus is on celebrations and ceremonies. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
- Anniversaries, holidays, weddings
- Feast days and holidays
- Secular and religious ceremonies
- Processions
- Gift giving
- Festivals
- Celebrations in text and art
- Spaces and Objects
The deadline for papers is 7 April 2019.
Find the full call for papers here.

Ottoman Historians
Volume 4 of the series “Osmanische Geschichtsschreiber” can now be found in our open access repository MENAdoc. Continue reading →
Fojnica: Osmanski dokumenti iz arhiva Franjevačkog samostana
Bosnia was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1463, and with it the Franciscan monastery of the Holy Spirit of Fojnica, founded in the 14th century.
Due to its eventful history, the monastery archive offers very special treasures such as the caftan of a sultan and over 3000 original documents in Turkish. Continue reading →

The complete re-edition of the oppositional Ottoman newspaper Hürriyet (1868-1870) in 2 volumes is now among our library holdings.
The “Hürriyet Gazetesi” was published by the influential Turkish author Namık Kemal (1840–1888) in his London exile. Continue reading →