Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Coğrafya ve Kartografya
The Riddle of Piri Reis’ 1513 Map
Linda Belabdelouahab FerniniHacı Ahmed Muhyiddin Piri, commonly known as Piri Reis, was a renowned navigator, explorer of the 16th century. He very accurately detailed the localities he visited using his own notes and data he gathered from diverse other sources. He made very important cartographic maps. This article aims to deal with the achievements of Piri Reis in cartography through the analysis of the surviving partial version of his world map of 1513. Since its discovery in 1929, the Piri Reis map has triggered an ardent international debate. It is one of the most mysterious maps from the Age of Exploration, however one of the least understood in the history of cartography. The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of the map as one of the oldest existing maps showing the Americas, possibly the oldest record we have today of the lost map of Christopher Columbus and the earliest known Turkish map documenting the New World. This article also underscores the riddle of this map as the most controversial surviving document from the age of great geographical discoveries.
