-
- "Strangely
accurate maps were circulating around
Europe at the time of
Columbus"
-
- Let us take a trip into some periods of the past. The
first
stop on this trip will be Turkey thirty years ago. The first quarter
of
the present century shows Turkey at the end of the War of Independence,
and the Republic established by Kemal Ataturk (1923). The Turkish
Republic,
now thirty years old, was founded on the remains of another
Turkish state,
the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923).
-
- For the second stop let us take
the year 1929. Let us
go into the Palace of Topkapi of the Ottoman
Sultans, situated on one of
the most beautiful spots of Istanbul called
Sarayburnu. The palace, which
consists of various buildings, each
surrounded by vast gardens, testifies
to the different characteristics
of the Ottoman period. The Turkish Republican
Government decided to
turn this palace into a museum.
-
-
- Discovery
of the map of America
-
- In the process of classifying
the numerous articles in
the buildings, Mr. Halil Edhem, Director of
the National Museums, discovered
a map* (9 Nov.1929) till then unknown
in the world of science. Upon hearing
of this discovery of the oldest
map of America Ataturk showed great interest
in the matter. He asked
for the map to be brought to Ankara, studied it
and ordered it to be
published as it stood and to be submitted to scholarly
research.
-
- To study this map for the first time with Ataturk was
an
immense thrill. It had been drawn hundreds of years ago on a roe-skin,
with various coloured illustrations and writings on it. As I held it in
my hands, I felt as if I were living in the long forgotten past. My
emotions
are twcnty-four years old now, but let us, with the same
national and scholarly
pride, take a glimpse into the period when this
map was drawn and into
the history of the man who had drawn it.
-
- This is one of the
oldest and yet most perfect maps of
America, drawn by a Turkish
admiral. Now, if you do not mind being centuries
old for a few minutes,
come with me to the XVI th century. In this third
stop our journey
suddenly covers a vast ground.
-
- The Legend of the Piri Reis Map...
- http://members.tripod.com/~ufolojist/pri.html
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