LIGHTING IN OTTOMAN CONSTANTINOPLE UNTIL THE FIRST WORLD WAR
LIGHTING IN OTTOMAN CONSTANTINOPLE UNTIL THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Summary/Abstract: In Constantinople, the first gas lamp was lit in 1856. Until 1914, the Ottoman capital underwent a complex, but gradual process of introducing and distributing gas for public lighting, as part of the „European“ modernisation of the city. It provided lighting mainly in the central parts of Pera-Galata, Stamboul, for the Asian Scutari and Kadiköy, and in some of its suburbs. In addition to street lighting, gas was also used in palaces, administrative and business buildings and in private homes. A comparison shows that on the eve of the First World War, Constantinople gave way to other capitals in the region such as Bucharest and Athens with respect to the distribution of public lighting. Unlike the capitals of Greece and Romania, in reality also until 1914, due to its late introduction, electricity was still not a real competition for gas. However, it can be noted that, in Constantinople, as in other cities in Southeast Europe, gas lighting contributed to urban modernisation and social life, as well as to increasing the security of its inhabitants in the dark part of the day.

• Details
• Contents