Maps are one of the important sources for researches. We are lucky that we have online maps now, but as most of the places changed names and many important buildings are not standing anymore, those online maps are not enough. During our researches for 2mi3museum project, we searched maps a lot for places and buildings that told in family history and Pervititch Maps guided us a lot. Here in this article we would like to share with you the places we lived between the years 1890s-1930s on Pervititch Maps.
Pervititch Maps & Jacques Pervititch:
Before sharing information about the places we lived, let us share with you a brief information about Pervititch Maps. Pervititch Maps have been prepared between the years 1922-1945 as Insurance Maps of Istanbul by Jacques Pervititch. The main reason behind these maps was to identify the areas where there is a risk of fire and how to fight it. Jacques was a Croation topographer who was born in Dubrovnik in 1877 and migrated to Istanbul together with his family when he was four years old. According to research of Müsemma SabancıoÄŸlu, he went to Saint Pierre Elementary School in Galata and graduated from Saint Joseph College.
Jacques Pervititch & The Maps
Until now we know that Pervititch Maps have 243 sections which includes the maps of Besiktas, Beyoglu, Kadıkoy, Ortakoy, Sisli and the places in the historical peninsula of Istanbul. Unlike many other maps, Pervititch Maps are very colourful and include many details as building and street names. In addition, by drawing the buildings in their original form, he allowed us to imagine easily today. That's why Pervititch maps are not only insurance maps, it's a perfect source to travel in old Istanbul.
Why Pervititch Maps are so important for 2mi3museum project? Honestly we firstly encountered those maps during our researches for the garden of Koch in Ortaköy. There were a lot of stories about this garden in our family ( you can read in The Vafiadis: Gorillas & Ortaköy ) but we couldn't find any information about it. It was strange, such a large area in Ortaköy, owned by a German man and no documents! Luckily we found it on the maps of Jacques Pervititch. Then for every story that told in family, Pervititch Maps became one of the important sources.
The Places We Lived, 1890s-1930s: Langa, Hadım Odaları Sokak & Ayazma Sokak
After the earthquake in Chios, in 1881, Stavros Vafiadis had to migrate to Istanbul from his village Tholopotami. According to told stories in our family he firstly came to Langa, lived here, and worked in Küçük Yeni Han. Here in Langa, he married with Efrosinni and they had nine children, and Hurmuzios Vafiadis was one of those children. According to information that we have from the told stories, the name of the street that he lived in Langa was 'Ayazma Sokak'. It's a nice coincidence that the childhood of Ashen Mıgırdician ( the wife of Hurmuzios Vafiadis ) passed in 'Hadım Odaları Sokak' in Langa and they met with Hurmuzios here. Unfortunately we couldn't find the name of Ayazma Sokak but we found Hadım Odaları on Pervititch Maps. With the help of old locals of Istanbul and with the power of social media, we learnt that there was a holy spring, in the corner where two streets, Asker Sokak and KızıltaÅŸ Sokak meet. As 'holy spring' means 'Ayazma' in Greek and Turkish most probably Ayazma Sokak was here.
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Here below you see the map of Langa and a closer view of Hadım Odaları Sokak and possible place of Ayazma Sokak.
1936 / Koska - Langa - Nisanca Pervititch Maps
1936 / Hadım Odaları Sk. Pervititch Maps
1936 / Possible Place of Ayazma Sk. Pervititch Maps
The Places We Lived, 1890s-1930s: Küçük Yeni Han
'Küçük Yeni Han' is an inn located in Sandalyeciler (Chair Manufacturers) Street and it has an important role for Vafiadis family as the men of the family were chair manufacturers. Stavros Vafiadis was working in a small atelier in 'Küçük Yeni Han'. Also Hurmuzios had an atelier here and on the first years of his marriage with Ashen he lived here in a small room in Küçük Yeni Han. You can find more information about this inn on our article, The Vafiadis: On The Trails of an Atelier.
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Here below you see the map of Eminönü and a closer view of Küçük Yeni Han.
1942 / Eminönü Tayahatun Mah. Pervititch Maps
1942 / Küçük Yeni Han Pervititch Maps
The Places We Lived, 1890s-1930s: The Stone Mansion in Ortaköy
A few years after the marriage of Hurmuzios and Ashen, they moved to a mansion in Ortaköy on Dereboyu Street. This mansion was made of stone and it was belonged to Armenian TaÅŸçıyan Family in the past. According to told stories in our family, TaÅŸçıyan Family was one of the stone suppliers of Ottoman Empire. As we know, Hurmuzios Vafiadis bought this house from the last living two sisters of TaÅŸçıyan family. Vafiadis Family had many memories in this mansion. Their son Aleko was born in here. Unfortunately this mansion is not existing anymore. In 1960s it has been sold and now there is a huge apartment instead of this mansion. Also we couldn't find any photos of this mansion in our archives and in the old photos of Ortaköy. But we found it on Pervititch Maps. Thanks to Jacques Pervititch, he identified the buildings according to their building materials like bricks, lumber... As we know that this mansion was made of stone and it's location, we found it on maps easily.
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Here below you see a closer view of Ortaköy and the stone mansion on Pervititch Maps.
1927 / Ortakoy Pervititch Maps
1927 / Dereboyu Cad. and The Stone Mansion Pervititch Maps
The Places We Lived, 1890s-1930s: The Garden of M.Koch
Another place in Ortaköy that our family lived was The Garden of M.Koch. The story of this garden - as we told above- has been written in the article The Vafiadis: Gorillas & Ortaköy
The Garden of M.Koch was such a big area in Ortaköy and as we know there were a rose garden near it. In the garden there was a small mansion like a hunting lodge. As we know Hurmuzios owned this garden in 1930s and he created a place with exotic animals and trees. We have some photos from the coop in garden but unfortunately we don't have any other photos. But everyone in the family, even the ones that we just found each other confirmed that Hurmuzios had this garden and he had two gorillas in it.
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Here below you see another Ortakoy Map and two different closer views of the Garden of M.Koch. in Ortaköy on Pervititch Maps.
1927 / Ortakoy Pervititch Maps
1927 / Garden of M.Koch Ortakoy Pervititch Maps
1927 / Garden of M.Koch Ortakoy Pervititch Maps
We tried to summarize and show the places that we lived between the years 1890s-1930s on old Pervititch Maps. In early 1940s Vafiadis Family also lived in Kefeliköy ( you can read on The Vafiadis: The Days in Kefeliköy ) but there are not any Pervititch Maps from that region. We would also like to share with you the places that Cakiroglu, Koskeri, Koulurgioti families lived but they were near Bosphorus ( Sarıyer, Buyukdere, Bahcekoy, Rumeli Kavağı ) and there are not any maps from Bosphorus area that has been drawn by Jacques Pervititch. But who knows, maybe he drew and they are waiting to be found in a loft or old storage...
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Written by: 2mi3, September 2020
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* Special thanks to Hayri Özkara for sharing with us the information about the possible place of Ayazma Sk. in Langa.
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Sources:
2- https://www.istanbulium.net/2016/10/pervititch-haritalari-tarihi-yarimada.html
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