Cultural landscapes of the Gallipoli peninsula

Abstract

Among the Gallipoli peninsula's many layers of cultural landscapes, the one which existed between 1914 and 1916 can be considered as a specific type of heritage: the battlefield terrain. As a cultural landscape, the Gallipoli peninsula has been shaped by centuries of continual interaction between humans and the terrain. The battlefield landscape of Gallipoli is one phase among many of the relationships that humans have had with this region. Many of the late nineteenth century Ottoman cartographers who mapped the peninsula were trained by the French in Paris, and then in Istanbul where they helped to establish the Military Mapping Department in the Ottoman Empire in 1895. In addition to the French, the British were also actively involved in the mapping of the Dardanelles and the Gallipoli peninsula as part of their military reconnaissance in the Ottoman Empire.