Join the International Symposium on Piri Reis and Maritime History from Nov 18-21, 2026, in Tuzla, marking 500 years of Kitâb-ı Bahriye.
In Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Kitâb-ı Bahriye
International Piri Reis and Maritime History Symposium
(November 18-21, 2026, Tuzla/Istanbul)
An international symposium will be held from November 18-21, 2026, regarding the famous work of the important figure in Turkish maritime history, cartographer Piri Reis, titled 'Kitâb-ı Bahriye,' which serves as a portolan atlas of the Mediterranean, along with his maps from 1513 and 1528 and various topics in maritime history. The symposium, which will host eighty-five historians and scientists from various parts of the world and Turkey, is organized in collaboration with Piri Reis University and the Turkish Historical Society, with support from the Presidency of National Palaces, the Turkish Manuscripts Institution, the State Archives Presidency, the Directorate of Navigation Hydrography and Oceanography, the Shipbuilding Industrialists Association (GİSBİR), and the (İMEAK) Chamber of Shipping.
The symposium is being conducted under the leadership of the 22nd Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces (Ret.) Admiral Metin ATAÇ and Piri Reis University faculty member Prof. Dr. İdris BOSTAN, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the presentation of the second edition of the Kitâb-ı Bahriye to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
In addition to highlighting significant topics in our maritime history that require research, the symposium will also address two important main issues related to Piri Reis that are expected to attract interest both domestically and internationally and contribute to the scientific community. One of these issues involves a meticulous study of the known copies of the first edition of the Kitâb-ı Bahriye, written in 1521, with the aim of publishing the established text in book form through simple transcription. The preparation of the book, edited by Prof. İdris Bostan, involved contributions from Assoc. Prof. İlhami Danış, Assoc. Prof. M. Sait Türkhan, Assoc. Prof. Ahmet Üstüner, and Dr. İnci Pamuk. The Kitâb-ı Bahriye has approximately forty-five manuscript copies in world libraries, of which twenty-seven belong to this first edition. Therefore, it is believed that the previously unpublished first edition of the Kitâb-ı Bahriye will provide valuable contributions to the scientific community as an original source. The book presentation will take place during the Opening Program on the first day of the symposium, November 18, from 14:00 to 17:00.
Another important topic to be discussed at the symposium is the matching of the two different maps of the Americas, centered on the southern and northern regions, created by Piri Reis in 1513 and 1528, with satellite images, and the presentation of a comprehensive map of the Americas, or Piri Reis's New World. Thanks to the work conducted in coordination with the Directorate of Navigation Hydrography and Oceanography under the Naval Forces Command, adjustments to the scale have been made, and by preserving the original structure of the maps, accurate sections have been combined to create a single, cohesive map from the 1513 and 1528 maps.
Although Piri Reis had never sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, he provided largely reliable information about both sides of the ocean in the map he drew in 1513 by utilizing the existing maps of that time. He mentioned the sources he used in the annotations written on the map. While the map drawn in 1513 aligns with the actual geography regarding the coasts and distances of South America, there are projection and linear distortions in the Central America region. Piri Reis corrected these distortions in the map of the North Atlantic region he drew in 1528, fifteen years after the first map. The map obtained as a result of all these studies will be shared with the public in a joint panel on the second day of the symposium from 13:50 to 14:50, where new findings will be discussed, and Piri Reis's cartography will be examined in detail.
Additionally, over the course of the next two days of the symposium, various topics related to maritime history from the Piri Reis era and beyond will be evaluated and discussed by historian scientists in twenty-two sessions.
May the spirit of the famous navigator and marine scientist Piri Reis be blessed. Thus it is.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
