The “Festetics Family’s Istanbul Album” exhibition has opened at the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Center, offering visitors a glimpse of the city as it appeared 160 years ago.
Organized in collaboration with the Hungarian National Archives, the Gül Baba Tomb Heritage Protection Foundation and the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Center, the exhibition centers on an album titled “Constantinople,” preserved in the family archive of the prominent Hungarian Festetics family.
The album is believed to have entered the family archive through Mary Hamilton, who married Count Tasziló Festetics II after divorcing the Crown Prince of Monaco.
Although the album, now owned by the Hungarian National Archives, does not bear the photographer’s name or date, it has been identified as the work of the renowned Ottoman studio Abdullah Frères. Considered one of the studio’s earliest albums, “Constantinople” invites history enthusiasts and art lovers on a nostalgic journey through 19th-century Istanbul.
Speaking at the opening, Hungarian Cultural Center Director Aron Sipos said that Türkiye sparked great curiosity among Hungarians in the 19th century, as reflected in numerous films, publications and academic studies. He noted that researchers, explorers and travelers visited Türkiye with increasingly advanced equipment, documenting different regions through photography and leaving behind a valuable visual legacy.
Balazs Czetz, Deputy Director General of the Hungarian National Archives, highlighted that the exhibition focuses on albums featuring cityscapes and panoramic views of Istanbul. The photographs, taken between 1860 and 1870 during the Tanzimat reform era, reflect a period of profound transformation in the Ottoman Empire.
He added that the images, produced at a quality exceeding the technical standards of the time, were later compiled into a thematic album that reached Hungary through the Festetics family and eventually became part of the National Archives. “To our knowledge, this is one of the oldest Ottoman photographic albums preserved in public collections worldwide,” he said.
The photographs depict iconic buildings, streets and landscapes of districts such as Pera, Fatih and Beykoz. Czetz emphasized the historical value of elements that no longer exist today, noting that many ornate wooden houses characteristic of Ottoman architecture were demolished in the 20th century due to fire risks.
As part of the exhibition, a trilingual book titled “The Festetics Family’s Istanbul Album,” prepared by J. Csaba Horvath, Gergo Mate Kovacs and Aniko Schmidt, has also been published.
Photo historian Engin Özendes, who wrote the book’s introduction, underscored the importance of the Abdullah Frères studio, noting that such elegant and costly albums were highly sought after by Western visitors and often presented as prestigious gifts among statesmen.
He also noted that additional photographs have been included in the exhibition, including three original images printed using the “autochrome” technique — one of the first practical methods of color photography used in the late 19th century — and highlighted the influential role of Hungarian photographers in the history of photography.
First displayed in Hungary on March 31, 2023, the expanded version of the exhibition will remain open to visitors at the Hungarian Cultural Center until Aug. 31.
