Evliya Çelebi

Evliya Çelebi, (March 25, 1611, Istanbul – 1684, Istanbul or Cairo) was an Ottoman Turkish traveler and geographer, son of the palace goldsmith Derviş Mehmed Zilli. He traveled through the Ottoman Empire and other territories, and left narratives with many details of the places visited where he took notes of what he saw, about buildings, markets, customs, and culture. He made his first trip abroad in 1640, and continued for forty years. The account of his travels formed a work in ten volumes called Seyahatname ('Book of Travels'). The work is considered a good guide to learn about the social aspects of the empire in the 17th century.