Convoy of pilgrims
Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul University, Nadir Eserler Kütüphanesi (Rare Books Library)
19th century
Photograph
Istanbul
The Hijaz Railway was a narrow-gauge railway (1,050mm/3ft, 5 11⁄32 in track gauge) that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hijaz region of Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a part of the Ottoman railway network and was built to extend the line from the Haydarpaşa Terminal in Istanbul beyond Damascus to the holy city of Mecca. It got no further than Medina, 400 kilometres (250mi) short of Mecca, due to the construction interruption caused by the outbreak of World War I. The main purpose of the railway was to establish a connection between Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the seat of the Islamic Caliphate, and Hijaz in Arabia, the site of the holiest shrines of Islam and the holy city of Mecca, the destination of the Hajj (annual pilgrimage).
"Convoy of pilgrims" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tr;114;en
MWNF Working Number: TR2 110