Travelling | Tourism | Tourism of the second half of the nineteenth century

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” (Mark Twain)

The introduction of steamers, railways, modern roads and telegraphs revolutionised travel to the East. The journey became an increasingly more comfortable and reliable exercise, which could be scheduled fairly precisely, and without the fears of strife and conflict that had marred journeys to many areas of the Mediterranean previously. By the 1840s, regular shipping lines plied the Mediterranean between Europe, Greece, the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. By the late 19th century, intricate railway networks connected Eastern Europe with Constantinople and other key areas in the Arab and Ottoman and North African regions. In the cities themselves, tramways proliferated, joined by automobiles in the early 1920s. Western-style hotels and lodgings appeared in Constantinople, Bilad al-Sham, the Holy Land and Egypt. From the 1840s, travel agencies sprung up, offering organised group holidays at all-inclusive prices. The pioneer of the “holiday package” was British entrepreneur Thomas Cook (b. 1808–d. 1892), whose introduction of “mass” tourism to the Levant and Egypt from the late 1860s was based on visits to ancient, classical and religious sites. Cook’s Tours included accommodation in suitable hotels, dragomans (translators), military escorts and imported provisions. Early modern tourism had an invigorating effect on local industries, but also posed many social and cultural challenges.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
DE 007Bayt al-Barudi steamship murals, DamascusMuseum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums1880-1925The 1830s saw the first steamship cruises in the Mediterranean. Ten years later, regular steamer lines for mail and passengers connected Europe with ports in the Ottoman Empire and North Africa.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
TR2 022The Şirket-i Hayriyye’s Excursion SteamshipPera MuseumEarly 20th centuryBromide PaperPrivate steam-ferry companies appeared in the late 1830s on the Bosphorus. The Şirket-i Hayriye ferry company was established by the Ottoman government in 1851 mainly to transport commuters from one side of Istanbul to the other.
TR2 141The Train Station from AnatoliaIstanbul University, Nadir Eserler Kütüphanesi (Rare Books Library)Late 19th centuryPhotographDuring the 19th century, new technologies radically transformed travel and communications. Founded by a British company in 1860, the first railway in Anatolia was built between İzmir and Aydin. The Ottoman railways were established mainly during the period of the Ottoman Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II (Abdülhamid II), in the second half of the 19th century.
TR2 043Orient Express PosterÖmer M. Koç Collection1898The expansion of railway networks with trains whose carriages provided passenger’s comfort – at its most luxurious the Orient Express – now provided relatively speedy connections to the Middle East and within the region. By the turn of the century, most major cities were linked to each other by railway networks.
TR2 068Telegraph transmitterIstanbul Postal Museum 1912MetalThe emergence of telegraph and telephone services in the later 19th century allowed much faster and more efficient communication between Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Tourist itineraries could now be planned with some precision and reliability.
FR 132Illustrated guide and timetable for travelling in the Orient. Featuring description of Constantinople and the most important cities in Turkey, Egypt, Greece, etc. National Library of France 1909The emergence of telegraph and telephone services in the later 19th century allowed much faster and more efficient communication between Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Tourist itineraries could now be planned with some precision and reliability.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
FR 133London-Paris-Constantinople […] Orient Express. Paris-Munich-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade & Constantinople: fast and direct service, without your car and without your passport […] Winter 1888–89 ...National Library of France 1888Precisely scheduled, international passenger services became increasingly available in the later 19th century. The Orient Express, originally launched by a Belgian company (CIWL) in 1883, linked Paris, and Vienna with Istanbul.
FR 105Repairing pyramids road, Cairo National Library of France 1932Travel narratives and descriptions as well as the newly emerging tour guide industry were an integral part of the tourist’s preparation for a trip to the East. Although sometimes fanciful, travel literature provided crucial information on destinations, the routes between them, and the possible pitfalls for the inexperienced European traveller in a foreign land.
FR 171Trips to Morocco. Oujda via Lalla Marnia. Hôtel Figari […] car service every day […] links to the Tlemcen stagecoach and trains to Western Algeria. National Library of France 1895With the expansion of the tourist industry in the Middle East, organized tours, specific itineraries and tourist trails were developed by newly emerging tour agencies, foremost among which was the British firm Thomas Cook. Tour companies tended to work with local operators and service providers, which helped stimulate the local economy.
FR 071The tourist's travelling equipmentNational Library of France 1880Many industries developed as a result of mass tourism, both in Europe and in the Middle East. Among these were the manufacturers and stores selling essential items for travellers, such as bespoke clothing designed for particular kinds of excursions, be that to the desert or the mountains.
TR2 158Pera Palace HotelIstanbul University, Nadir Eserler Kütüphanesi (Rare Books Library)1892PhotographReaching their destination, 19th-century tourists found a growing number of purpose-built hotels, restaurants and cafes designed to cater to their needs and tastes. The Pera Palace Hotel, which opened in 1892, served passengers arriving on the Orient Express in particular.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
ET1 005The Continental HotelBibliotheca Alexandrina1896The Grand Continental Hotel, which opened in the second half of the 19th century in one of Cairo’s prime locations near the Old Opera Square, has hosted several high-profile guests, including prominent personalities attending the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
ET1 013The England HotelBibliotheca Alexandrina1900Among European tourists, Cairo was a foremost destination in the Arab and Ottoman world. Western-style amenities, which soon sprang up all over the city centre, were operated by Europeans for European visitors to provide a reassuring environment, a haven from the local reality that visitors often experienced as unfamiliar, tiring, and even frightening at times.
ET1 014The Savoy HotelBibliotheca Alexandrina1911In prestigious hotels such as the Savoy, the tourist elite was able to relax after a long day’s sightseeing and mix with members of the local expatriate community, which included political figures. Among those seen as “equals”, they were able to exchange news and gather advice and information about the next stage of their journey.
MO 003Central HotelLate 19th centuryFrench visitors frequented Casablanca after France’s conquest of the city in 1910 and its subsequent protectorate over the whole of Morocco in 1912. In the European-style hotels of the city, tourists mingled with the local elite and members of the intelligence services.
SP 081Hagia Sophia. General viewCerralbo Museumc. 1880–1889Paper; albumen printConstantinople was undoubtedly among the most popular destinations for European tourists. As the number of visitors increased, local service industries catering for their needs and interests unfolded accordingly. This image was taken by the commercial photographic studio of the Abdullah Frères, in 1863. The Armenian brothers opened another studio in Cairo in 1886.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
FR 062Jerusalem, al-Haram al-Sharif, Dome of the RockNational Library of France 1842–1844Jerusalem and Palestine had long been a key destination for religious tourists and pilgrims. The British firm Thomas Cook, which opened an office in the city in 1881, promoted organised tours to the Holy Land and the biblical sites.
JO 003PetraPrehistoric-Present; identified in 1812The fabled city of Petra was first brought to the attention of Europeans by the Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in the early 19th century. Would-be tourists to the region were now offered organised trips to these far-flung destinations and assured safe and comfortable transport, hygienic and familiar food, translation services, protection and comfortable accommodation.
UA 002Head of the Great Sphinx, Pyramids of Geezeh July 17th, 1839Sharjah Art Museum / Sharjah Museums AuthorityPublished 1846LithographEgypt’s pyramids had fascinated European travellers since the early 19th century. In 1869, the travel firm Thomas Cook began to establish the infrastructure for mass tourism in the country. From the office in Cairo, opened in 1872, Cook organised tours to the country’s ancient ruins and offered cruises on the Nile.
FR 069Hammam-el-Lif, Tunis. Seaside resorts and thermal springs National Library of France 1885As a consequence of the increasing interest and involvement of European powers in North Africa, tourism to and within the region expanded accordingly. This poster, dated 1885, advertises Hammam-Lif, a coastal town in Tunisia.
LB 048Hotel Kadri1906The first local lodgings aimed at providing Western travellers with appropriate standards of comfort were small hotels or pensions built by European residents. The first hotel of this kind was established in Beirut in 1843. The Hotel Kadri in Zahle continues this tradition.

IT1 141Tourists climbing the Great Pyramid of Giza, EgyptPrivate collection1870s–1880sOrganised trips for groups that were intent on visiting the Arab and Ottoman world became common around the turn of the century. Egypt and the pyramids were a must-see for many, regardless that sometimes these excursions entailed considerable effort.

LB 006The paved road between Beirut and DamascusKhalil Itani's Archive1864The construction of modern road networks and infrastructures, which were pioneered initially in Europe by British and French engineers in the 18th century, facilitated the progress of 19th-century travellers to the Middle East and North Africa. However, until the 1920s, when the first cars appeared in these cities, mostly horse-drawn coaches and equestrians travelled on them.