An Ottoman Register of Venetian Candia

The paper is a preliminary study of the register Tapu Tahrir 798 located in the Ottoman Archives (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi) in Istanbul. In 1669 it surveys the newly conquered town of Candia (Crete) in great detail, from quarter to quarter and from building to building. The register provides rich information for the Venetian Candia, since it includes the public buildings of the town that passed to the Ottomans, as well as the names of the previous owners of the town dwellings, who had evacuated the town after its surrender, and the names of the current owners. Thus, this source provides us with the tools to study the spatial transformation of the town during the transition from the Venetian to the Ottoman rule, the settlement patterns of the religious and social groups, and the social use of space. A full study of the register is under way by the author and a team of experts, within a research program of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies, FO.R.T.H. (Mediterranean Cul-

In the autumn of 1669, Venice surrendered Candia, the precious town on the island of Crete, to the Ottomans, who had invaded the island already 24 years before (Greene 2000;Gülsoy 2004). The aim of this paper is to present the Ottoman register that was compiled immediately after the surrender of the Venetian Candia, the evacuation of the town by the vast majority of its inhabitants, who left with the Venetian fleet, and the entrance of the Ottoman besieging army in the town. The register surveys the newly conquered town of Candia from quarter to quarter and from building to building, in great detail.
The register is in the Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister's Office) in Istanbul and his call number is Tapu Tahrir 798. In total it has 256 pages, which the archivists have numbered using Latin numbers. After the first folio, which was left blank, on page 1, the register starts with a list of the 55 recorded quarters of the Venetian Candia, including a reference to the folio number for every quarter, according to the original pagination in Arabic numerals.
There follows, on page 3, the calligraphic incipit of the register, where the author addresses the Grand Vizier Ahmet Paşa, son of the Grand Vizier (vezir-i âzam ibn-i vezir-i âzam), i.e., Köprülü Mehmet Paşa. According to this introduction, the Köprülüzade Ahmet Paşa, after his auspicious arrival at the Holy War of Crete (cezire-i Girid cihadı), during the reign of Gazi Sultan Mehmet Han, was able to conquer the well-built fortress of Candia (hısn-i hasin-i Kandiyenin feth ve teshir firuzi mukaddir ve ruzi olub) and to drive out the infidels; upon the conquest, he ordered that the fortress of Candia should be transformed into a prayer hall in favour of Islam (mabed-i islam). For this reason, Ahmet Paşa requested a new survey of the buildings, urban dwellings, gardens and tree-gardens, as well as empty plots in the interior of the walls of Candia during the Hicri year 1080 (1669-70). The register which was compiled following his order was sent for archival keeping in the Sultanic Treasury and that is why it is preserved today in Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi in Istanbul.
We do not know the Ottoman compiler of the register. However, we know that during the survey he availed himself of the help of an interpreter, a certain Nicolaki Castrofylaka, one of the few Christians who had remained in Candia after the surrender of the town. His house was registered in one of the quarters of Candia, with the note that "sahibi mevcud hala tercümanlık eder" (its owner was present and functioned as an interpreter). The same Nicolaki Castrofylaka was also registered, the first among thirteen heads of Christian households, in the highest category for the payment of the cizye (âla), in the register Tapu Tahrir 980 on page 157 (Kolovos, Sariyannis 2008, 207).
The survey starts on page 4 of the register, under the following heading: Defter-i enbiye ve müsekkefât ve hadaik ve besatin ve dekâkin ve cevami ve arazi-i haliye der derun-i kal'a-ı Kandiye el-vaki fi sene 1080 (Register of the buildings, urban dwellings, gardens, tree-gardens, shops, mosques and empty plots in the interior of the fortress of Candia). There follows the survey of the Arsenal (Tersane), which preceded the survey of the quarters of the town. The Venetian Arsenal was registered with five shipyards (göz) with capacity for two galleys (which can be identified with the Venetian Arsenali Antichi), and nine shipyards with capacity for one galley (the Venetian Arsenali Vecchi, Nuovi and Nuovissimi), thus, a total of fourteen shipyards (for the shipyards of the Venetian Candia, cf. Tzompanaki 1996, 277-83, with drawings andplans andGeorgopoulou 2001, 66-7).
Starting from page 5, the register surveys the 55 quarters of the Venetian Candia, named after their churches. It is interesting to note that this first Ottoman register follows the Greek vocabulary for the Candia quarters, which will be renamed in the following years after the Islamic religious buildings which had established in the meantime. On page 18, for example, in the quarter of Kera Hosti, the survey registers the Catholic monastery of San Francesco (manastır-ı San Fransesko), with the note that it was turned into the Great Mosque of Sultan Mehmet Han (cami-i kebir-i Sultan Mehemmed Han). In the following years, the quarter of Kera Hosti will be renamed as the mahalle (quarter) of the Sultanic Mosque of Candia. The Ottoman register includes also the following information for

Kolovos. An Ottoman Register of Venetian Candia 79
the monastery of the Franciscan monks of Candia (Georgopoulou 2001, 152-3): apart from the church, which was transformed into a mosque immediately after the surrender of Candia, the former monastic complex included 30 upper-story rooms in good condition, 23 ground-floor rooms also in good condition, four audience halls (divanhane), four cisterns, four lofts, four fountains, one kitchen and a rectangular minaret, obviously the bell-tower of the church. The monastery had three tree-gardens including grapevines, pine-trees, almond trees, mandarin trees, pomegranate trees, pear trees, roses etc. In total, the plot of the monastic complex was 164 cubits in length and 80 cubits in width (124.3 ⨯ 60.64 m = ca. 7,500 square meters), if we estimate the Ottoman architect's cubit (zera) to be 758 cm. 1 On page 52, the survey registers the Voltone Gate of the old fortress (Bab-ı Kala-ı Atık nam-ı diğer Volton), i.e., the medieval fortification of Candia which was enclosed into the new trace italienne fortress during the 16th century. The Gate included seven iron windows, ten vaulted open air shops in good condition and seven roofed shops, for a total of 17 shops, seven upper-story rooms also in good condition, as well as five banks functioning as shops (dolap dükkân). It is known that these shops were located in the western part of the Gate during the Venetian centuries (Tzompanaki 1996, 63, including a drawing of the Voltone Gate reproduced here and Georgopoulou 2001, 46). The whole complex of the Voltone Gate measured 643 square meters (40 cubits in length and 28 cubits in width = 30.3 ⨯ 21.2 m). The Gate was adjacent to the wall of the old fortress to the east and to the aforementioned shops called 'of Castrofylaka' to the west. The street was crossing the Gate from south to north. According to the Ottoman register, during the quartering of the imperial army in the town, the Voltone Gate was occupied by Recep Ağa, from the 22nd regiment (bölük) of the Imperial Janissaries. On the 1st Şaban 1080 (25 December 1669), Recep Ağa, being the mütevelli (administrator) of the evkaf (pious foundation) of the Grand Vizier Ahmet Paşa, bought the Gate from the fisc, against a payment of 1,888 ½ esedi kuruş (Dutch lion thalers).
On page 89 of the register, you find the Palazzo Ducale of Candia (hanei Duka; Georgopoulou 2001, 94-100), with one council hall (divan), 22 ground-floor rooms, two audience halls in the upper story (divanhane), nine upper-story rooms and a kitchen, a big stable, a big depot, four courtyards, three cisterns, and even sixteen shops in good condition, two shops in ruins, and a separate big shop. In total, the plot was equal to 2,000 square meters (80 cubits in length and 45 in width = 60.6 ⨯ 34.1 m). The Palazzo was standing in the vicinity of the market (çarşı) of Candia. Ac-

Kolovos. An Ottoman Register of Venetian Candia 81
cording to the information contained in the register, after the surrender of Candia, the Palazzo was occupied by Ibrahim Paşa. The note above the entry informs us that the upper part of the Palazzo was auctioned on the 13th Recep 1080 (7 December 1669), and was sold to Hasan Ağa, against a payment of 2,400 esedi kuruş. Hasan Ağa was the Administrator of the evkaf of defterdar (treasurer) Ahmet Paşa, and he had also bought the remaining building and plot on the 4th Zilhicce 1081 (15 March 1671), against a payment of 500 esedi kuruş.
Moving now to the quarters of the Venetian Candia listed in the Ottoman register from 1669, an example of the quarter of Kera Pisoteichiotissa (Mahalle-i Kera Pisotisa), surveyed between page 20 and 24 follows. The church of Kera Pisoteichiotissa was included in the survey, with its borders, the house of Papa Da Rodo and the street. Moreover, the register notes that this church was located just opposite the mosque of the Sultan, i.e., the former monastery of San Francesco. We can corroborate the topography of the Ottoman register with the help of the almost contemporary drawing of the town of Candia by General Wertmüller, the Savoyard Swiss officer in command of the Venetian artillery. Moreover, every entry in the Ottoman register includes, as it has already been noted, the exact dimensions of the plots and the buildings in Ottoman cubits. As a result, it is also possible to use these measurements in order to improve the mapping of the Venetian and Ottoman town of Candia: in our example, the church of Kera Pisoteichiotissa measured 110, 24 square meters (19 ⨯ 14 cubits = 14.4 ⨯ 10.6 m) and its tree garden 36 square meters (9 ⨯ 7 cubits = 6.8 ⨯ 5.3 m).
The Ottoman register surveys also the urban dwellings in every quarter of Candia. Let us examine, for example, the entry for the house of Papa Da Rodo, the neighbour of the church of Kera Pisoteichiotissa. His house was adjacent to the house of Papa Androuli, to the house of Marko Moudatso, and to the street. The house included nine ground-floor and three upper-story rooms, all in good condition. The house complex included two cisterns, two wells, two gates, two courtyards with grapevines and three iron windows. We can estimate the surface of the plot to be 273 square meters (20 ⨯ 24 cubits = 15.1 ⨯ 18.1 m). According to the note above the entry for the house of Papa Da Rodo, after the entrance of the Ottoman army in Candia, his house was occupied by the 43rd cemaat (regiment) of the Imperial Janissaries. Another note, dated 17 Şaban 1080 (10 January 1670) informs that, presumably after the leave of the 43rd cemaat, the former house of Papa Da Rodo was auctioned and sold against 100 esedi kuruş to Mehmet Çelebi, head müezzin of "the sacred mosque of His Excellency the Sultan (Hüdavendigâr)", i.e., of the former monastery of San Francesco.
The last page of the register, page 248, includes a Sultanic order addressed to the Governor (vali) of Crete, the kadı of Candia and the defterdar of Crete, dated 26 Şaban 1083 (17 December 1672). From this text we are informed that the dwellings, shops, depots, gardens and tree-gardens