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As part of the Istanbul Culture Route Festival, organized under the coordination of Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, video mapping shows are transforming the city’s historic landmarks each evening until Oct. 5. From 8 p.m. to midnight, Galata Tower, the Maiden’s Tower, and the Tophane Fountain are being brought to life through digital projections blending art, history, and music.
The festival’s mapping program is curated by Ismail Erdogan, with digital artworks created by art historian and artist Hakan Yilmaz. Music for the performances was composed by Gurcan Ersoy. Each site hosts a distinct production that merges Türkiye’s cultural heritage with contemporary digital expression.
Yilmaz noted that the Galata Tower piece, titled Galata Dreams, made its premiere at the festival. This eight-minute work is performed 30 times per evening and brings together iconic characters from Ottoman miniature painting. Figures from artists such as Mehmed Siyah Kalem, Levni, and Veli Can are reimagined in a narrative where fantasy meets festivity. In the story, Levni’s female characters take part in the festival, while Veli Can’s dragon approaches out of curiosity. The intervention of a figure from Siyah Kalem’s work reveals the dragon’s good intentions, and the characters ultimately celebrate together by the tower.
At the Maiden’s Tower, the show Dream of the Conquest explores the legacy of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The piece portrays the intense effort of the siege and the cultural richness that followed. Using traditional patterns and digital technology, the story progresses through iconic scenes such as ships being transported overland, the great cannons breaking the walls, and Ulubatli Hasan raising the Ottoman flag.
The finale incorporates Italian painter Fausto Zonaro’s celebrated work depicting Sultan Mehmed II’s entry into the city. Artificial intelligence techniques were also applied to animate the sultan’s portrait so that he gazes directly at the audience.
The Tophane Fountain hosts "Light of Victory," a production first staged last year and reintroduced due to high demand. It presents the transformation of Istanbul from its decayed state under Byzantine rule to the vibrant social, cultural, and intellectual center that emerged under Ottoman leadership. Ismail Erdogan explained that the work was designed as an homage to Sultan Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, highlighting his contributions not only as a ruler but also as a patron of art and learning.
The curator emphasized that each show draws on authentic visual material, including manuscripts, architectural decoration, and miniature paintings from the Ottoman period, all digitized for the projections.
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