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The history of the discovery of the material remains of classical antiquity in the Ottoman world has been written mostly from the perspective of Western antiquarians. What the locals made of these ruins (as well as of the people that travelled from far to see them) survives mostly as marginal anecdotes and pictorial staffage in Western accounts, often treated as insignificant incidents or evidence of indifference or superstition. This special collection draws inspiration from recent approaches in the history of archaeology that see such local responses to and uses of the antiquities as a form of Indigenous archaeology. Linking such phenomena to the history of architecture, the contributions to this collection argue that the architectural results of local practices like mythological interpretation, veneration, spoliation, and imitation of the ruins ought to be understood as a form of vernacular classicism. Modern interpretation and reception of these antiquities, the authors suggest, was not the exclusive privilege of Western elites and thus the history of architecture ought to acknowledge multiple classicisms.

Editors: Nikolaos Magouliotis (Guest Editor)


Research Article

Editorial

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