---
title: "Stunning 1891 photographs from Turkey"
description: "About a third of 1,200 photos from William Sachtleben and Thomas Allen's 1891 bicycle tour of Greece, Turkey, Iran survive; a selection from Anatolia and beyond."
canonical_url: https://www.oguzhan.co/stunning-1891-photos-from-turkey-asia-minor/
author: "Oğuzhan Koçaklı"
author_url: https://www.oguzhan.co/about/
date_published: 2016-10-05T09:54:34+00:00
date_modified: 2026-09-14T06:00:32+00:00
language: en
translations:
  tr: https://www.oguzhan.co/tr/1891de-cekilmis-muhtesem-turkiye-fotograflari/
---

# Stunning 1891 photographs from Turkey

In 1890, two young American graduates of Washington University, William Sachtleben and Thomas Allen Jr., spent three years circling the world by bicycle. By train to New York, by ship to London, then on a tour they called “Bicycling Asia Minor, 1891” through Greece, Turkey, Iran, and Uzbekistan. They continued through Kazakhstan and China to Canada, then coast to coast across the US back to New York.

They shot about 1,200 photographs along the way; only about a third survive. Those images were recently shown at Washington University’s Olin Library.

Given rivers, mountains, and muddy roads, bringing the photos home was secondary to coming home alive.

Here are some frames from their Asia Minor tour:

## 1. Streets of Athens

![atina-600x587](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Atina-600x587.jpg)

## 2. Crowds parting for the pair in front of a Turkish mosque in Greece

![turk-camii-600x587](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/turk-camii-600x587.jpg)

## 3. Crossing the strait by boat

![sandal-bogaz-600x578](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/sandal-bogaz-600x578.jpg)

## 4. Sultanahmet Square

![sultanahmet-meydani-600x571](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/sultanahmet-meydani-600x571.jpg)

## 5. Thomas Allen with Hagia Sophia behind him

![ayasofya-600x584](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ayasofya-600x584.jpg)

## 6. Galata Bridge

![galata-600x590](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/galata-600x590.jpg)

## 7. Beypazari

![beypazari-600x561](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/beypazari-600x561.jpg)

## 8. A stony road in Istanbul

![istanbul-600x572](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/istanbul-600x572.jpg)

## 9. Cemberlitas

![cemberlitas1-585x600](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cemberlitas1-585x600.jpg)

## 10. A street near the Grand Bazaar

![kapali-carsi-600x577](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/kapali-carsi-600x577.jpg)

## 11. Doctor Garagossian and his family in Istanbul

![doktor-garagossian-600x576](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/doktor-Garagossian-600x576.jpg)

## 12. William Sachtleben cycling beside the Kizilirmak

![kizilirmak](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/kizilirmak.jpg)

## 13. A hired porter carrying the bike, William Sachtleben behind / Anatolia

![sivas-600x589](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/sivas-600x589.jpg)

## 14. A mosque in Iraq

![irak](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/irak.jpg)

## 15. Entering Iran

![iran-600x534](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/iran-600x534.jpg)

## 16. An Iranian offering tea at Emir Nizam

![emir-nizam-600x577](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/emir-nizam-600x577.jpg)

## 17. Entering the city of Qazvin

![kazvin-600x567](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/kazvin-600x567.jpg)

## 18. The Blue Mosque at the entrance to Tabriz

![mavi-camii-600x579](http://www.oguzhan.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/mavi-camii-600x579.jpg)