The Nature of the Ottoman City
Water and Urban Space in Sofia, 1380s–1910s

A groundbreaking urban-environmental history exploring the intersection of nature and culture in creating urban space in Ottoman Sofia.

Stefan Peychev (Author)

9781009558853, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 September 2025

224 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'Overcoming the historiographies of Bulgarian nationalism and Ottoman exceptionalism, this important book offers us an entirely new history of Ottoman Sofia told through its waters. Never again should Ottoman urban histories ignore the environment.' Alan Mikhail, Yale University

In this innovative interdisciplinary work, Stefan Peychev problematizes the dominant narrative of decline and stagnation in Ottoman Sofia. Drawing on a range of sources and perspectives, including environmental and urban history, archaeology and anthropology, he examines the creation and experience of urban space and place. By employing a longue durée framework and considering empire-wide developments, this work challenges the epistemological boundaries that have traditionally separated Ottoman from post-Ottoman space and the Middle East from Southeast Europe. Peychev argues instead for an integrated understanding of Sofia's water infrastructure, in which Ottoman ideas of the built environment fused with local cultural and technological traditions to create an efficient and long-lasting system.

Introduction
1. Water Supply and the Making of Early Modern Ottoman Sofia
2. Thermal Springs, Public Baths, and Ottoman Sofia's Culture of Water
3. Coping with Disaster: Sofia's Long Nineteenth Century
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: The environment [RN]