TRAMES, 2025, 29(79/74), 1, 63–78 © 2025 Author. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0). MEYHANES AND MEYHANE OWNERS OF ISTANBUL IN EVLIYA ÇELEBI’S SEYAHATNAME Murat Ali Karavelioğlu Iğdır University Abstract. The Seyahatname, a text nourished by verbal and written Turkish cultural history, is one of the most important resources for researchers studying the sociocultural life of the Ottoman period. While countless scientific and popular studies on this work have been carried out, there are no significant studies to date on the Seyahatname’s treatment of the concepts of mey (wine), meyhane (winehouse), and meyhanecilik (the activities carried out by those who run meyhanes and the regular customers of those places). This article assesses the narratives on Istanbul’s meyhanes and meyhane owners in the first volume of Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname, which includes narratives on Istanbul and consists of two books. Meyhane culture in Ottoman society, particularly in the 17th century, is also discussed in this study in light of the Seyahatname’s descriptions. Istanbul boza, a beverage that may cause drunkenness, and boza sellers are also mentioned briefly. Keywords: Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname, 17th century, Istanbul, meyhane, meyhane owner, entertainment DOI: https://doi.org/10.3176/tr.2025.1.04 Received 24 August 2024, accepted 24 September 2024, printed and available online 10 March 2025 1. Introduction Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname, a masterpiece of not only Turkish travel literature but also of Turkish literature, was written in the middle of the 17th century and is a unique monumental work in terms of its content and the geographical regions that it addresses. Evliya Çelebi, who traveled in nearly all the Ottoman lands of that