Modern Turkey was founded in 1923. However, the history of early settlement dates back to 1900 B.C. when Turkey was Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire or Turkish Empire was founded in the 14th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Turkish Empire was at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. At the beginning of the 17th century, the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. In the mid-19th century, the government implemented series of constitutional reforms that led a fairly modern conscripted army and banking system reforms.

These impressive colorized photographs capture streets, castles, famous landmarks, and everyday life of Turkey under the Ottoman Empire. These photos were colorized using the photochrom process. This process was invented in the 1880s by a Swiss printer. Vote your favorites, and don’t forget to share.