French post offices in the Ottoman Empire
Encyclopedia
The French post offices in the Ottoman Empire were post office
s in various cities of the Ottoman Empire
run by France
between 1812 and 1923. France was one of nine countries that had negotiated "Capitulations" with the Ottomans, various extraterritorial rights in exchange for trade opportunities. In the case of mail
, the countries' purpose was to facilitate communication between business interests at home and agents throughout the Middle East
. The system came to end with the Treaty of Lausanne
in 1923.
Originally, the post office used postage stamp
s of France, but these were denominated in centimes and franc
s instead of the local piasters, so beginning in 1885, some French stamps were surcharge
d in piasters, at a rate of four piasters to the franc.
Beginning in 1902, the Merson
series was issued with the inscription "LEVANT", both as centime/franc, and with higher values surcharged in piasters. In 1905, 15c stamps in Beirut
were surcharged with "1 Piastre / Beyrouth".
World War I
forced the closure of all the post offices on 13 October 1914. After the war, only the office in Istanbul
reopened, operating from August 1921 to July 1923. Stamps of France were again surcharged, with values from 30 para
s to 75 piasters.
Four post offices also issued their own stamps between 1893 and 1903: Cavalle (present-day Kavala
), Dedeagh (Dedeagatch, present-day Alexandroupoli
), Port Lagos, and Vathy
(Samos
).
Post offices:
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
s in various cities of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
run by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
between 1812 and 1923. France was one of nine countries that had negotiated "Capitulations" with the Ottomans, various extraterritorial rights in exchange for trade opportunities. In the case of mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
, the countries' purpose was to facilitate communication between business interests at home and agents throughout the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The system came to end with the Treaty of Lausanne
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
in 1923.
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s of France, but these were denominated in centimes and franc
Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s instead of the local piasters, so beginning in 1885, some French stamps were surcharge
Overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage stamp or banknote after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail...
d in piasters, at a rate of four piasters to the franc.
Luc-Olivier Merson
Luc-Olivier Merson was a French academic painter and illustrator also known for his postage stamp and currency designs....
series was issued with the inscription "LEVANT", both as centime/franc, and with higher values surcharged in piasters. In 1905, 15c stamps in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
were surcharged with "1 Piastre / Beyrouth".
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
forced the closure of all the post offices on 13 October 1914. After the war, only the office in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
reopened, operating from August 1921 to July 1923. Stamps of France were again surcharged, with values from 30 para
Para (currency)
The para was a former currency of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Montenegro and Albania, and is the current subunit, although rarely used, of the Serbian dinar....
s to 75 piasters.
Four post offices also issued their own stamps between 1893 and 1903: Cavalle (present-day Kavala
Kavala
Kavala , is the second largest city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala peripheral unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos...
), Dedeagh (Dedeagatch, present-day Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupoli , is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros peripheral unit in Thrace. Named after King Alexander, it is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece.-Name:...
), Port Lagos, and Vathy
Vathy, Samos
Vathy is a town and a former municipality on the island of Samos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Samos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital and main town of the island. The municipal unit comprises numerous towns,...
(Samos
Samos Island
Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...
).
- Alexandretta
- BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
- Candia (nowadays Iraklion)
- CaneaChaniaChaniá , , also transliterated Chania, Hania, and Xania, older form Chanea and Venetian Canea, Ottoman Turkish خانيه Hanya) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania peripheral unit...
(nowadays Chania) - Castellorizo
- Cavalle
- ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
- Dedeagh
- GalataGalataGalata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
- GallipoliGeliboluGelibolu, also known as Gallipoli , is the name of a town and a district in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey on the southern shore of the peninsula named after it on the Dardanelles strait, two miles away from Lapseki on the other...
- Jaffa
- Jerusalem
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(nowadays Constanţa) - LatakiaLatakiaLatakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
- MersonMersin-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
- Port LagosLagos, GreeceLagos is a settlement in the Xanthi peripheral unit of Greece. It is part of the community Nea Kessani. It is situated on the bar separating Lake Vistonida from the Aegean Sea. In 1991, the settlement contained 371 inhabitants.-External links:**...
- RhodesRhodesRhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
- RodostoTekirdagTekirdağ , the ancient Bisanthi , is a city in Eastern Thrace, in the European part of Turkey. Tekirdağ is the capital of Tekirdağ Province, felt by the local people to be a quieter and more pleasant town than the industrial centre of Çorlu, which it administers. The city population as of 2009 was...
- Salonica
- SinopeSinop, TurkeySinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
- SmyrnaIzmirIzmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
- SulinaSulinaSulina is a town and free port in Tulcea County, Romania, at the mouth of the Sulina branch of the Danube. It is the easternmost point of Romania and of the continental European Union.-History:...
- TrebizondTrabzonTrabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
- TripoliTripoliTripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
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See also
- French post offices abroadFrench post offices abroadThe French post offices abroad were a global network of post offices in foreign countries established by France to provide mail service where the local services were deemed unsafe or unreliable...
- French post offices in CreteFrench post offices in CreteThe French post offices in Crete were among a collection of post offices maintained by foreign countries during the 1900s in Crete, after Crete had broken away from the Ottoman Empire and before it united with Greece, in 1913....
- French post offices in EgyptFrench post offices in EgyptThe French post offices in Egypt were a system of post offices maintained by France in Egypt during the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century...
Sources
- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
- Encyclopaedia of Postal History
- Stuart Rossiter & John Flower: The Stamp Atlas
External links
- Bureaux français de l'Empire ottoman, specialized website awarded by the Académie de philatélieAcadémie de philatélieThe Académie de philatélie is a French philatelic voluntary association created in 1928. Its goal is to promote philately and philatelic studies....
in 2001.