THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF ISTANBUL RECORDED
The Study entitled “The Inventory of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Economy of Istanbul” (“Cultural Inventory of Istanbul” in short) started by the Turkish Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and supported by the 2010 European Cultural Capital Agency resulted in the publication of a website www.istanbulkulturenvanteri.gov.tr open to the public.
The results of the Cultural Inventory Study realized with the collaboration of close to 200 institutions was announced to the public in a press conference held on 21 December 2010, in Beyoğlu/Istanbul.
The President of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Prof. Dr. Yücel Kanpolat, Vice President Prof. Dr. Tarık Çelik, Principal Academy Member Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özdoğan, Culture and Tourism Director of Istanbul Prof. Dr. Ahmet Emre Bilgili, Project Coordinator Hakan Tanrıöver and Assistant Coordinator, Advisor to TÜBA Presidency Dr. Ayşe Ergüven participated in the Conference to present information on the collection of data about the cultural heritage of Istanbul, the transfer of data to the website and on how to use the website. 
The Cultural Inventory of Istanbul Project was started in October 2008 with a team of 48 persons to conduct research in every corner of Istanbul.
The archives of the Major City Municipality of Istanbul (İBB), of its Bureau for the Conservation and Enforcement (KUDEB) for maintenance of cultural and environmental assets, of 39 district municipalities, of related associations and foundations were examined thoroughly and data collected was electronically recorded. Subsequently, the publication of a website which comprises all cultural values in Istanbul (www.istanbulkulturenvanteri.gov.tr), with 150 thousand web pages and 60 thousand photographs in total, was launched.
Data on the archaeology, urban architecture, popular culture, cultural economy of Istanbul dating back to 1776, supported by historical maps, books, academic theses and other scholarly studies since 1923 are published in this website. In total, 70 thousand items of data are categorized under headings such as “Urban Architecture”, “Archaeology”, “Popular Culture”, “Maps” and “Bibliography on Istanbul” compiled by a team organized by Prof. Dr. Namık Yalçın from the University of Istanbul.