Abstract
Czechs who visited the Ottoman Empire in th late 19th and early 20th centuries arrived at a time whenit was undergoing modernizing reforms. As a consequence of these reforms the Empire was, according to many contemporaries, losing its Oriental character.
The article shows how Czech travelers perceived and evaluated the "Orientalness" of the Ottoman Empire in the last half-century of its existence. Their views did not substantially differ from those elsewhere in Europe.
Since the Czechs had neither direct colonial interest in Ottoman territories, nor an experience of direct Ottoman rule, the travelers could choose from a wide range of attitudes. Their perception of the contrast between the "backward Orient" and "modern Europe" lacked a clear-cut ideological intent, but helped to confirm the Czech belief in their apparent superiority (as Europeans) over the Ottoman Orient.