The women poets of the 19th century classical Turkish literature, Leyla Hanim and Seref Hanim from Istanbul continued their lives in this ancient city. These poets, who are the daughters of educated and intellectual families, have been found in social and cultural environments of the period and have been engaged in poetry enough to bring a divan. These women wrote poems about Istanbul’s various districts and places, and understood the social life of the age, the religious-mystical places, the places of entertainment and travel. Leyla Hanim, especially Istanbul itself, stated her feelings and observations for “Anadolu Hisar, Besiktas, Beykoz, Beylerbeyi, Fıstıklı, Göksu, Hünkar, İstinye, Kagithane, Kalender, Kandilli, Kücüksu, Laleli, Sultan Ahmed”. Seref Hanim eternalized the spaces of Istanbul in her verses by mentioning places such as “Bebek, Besiktas, Beykoz, Camlica, Cengelkoy, Fatih, Feshane, Galata, Hirka-i Serif Camii, Lalezar, Süleymaniye, Yakacik and Yenikapi”. In this study, the view of the same era in Istanbul, in the divans of two contemporary poets, has been evaluated, and it has been emphasized in which qualifications and occasions the subject is mentioned in poetry. As a result of the study, it was determined that although both poets were inclined towards Mevlevi and Sufism, Leyla Hanim mostly focused on sightseeing and entertainment places, while Seref Hanim mostly focused on religious places.

Leyla Hanim, Seref Hanim, Istanbul, place.