Il sale, la sabbia e la mezzaluna : Cervia e la costa romagnola nell’odeporica e nella cartografia ottomane

The paper deals with Ottoman odeporic and cartographical sources focused on Cervia area (Ravenna Province, Northern Italy) and Romagna coastline, facing the Adriatic Sea. In particular, the travel report by a Barak, a Turkish navy officer, dating back to 1486, quotes the salt-pans of Cervia, at that time located inland: this is one the earliest (or the earliest) mention of these salt-pans, characterized by high economic and strategic meaning, in Oriental sources. Moreover, the article discusses the second version (1525-1526) and the subsequent manuscript copies of the pilot book Kitab-i Bahriye by Ottoman admiral Piri Reìs. The maps of this pilot book highlight the salt-pans of Cervia as one the most prominent features of the region; moreover, regarding Rimini area, they underline the different coastal morphologies between Focara promontory (Pesaro Municipality), made up of sandstones and marls cliffs, and the sand beaches northward. In the same maps San Marino, reference point for sailors at sea, is georeferenced: again, this should be considered the first mention of this state in Oriental sources.