About us

The Levantine Heritage Foundation is an association which promotes research, preservation and education in the heritage, arts and culture of the communities of the Levant region encompassed by the former Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 20th centuries. The peoples and communities who traded and settled in the area were diverse in origin and faiths, including Venetians, Genoese, Greeks, Turks, Persians, Armenians, Jews, French, Italians, British, many other European and Americans. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, many of the cosmopolitan communities of the Levant region scattered around the globe. The Levantine Heritage Foundation is piecing together these communities’ histories and legacies for future generations to study and build on.

We had our first International Conference, The Levantines: Commerce & Diplomacy in Istanbul between 3­5 November 2014 in Pera House (British Consulate ­ General) and in Casa d’Italia (Italian Cultural Center) - programme. The conference was a great success and 150 people participated in this three day conference. The Symposium proceedings were recently published and are available on our website

In addition we have meetings at regular intervals both in London and Istanbul. We intend to build up on our earlier success and this website acts as a hub for connections to a wider body of descendants, researchers, academics and institutions. We intend to build further on this with regular gatherings and events which we will publish here in the near future.

To learn more about our Foundation and for membership / donation form click for word or pdf formats: The read our full Mission Statement, click here:

In addition we had conferences Istanbul September 2016 and London November 2016, Istanbul November 2017 and finally Athens November 2018, all resounding successes - LHF Conference in Istanbul: ‘The Effects and Contributions of Levantines in the development of Beyoğlu/Pera and Galata Neighbourhoods: A long heritage of Trade, Culture and Arts since 1453’ (25th September a cultural tours day) 23-24 September, 2016 - Programme - poster - booklet &
LHF Second International Conference: ‘The Levant & Europe: Shipping and Trade Networks of People and Knowledge’, 2-4th November 2016, London - Programme - booklet

Any enquiries for future events and support, please e-mail us at:
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We welcome submissions to this website from contributors’ native languages. We do have friends who can translate, but the original language can also feature on the website according to the author’s wish. The important thing is the detail, information, and thus the portion of the culture contained amongst those lines is preserved and shared. This is the manner in which the content of this website has mostly been built over time.

If you wish to purchase copies of conference presentations books: First Levantine Conference in Istanbul, ‘The Levantines: Commerce and Diplomacy’, held in Istanbul November 2014 - programme - book cover and contents listing:
Levantines Past, Present, Future Symposium, Izmir, November 2010 - details: - book cover and contents listing:
Please refer to the pricing instructions here (doc / pdf version), and send the correct amount (including postage) through our paypal button (or bank transfer - details on support us page) with your address details please:

2014 book / 2010 book