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Lecture 2:

Coffee and Coffeehouses, 1550-1750

GAHTC | GLOBAL ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY TEACHING COLLABORATIVE | 2015-16

COFFEEHOUSES AND TEAHOUSES

A GLOBAL ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY

A module of lectures developed by

Farshid Emami and Hessam Khorasani Zadeh

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COFFEEHOUSES AND TEAHOUSES

A GLOBAL ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY, 1500-1900

LECTURE 1: INTOXICANTS, STIMULANTS, AND SPICES, A PREVIEW

LECTURE 2: COFFEE AND COFFEEHOUSES, 1500-1750

LECTURE 3: COLONIAL COMMODITIES, CHOCOLATE AND TOBACCO

LECTURE 4: TEA AND TEAHOUSES

LECTURE 5: COFFEEHOUSES AND URBAN SPACES, 1750-1900

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Sea route to

Yemen/Mocha

Spread of Coffee and the Coffeehouse, ca. 1500-1700

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Equilibrium between land-based and maritime trade networks

Coffee as a drug as well as a social beverage

Perceived in terms of Galenic precepts (humours and temperaments)

Wine vs. coffee / tavern vs. coffeehouse / intoxication vs. sobriety

(moral and religious reactions)

Consumed socially in public coffeehouses (Emergence of a new domain of social life)

Transfer of consuming habits, material objects, and spatial configurations

COFFEE AND COFFEEHOUSES, 1550-1750

Common Perceptions, Social Practices, and Forms

East

West

?

Earlier studies tended to view the coffee culture and coffeehouses in this geographical area in terms of two entirely different cultural spheres: “East” and “West”, which are often described through a set of binary oppositions. Yet there are indeed several commonalities in terms of the perception of coffee, its attendant social practices and material cultures and, as we will see, the layouts and spatial forms of coffeehouses:

-- First, despite the rise of sea-based trade networks dominated by European companies, the spread of coffee and the coffeehouse occurred primarily through land-based routes. Coffee was as novel in Islamic regions as it was in Western Europe.

-- In this zone (i.e. Eastern Mediterranean/Southwest Asia and Europe), coffee was known as a drug as well as a social beverage. (Medicinal treatises in both Arabic and European languages are dominated by Galenic precepts, derived from the shared Greek heritage of the Mediterranean region, despite the gradual rise of “modern medicine”.)

-- In this zone, the direct precedent for the coffeehouse was the tavern (or similar establishments serving alcoholic drinks like alehouses). This resulted in an uneasy relationship between tavern and coffeehouse: they were simultaneously similar and different. Coffee and the coffeehouse became a subject of debate among moralizers and theologians, whether Muslim or Christian.

-- In this period, except for persons of means and aristocrats, most people consumed coffee in public urban coffeehouses. This led to the emergence of a novel arena of social life in cities and a fundamental transformation in the meaning and uses of urban spaces.

-- Finally, the introduction of coffee and the coffeehouse from one region to another entails more than a mere adoption of a recreational substance. Often consuming habits, material objects, and spatial layouts were transferred as well.

Image sources:

Farshid Emami and Hessam Khorasani Zadeh, based on a world map from: http://www.shadedrelief.com/world

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Coffeehouses of Istanbul

1550-1800

Istanbul in the 16th century

Golden Horn

Sea of Marmara

Let us begin with Istanbul. From the provinces, coffee was soon brought to the Ottoman capital. According to a chronicle, the first coffeehouse of the city was established in 1555 by two Syrian merchants. This coffeehouse was set up in the Tahtakale area, the commercial center of the city. In the mid-16th century, the Ottoman empire, under Suleiman the Magnificent, was at the apogee of its power and territorial expansion. By 1570, in less than two decades, Istanbul was reported to have 600 hundred coffeehouses. Some of these coffeehouses were modest stalls in markets. Others were smaller neighborhood coffeehouses. But gradually more elaborate coffeehouses were also erected. Several monumental coffeehouses of Istanbul were located along the waterways surrounding the city.

Image sources:

General map:

Authors elaboration, based on a world map from: http://www.shadedrelief.com/world

Views of Istanbul:

http://people.duke.edu/~michelel/projects/visions/images/08.jpg

http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/old-map-constantinople.jpg

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Engraving showing the interior of a coffeehouses in Istanbul, ca. 1800

Istanbul in the 16th century

This engraving shows the interior of a grand coffeehouse in Istanbul in the early 19th century. The coffeehouse offers views of the Golden Horn, a major waterway stretching on the northern side of the urban core of Istanbul. (The tip of the peninsula is visible in background).

On the left we can see the oven whose adjoining walls are carved with niches packed with utensils used for preparing and serving coffee. The main space of the coffeehouse is its majestic sitting area. Square in plan, the hall is surrounded by a U-shaped platform or divan on which patrons are seated. An octagonal basin with a fountain stands at the center of the hall. While sipping coffee, the clients of the coffeehouse were able to enjoy the scenery, while engaging in conversations of the coffeehouse. The location and decoration of the coffeehouse indicates that they were frequented by men of higher social status. (The coffeehouse was primarily an all-male institution.)

Image source:

Engraving showing the interior of a coffeehouses in Istanbul, ca. 1800:

Antoine Melling, Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore, published in:

D’Orsi, Angelo. Il caffè, ossia brevi e vari discorsi in area padana, a cura di, Milan, Amilcare Pizzi, 1990, p. 18.

View of Istanbul:

http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/old-map-constantinople.jpg

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Coffee Kiosque, on the Port

Engraving by William Bartlett showing the interior of a coffeehouses in Istanbul, ca. 1839

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Ottoman painting showing the interior of a coffeehouse

1610

Ms. 439, Folio 9

Dublin, Chester Beatty Library

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Playing backgammon and manqala.

Reading and Reciting Poetry

Top Divan for

Distinguished clients

Musicians and Singers

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Architectural Components of Ottoman Coffeehouses

M. Open Square (meydan)

S. Top Divan (baş sedir)

H. Fountain (havuz)

K. Divan (kerevet)

O. Fireplace (ocak)

B. Garden (bahçe)

Plans of Typical Ottoman Coffeehouses

I. Numan, “Eski Istanbul Kahvehanelerinin Içtimai Hayattaki Yeri ve Mimarisi Hakk ̧nda Baz ̧ Mülahazalar [Some Observations on the Social Role and Architectural Features of Old Istanbul Coffeehouses],” Kubbeealt ̧ Akademi Mecmuas 10, no. 2 (1981), 68.

Engraving showing the interior of a coffeehouses in Istanbul, ca. 1800

Ottoman Coffeehouses

A study of Ottoman coffeehouses constructed between the year 1680 and 1824 provides a clearer picture of their typical layouts and spatial elements as depicted in the previous painting. The main space of the coffeehouse is an open square or meydan (M), which usually featured a fountain and was surrounded by a raised platform or divan (K) on two, three, or all sides. Typically coffeehouses had a separate sitting area or Top Divan (S), which overlooked the main room. The Top Divan allowed for more intimate gatherings and was reserved for high-status patrons of the coffeehouse. Some coffeehouses were also provided with a garden (B). An oven was also a fixture of coffeehouses.

Image source:

Selma Akyazici Özkoçak, “Coffeehouses: Rethinking the Public and Private in Early Modern Istanbul,” Journal of Urban History 33 (2007): 965-986.

I. Numan, “Eski Istanbul Kahvehanelerinin Içtimai Hayattaki Yeri ve Mimarisi Hakk ̧nda Baz ̧ Mülahazalar [Some Observations on the Social Role and Architectural Features of Old Istanbul Coffeehouses],” Kubbeealt ̧ Akademi Mecmuas 10, no. 2 (1981), 68.

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Ipshir Pasha Coffeehouse

Aleppo (Syria), ca. 1650

Map of 17^th-century Aleppo, showing the location of Ipshir Pasha Complex

Jean-Claude David and Bruno Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep (1063/1653): Étude d'Urbanisme Historique (Damas, 1982).

Map of trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean

16th and 17th centuries

Aleppo

The coffeehouse of the Ipshir Pasha complex in Aleppo, built in the 1650s, is one of the earliest coffeehouses that have survived. In the sixteenth century, Ottoman Aleppo was a major trade center in the Eastern Mediterranean, a meeting place for the caravans coming from the east and European merchants. According to one report, in 1671-72 there were one hundred and five coffeehouses in Aleppo. Many of these coffeehouses were part of the complexes developed by Ottoman officials or governors.

Image source:

Map of Aleppo in the 17th century:

Jean-Claude David and Bruno Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep (1063/1653): Étude d'Urbanisme Historique (Damas, 1982).

Map of trade routes:

Patrick O’Brien, ed., Atlas of World History, second edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 143.

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Drawings from David and Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep

Ipshir Pasha Coffeehouse

Plan, Ipshir Pasha Complex

Coffeehouse

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Drawings from David and Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep

Ipshir Pasha Coffeehouse

Entrance

The coffeehouse is the most elaborate component of the complex. Its main elevation overlooks a narrow street lined on both sides with shops. One would enter the coffeehouse through a fairly small arched doorway on the southwest corner. The coffeehouse itself consists of a rectangular hypostyle hall, five bays long and four bays deep. To the north, the pillared hall opens onto the courtyard through an arcade with four arches. In terms of spatial organization, the hall is composed of a cross-axial nine-fold space (with four rectangular bays and four similar bays at corners), surrounded on three sides by bays of varying sizes and shapes.

In its overall form, the coffeehouse resembles the layout of the qa’a (reception hall in residential architecture). Note also the structural and decorative uses of stone, which gives a distinct appearance to the coffeehouse from those in Istanbul, which were typically made of wood.

Image source:

Jean-Claude David and Bruno Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep (1063/1653): Étude d'Urbanisme Historique (Damas, 1982).

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Interior View, Central Domed Space of the Coffeehouse

Drawings from David and Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep

Ipshir Pasha Coffeehouse

Section

Axonometric view

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Coffeehouse

Mosque

Drawings from David and Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep

The Ipshir Pasha coffeehouse is particularly remarkable for its street elevation. Standing in a short, relatively straight street lined on both sides with shops, the façade is composed of a lower register of grilled windows, topped by a decorative panel containing four openings (see the photo on the upper right). As Heghnar Watenpaugh notes, what is unusual here is the positioning of the openings at the eye level: in a striking contrast to common public buildings such as mosques or madrasas, which commonly had barren massive exterior walls, the coffeehouse features a transparent urban facade. (Compare the elevation of the coffeehouse, with that of the mosque on the far right hand of the facade of the complex. The mosque has only two windows above the eye level.)

It seems as if the type of wall articulation commonly used on the interior surfaces of a courtyard is used here on the exterior of the coffeehouse. As such, the Ipshir Pasha Coffeehouse is a unique example of a public building with a semi-transparent urban facade. This exceptional visual relationship between the interior and exterior, marking a new conception of urban façade, stemmed from the function of the coffeehouse as a social institution.

Image source:

Jean-Claude David and Bruno Chauffert-Yvart, Le Waqf d'Ipšīr Pāšā à Alep (1063/1653): Étude d'Urbanisme Historique (Damas, 1982).

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Safavid Empire (1501-1722)

Safavid Coffeehouses

Isfahan, Safavid Iran, 1600-1700

Isfahan

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Reconstructed plan of Isfahan

17th century

Royal Square

(Maydan)

Chaharbagh Avenue

Coffeehouses of Isfahan

Safavid Iran, ca. 1600-1700

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Plan of the Royal Square of Isfahan.

(Maydan-i Naqsh-i Jahan)

Reconstructed plan of the coffeehouses on the Royal Square of Isfahan (Maydan-i Naqsh-i Jahan),

completed in 1602. (Farshid Emami)

Coffeehouses of the Maydan

Isfahan, ca. 1602

In the Royal Square (Maydan-i Naqsh-i Jahan) a row of coffeehouses was constructed in the arcades on the north side. They consisted of octagonal halls interconnected through smaller alcoves. The coffeehouses opened directly onto the square and were connected to the Confectioners’ Market (Bazar-i Qannadha) to the north. Located in the vicinity of the royal silk market (Qaysariyya), the coffeehouses were frequented by Isfahan’s cosmopolitan merchants, craftsmen, and poets. Each coffeehouse was known after the person who ran the establishment or a coffee-server.

Image sources:

Plan of the Square:

Klaus Herdeg, Formal Structure in Islamic Architecture of Iran and Turkistan (New York, 1990).

Plan of the Maydan coffeehouses:

Farshid Emami, “Coffeehouses, Urban Spaces, and the Formation of a Public Sphere in Safavid Isfahan,” Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World 33 (2016): 177-220, at 193.

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Nineteenth-century representation of the Chaharbagh of Isfahan.

By Pascal Coste

Coffeehouses of the Chaharbagh

Isfahan, ca. 1602

Chaharbagh Avenue

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Facade, The coffeehouse on the Chaharbagh

Interior View

Coffeehouse on the Chaharbagh

Plan of the coffeehouse on the Chaharbagh

Isfahan, ca. 1602

A still-standing structure gives a clearer sense of the original layout of the seventeenth-century coffeehouses of the Chaharbagh. Measuring approximately thirteen by ten meters on perimeter, it consists of a double-height domed space, square in plan, surrounded by recesses on three sides. A staircase in the northeast corner provides access to a u-shaped gallery overlooking the central hall and offering screened views of the landscape outside. A square platform was provided in front of the coffeehouse to serve as an outdoor sitting area. Like the Ipshir Pasha coffeehouse in Aleppo, the Chaharbagh coffeehouses features a transparent facade filtering light, air, and vision.

Image source:

Farshid Emami, “Coffeehouses, Urban Spaces, and the Formation of a Public Sphere in Safavid Isfahan,” Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World 33 (2016): 177-220, at 187-88.

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Roadside Coffeehouses

Plan, Mahyar Caravanserai

17th century, Iran

Exterior View, Mahyar Caravanserai

Safavid Iran

Plan and section of typical en route coffeehouses

19th century

Iran

coffeehouse

In both Safavid and Ottoman realms, coffeehouses were also included in caravanserais. The Mahyar caravanserai, which dates from the early 1600s, is located south of Isfahan. The modest coffeehouse of the complex was placed in the southwest corner and could be accessed from outside landscape. Opposite the coffeehouse was a bakery; together they would have provided a light meal and an energizing drink for tired travellers.

In addition to these integrated establishments, coffeehouses were also constructed along caravan roads as self-contained structures. In Iran, these on-road coffeehouses were typically built on a cruciform plan common in residential architecture. They consisted of a central space, often provided with a water basin, and were surrounded by four alcoves. Some were fronted with a porch. The main spaces were commonly sealed off from the exterior, providing a haven for travelers in extreme weathers.

Image sources:

Maxime Siroux, Caravansérails d'Iran et Petites Constructions Routières (Cairo, 1949), 59, 108-109.

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Map of Europe, Western Asia, Northern and central Africa, ca. 1729

Introduction of coffee into Europe

Toward the west, in Europe, coffee became known since the late 16^th century. The earliest European descriptions of coffee were offered by travellers and ambassadors who visited cities in the eastern Mediterranean and West Asia. Most of them described coffee as a repugnant bitter drink. (The English traveller Thomas Herbert referred to coffee as a drink “black as soot, thick and strong scented” that pleases “neither the eye nor taste.”) Indeed, it was not until the mid-17^th century that coffee began to shift from an exotic drink to a popular beverage consumed by the upper strata of society. The first coffeehouse in a European city opened around the mid-1600s.

Image source:

Unknown author, Map of Europe, Western Asia, Northern and central Africa, c. 1729:

D'Alessio, Vito. Um grão de história = A bean's worth of history. São Paulo, Dialeto Latin American Documentary, 2006, p. 10.

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The Turks drink a black water as hot as they can suffer it, which is the infusion of a bean called cavee, which is said to possess the virtue of stimulating mankind.

--Gianfrancesco Morosini, 1585

Map of the Mediterranean Sea (extract), 1745

Introduction of coffee into Europe

Inhabitants of the port cities of the Mediterranean Sea were probably the first Europeans to grow a taste for coffee. With extensive commercial relations with the Ottoman Empire (and with the city of Constantinople in particular) Venice seems to have contributed greatly to the introduction of coffee into Europe. An Italian senator in Constantinople (Costantino Garzoni), was probably the first European who described the use of the coffee in the Ottoman Empire (in his communications with the Venetian government published as Relazione dell’Impero Ottomano in 1573). In 1585, another venetian senator (Gianfrancesco Morosini) reports to the Senate that the Turks "drink a black water as hot as they can suffer it, which is the infusion of a bean called cavee, which is said to possess the virtue of stimulating mankind.” (See Albèri, Eugenio, ed. Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti al Senato: Volume 9. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.)

Image source:

Richard William Seale, Map of the Mediterranean Sea (extract), 1745:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1745_Seale_Map_or_Chart_of_the_Mediterranean_Sea_-_Geographicus_-_Mediterranean-seale-1845.jpg

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Coffee plant botanical illustration, 1591

Coffee plant botanical illustration, 1640

Coffee plant botanical illustration,, 1716

Representations of Coffee

Before the adoption of coffee drinking, knowledge of the coffee plant was disseminated through prints. A Paduan physician (Prospero Alpini) who in 1580 accompanied a Venetian consul to Cairo seems to be the first European to publish a botanical description of the coffee plant. Other publications in England and France followed. Alpini makes note of the medicinal qualities attributed to the drink. These observations were soon incorporated into the European medical writings. During this early period, coffee is essentially consumed in restricted private circles of merchant families. Coffee is an exotic commodity with a high price. There is evidence for the private use of coffee in almost all major port cities with commercial ties with the Ottoman Empire: Venice, London, Marseille, Amsterdam…

Image sources (right to left):

Prospero Alpini, De Medicina Egyptiorum, Coffee plant botanical illustration, 1591.

John Parkinson, Teatrum botanicum, Coffee plant botanical illustration, 1640.

Jean de la Roque, Voyage de l’Arabie heureuse, Coffee plant botanical illustration, 1716.

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The “future” Fondaco dei Turchi, in View of Venice, c. 1500

View of Venice, c. 1500

Fondaco dei Turchi

Venice, ca. 1600

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View of Venice with Canale Grande and Fondaco dei Turchi, 18^thcentury

View before the 19^thcentury “reconstruction”

Ground floor plan, 1602

Fondaco dei Turchi

The building that was rented for Fondaco dei Turchi around the year 1600 was originally constructed in 1250 for a well-known Venetian family and had changed hands several times. Totally reconstructed, in a “new” Venetian-byzantine style, it is today one of the most significant buildings facing the Canale Grande.

Image sources:

Survey by Cesare Franco Torello, Fondaco dei Turchi, Ground floor plan, 1602:

Carbonara, Giovanni. Trattato di Restauro Architettonico. Torino, UTET, 1996.

Guardi Francesco, View of Venice with Canal Grande and Fondaco dei Turchi, 18^thcentury, Private collection:

http://www.kollerauktionen.ch/images/Auktion/A152_w224/Highres/3062_1.jpg

Unknown photographer, Fondaco dei Turchi before the 19^thcentury “reconstruction”:

http://venicecroatia.umwblogs.org/files/2013/10/veneziafondacodeiturchiki3.jpg

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Piazza San Marco, 1496

Piazza San Marco, 1599

Caffè Florian

Venice, ca. 1720

View of Venice, c. 1500

Piazza San Marco’s plan

Procuratie Nuove

Procuratie Vecchie

The first Venetian coffeehouse opened in 1683. It was situated on the north side of San Marco Square, behind the arcade of the structure known as Procuratie Nuove. Consisting of connected buildings with enclosed courtyards, Procuratie housed the offices and apartments of San Marco procurators. The original building on the southern part, Procuratie Vecchie, was a twelfth-century two-story structure, which had been rebuilt and transformed into a three-story building during the sixteenth century. (The construction of Procuratie Nuove began in 1586 with a more classical style and was completed in 1640. Both Procuratie Vecchie and Procuratie Nuove were designed with shops on the ground floor.)

Image sources:

Jacopo de Barbari, View of Venice, c. 1500:

http://mapsof.net/venice/venice-venezia-historical-map-1

Donato Rasciotti, Piazza San Marco, 1599:

http://digilander.libero.it/orologiodellatorre/Italiano/immagini/torre028a.jpg

Gentile Bellini, Piazza San Marco, 1496, Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice:

http://www.venicethefuture.com/schede/it/205?aliusid=205

Antonio Quadri, Piazza San Marco’s plan, Ponzano/Treviso, Vianello Libri and Ezio Mestre,Tedeschi, 1987:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco#/media/File:Quadri-Moretti,_Piazza_San_Marco_(1831),_01.jpg

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Procuratie Nuove’s plan, 1777

Caffè Florian’s facade, as appeared on the Caffè’s New Year greeting card, 1859

Caffè Florian

Plan of Caffè Florian

(drawing after Peressut, Dorigati, and Ginelli)

The earliest surviving coffeehouse in Venice was also built on San Marco Square, and was called Alla Venezia Trionfante (Literally, “To Victorious Venice”). It opened in 1720, also under the arcade of Procuratie Nuove, and became publically known as Caffè Florian from early on (After the owner Floriano Francesconi). The name was adopted as the official name in the 19^th century. (In a way Alla Venezia Trionfante seemed no longer appropriate in a period of economic decline for Venice.) Following the structural patterns of Procuratie Nuove, the coffeehouse occupies 6 bays of the arcade.

Image sources:

Caffè Florian’s plan:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 42.

Procuratie Nuove’s plan, 1777:

Pietro Soardi, Plan of Area Marciana (detail), 1777, Venice, Correr Museum Library, cited in:

Giuliani Alberto, “The Demolition of the Church of San Geminiano and the Perception of Piazza San Marco in Venice”, in Emmer, Michele, ed. Imagine math 3. Between Culture and Mathematics. Cham, Springer, 2015.

Caffè Florian’s facade, as appeared on the Caffè’s New Year greeting card, 1859:

D’Orsi, Angelo. Il caffè, ossia brevi e vari discorsi in area padana, a cura di, Milan, Amilcare Pizzi, 1990, p. 60.

.

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Interior View

(By Danilo Reato)

Plan of Caffè Florian

(drawing after Peressut, Dorigati, and Ginelli)

Caffè Florian

Interior View

(After Peressut, Dorigati, and Ginelli)

Thus, the coffeehouse consists of a succession of relatively small rooms. Each room is surrounded by a U-shaped bench which accentuates the intimacy of the place. This arrangement of people sitting around a central space recalls Ottoman and Safavid coffeehouses. The central space, observed by the sitting audience, resembled a theatre stage. (The single tables in marble shown in these images have certainly been added during the 19th century renovation of the Caffè Florian.)

Image sources:

Caffè Florian’s plan:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 42.

Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli, Caffè Florian’s interior view:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 42.

Danilo Reato, Caffè Florian’s interior view:

Reato, Danilo. Il Caffe Florian. Venice, Filippi, 1984, p. 72.

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Caffè Florian, 18th century

Caffè Florian, 19th-century lithograph

Caffè Florian and Procutie Nuove’s arcades in a 19th century representation

Caffè Florian

The opening of the coffeehouse on one side to the public domain gives Florian an urban character, which is somehow absent in most of the 17^th century coffeehouses. It is not hard to imagine how the urban life in the Piazza San Marco was affected by the presence of Caffè Florian and other coffeehouses. People chatting in groups here and there, circulating the most recent news, and sharing local gossip created a new social milieu. Coffeehouses became places worthwhile visiting to be informed of the most recent news.

Image sources:

Alessandro Milesi, Caffè Florian during the 17th century, Revoltella Civic Museum:

Reato, Danilo. Il Caffe Florian. Venice, Filippi, 1984, p. 44.

Unknown author, Caffè Florian in a 18th century lithography:

D’Orsi, Angelo. Il caffè, ossia brevi e vari discorsi in area padana, a cura di, Milan, Amilcare Pizzi, 1990, p. 103.

Caffè Florian and Procutie Nuove’s arcades in a 19th century representation, published (without exact references) in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 30.

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Caffè Florian during the Italian Risorgimento, 1848

Caffè Florian, early 19th century

Caffè Florian

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The Ridotto of Venice in Palazzo Dandolo, 18^th century

Illustrations for Carlo Goldoni’s Bottega del Caffe, 18^th century

Coffee and Venetian Social Spaces

18^th century

During the 18^th century coffee and coffeehouses were integrated into other domains of social and cultural life in Venice. This can be seen in several paintings of Pietro Longhi (1701-1785), one of the most important painters of Venetian social life in this period. Coffeehouse began to emerge in other public buildings such as Ridottos (Venetian places for playing games and gambling). The “public” Ridotto was situated in Palazzo Dandolo (closed in 1774), but there were ridottos also in other buildings such as theatres. Moreover, in Bottega del Caffe, a play written by the famous Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni, a coffeeman is the main protagonist and the coffeehouse as the main stage where actions takes place. [Bottega del Caffe (literally, “coffee shop”) was the term used for coffeehouses in Italy at this time.]

Image Sources:

Pietro Longhi, The Ridotto, 17^th century, Milan, Private collection:

D’Orsi, Angelo. Il caffè, ossia brevi e vari discorsi in area padana, a cura di, Milan, Amilcare Pizzi, 1990, p. 23.

Daniotto and Bonato, Illustrations for Carlo Goldoni’s Bottega del Caffe, Zatta editions, 1788:

D’Orsi, Angelo. Il caffè, ossia brevi e vari discorsi in area padana, a cura di, Milan, Amilcare Pizzi, 1990, p. 30.

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Caffè Greco’s plan, drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli

Caffè Greco’s in Via dei Condotti / Piazza di Spagna , drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli

Caffè Greco’s interior views by Luca Basso

Peressut

Caffè Greco

Rome, ca. 1760

Soon coffee spread to other Italian cities. Caffè Greco, the first coffeehouse in Rome was constructed in 1760 near Piazza di Spanga. The name of the coffeehouse seems to refer to to the owner, who was probably a Greek from the Ottoman Empire. The succession of relatively small rooms and the U-shaped benches (divans) resemble the interior arrangement of Caffè Florian. The single tables in marble were added later in the 19^th century. (According to a legend, coffee had been threatened with religious fanaticism in Rome, until Pope Clement VIII (1535–1605), who appreciated the taste of coffee, baptized coffee.)

Image sources:

Caffè Greco’s in Via dei Condotti / Piazza di Spagna, drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 90.

Caffè Greco’s plan, drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 246.

Caffè Greco’s interior views by Luca Basso Peressut:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, pp. 245-246.

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Map of Paris in 1714 showing the approximate location of the fair of Saint Germain and the first coffeehouses of Paris

Fair of Saint Germain, 17th century

Street coffee seller in Paris, 17th century

Coffeehouses of Paris

ca. 1650-1750

As in many other contexts, coffee was first introduced to France by travellers. (It reached the port city of Marseille in 1644). Coffee was sold publicly in Paris for the first time in 1672 by an Armenian, named Pascal. The beverage was offered in a tent or a temporary booth in the fair of Saint Germain. Pascal was accompanied by Turkish server boys, who peddled coffee among the crowds in small cups on trays. Visitors began to look for the "little black" beverage (The petit noir). Later, Pascal opened a small coffee shop (on Quai de l'École, near Pont Neuf). He continued to send the server boys to sell coffee on the streets. This early venture was apparently not successful.

The second known coffeehouse in Paris also seems to have been opened by another Armenian (in rue de Buci, near Saint Germain's abbey, and the area where the fair of Saint Germain took place). Here tobacco was offered along with coffee.

Image source:

Map of Paris (Plan de la Caille, 1714):

Pinon, Pierre. Le Boudec, Bertrand. Les plans de Paris, Histoire d’une capitale. Paris, Le Passage, 2004, p. 55.

Fair of Saint Germain, and Street coffee seller in Paris, 17th century, published (without exact references) in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 93.

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Café Procope

Paris, 1689

Map of Paris (1714) and the location of Café Procope

Ground floor plan

drawing by Maura Ferreri and Monica Mantovani

Interior view of Café Procope, 1880

Interior view of a French coffee-house, 1720

The earliest surviving coffeehouse in Paris, Café Procope, was opened in 1689 by an Italian named Francesco Procopio. The coffeehouse catered to patrons of higher status than its precedents and was located directly opposite the newly opened Comédie Française, in rue des Fossés Saint Germain (now rue de l'Ancienne Comédie).

19^th-century representations of Café Procope show that, similar to Italian examples, the coffeehouse consists of a series of interconnected small rooms that opened to the public domain on one side. The coffeehouse also had a second floor that would serve a larger public. (The early 18th century interior representation of a French coffeehouse, may give us a better idea of the original interior arrangement of Café Procope. The booth with the woman behind appears in other 17^th- century representations of the European coffeehouses.)

Image source:

Map of Paris (Plan de la Caille, 1714):

Pinon, Pierre. Le Boudec, bertrand. Les plans de Paris, Histoire d’une capitale. Paris, Le Passage, 2004, p. 55.

Café Procope’s ground floor plan, drawing by Maura Ferreri and Monica Mantovani:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 155.

Unknown author, Interior view of Café Procope, 1880, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs, published in:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 155.

Unknown author, Printmaking, Interior view of a French coffee-house, 1720, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs, published in:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 153.

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Voltaire, Diderot and “encyclopedists”

Café Procope (print showing Voltaire and Diderot in debate), 18th century

Café Procope, 18th century

Advertisement showing Voltaire drinking coffee

20th century

Café Procope

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Map of Paris, 1714

Plan of the garden of Palais Royal, c. 1754

Paris, Palais Royal Garden, late 18th century

Palais Royal garden and the buildings in 1735

Coffeehouses of the Palais Royal

Some of the well-known coffeehouses of Paris were located on gardens of Palais-Royal (built in 1633). The building complex surrounding the gardens, consisting of commercial galleries on the ground floor and housing on the upper floors, was begun in 1781 (by Philippe d’Orléans, Duke of Chartres, the new proprietor of Palais-Royal).

Image sources:

Map of Paris (Plan de la Caille, 1714):

Pinon, Pierre. Le Boudec, bertrand. Les plans de Paris, Histoire d’une capitale. Paris, Le Passage, 2004, p. 55.

Plan of the gardens of the Palais Royal, c.1754:

Blondel, Jacques-François. Architecture françoise, Tome 3, Livre 5, Chapitre 9, Paris, Charles-Antoine Jombert 1752-6 (p. 44 of the 1904 reimpression).

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palais-Royal_-_Plan_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral_des_Jardins_-_Architecture_fran%C3%A7oise_Tome3_Livre5_Ch9_Pl1.jpg

Plan of the garden and the buildings of Palais Royal, c. 1784: detail from the “Atlas de la Censive de l’Archevêché” (1769-1786):

Pinon, Pierre. Le Boudec, bertrand. Les plans de Paris, Histoire d’une capitale. Paris, Le Passage, 2004, p. 73.

Palais Royal gardens and buildings in 1735, detail from the Turgot plan of Paris, 1735:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais-Royal#/media/File:Palais-Royal_on_the_map_of_Turgot_1739_-_Kyoto_U.jpg

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View of the garden and buildings, 1791

View of the arcades and the garden, 18th century

Plan of the garden and the buildings c. 1784

Café de Chartres (later Café Véfour)

Café Foy

Café des Milles colonnes de la

Belle Limonadière

Café des Aveugles

Cafe Véry

Coffeehouses of the Palais Royal

In the late 18^th century numerous coffeehouses were set up in the arcades of the “new” building complex surrounding the gardens of Palais-Royal. Among them: the still-standing café de Chartres (later renamed café Véfour), Café Foy, Café Véry, Café des Milles colonnes de la Belle Limonadière, Café des Aveugles, among others. During the French Revolution, many of these coffeehouses became gathering places for the revolutionaries. Café de Chartres opened in 1784. In 1820 it became Café Véfour after its new proprietor Jean Véfour, and started to offer meals. This was one of the earliest examples of a new typology: The Café Restaurant.

(We will return to coffeehouses of Paris in Lecture 5. We will discuss coffeehouses in relation to urban transformations and industrialization.)

Image sources:

Plan of the garden and the buildings of Palais Royal, c. 1784: detail from the “Atlas de la Censive de l’Archevêché” (1769-1786):

Pinon, Pierre. Le Boudec, bertrand. Les plans de Paris, Histoire d’une capitale. Paris, Le Passage, 2004, p. 73.

Le Coeur, Louis, View of the garden and the buildings of Palais Royal, 1791, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, RESERVE QB-370 (9)-FT 4

http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb38793013m

Destailleur, Hippolyte, View of the arcades and the garden of Palais Royal, 18th century, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, RESERVE FOL-VE-53 (G)

http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb403124839

Interior view of Café Vefour, 19th century, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs, published in:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 103.

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Yarmouth, 1664

London, 1652

Glasgow, 1673

Oxford, 1655

Cambridge, 1664

Boston, 1670

Edinburgh, 1673

British isles, ca. 1646

English Coffeehouses

ca. 1650-1750

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Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700

British Museum

Interior of a British coffeehouse, c. 1710

English Coffeehouses

ca. 1650-1750

This painting, which shows the interior of a London coffeehouse, offers a rare glimpse of the interior design and atmosphere of an English coffeehouse in the late seventeenth century. It shows a spacious room with wooden floor and two windows placed high on the wall. To the right, patrons are seated around two elongated tables, consuming tobacco and drinking coffee. The wigs and garments worn by patrons signify their high social status. Coffee is served by a young boy from a black pot. Other early 18^th-century representations of the interior an English Coffeehouse, convey a similar arrangement and a sense of cozy interior spaces. Note also that like the Ottoman coffeehouses that we looked at earlier all the customers are men. (In the 17^th century women were not permitted to enter coffeehouses in England.)

Image source:

Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700:

Anonymous, Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700. London, British Museum, museum no. 1931,0613.2

Interior of a British coffeehouse, c. 1710:

Engraving in [Edward Ward], Fourth Part of Vigus Britannicus: or the British Hudibras (London: James Wood Ward, 1710). BL 11631d, Courtesy of British Library, London. As published in:

Cowan, Brian. The Social Life of Coffee - The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse. London, Yale University Press, 2005, p. 227..

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Schematic plan after the “Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700”, drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli

The painting sheds light on various architectural and social features of a typical English coffeehouse. As in an alehouse or inn, clients of the coffeehouse area seated at a table. Note the fireplace in the background. There is a vat which was probably used for preparing coffee. The fireplace also keeps the coffee pots warm. There are newspapers on the tables and two paintings on the wall, probably for sale, are being examined by an expert. Overlooking the coffeehouse, is a booth or sales counter, where a hostess-cashier is handing a glass to another servant. (As Schivelbusch notes, there was no sales-counter in traditional inns; its presence here suggests that the coffeehouse was an essentially bourgeois phenomenon. As we shall see, the origin of the buffet can be traced back to these early sales-counters.)

The general atmosphere seems to be sober, but the arrangement of tables somehow resembles taverns and alehouses of the same period. Note also that all customers are men. Unlike southern Europe, in seventeenth-century England women were not permitted to enter coffeehouses.

Image source:

Schematic plan after the “Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700”, drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 41.

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London Coffeehouses

ca. 1650-1750

Map of London, 1673

Map of the area between Cornhill and Lombard street, with the location of coffeehouses,

c. 1750

Distribution of coffeehouses in the City of London, by ward

Map courtesy of Bill Nelson, after John Stew’s Survey of London, 1663

According to one report, in 1700 there were some 3000 coffeehouses in London. A 1663 survey shows that many of the coffeehouses were located in wealthier neighborhoods and financial districts. In the same period, alehouses still dominated the less affluent and poor quarters. During the 18th century, most of these coffeehouses gave way to private clubs. A mid-18th century map of the area between Cornhill and Lombard street shows that there is still a great number of coffeehouses in London. The map gives an idea of their distribution in the urban fabric. Most of these coffeehouses did not survive past the 19^th century.

Image sources:

Richard Blome’s map of London, 1673:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_-_Richard_Blome%27s_map_of_1673.JPG

Map of the area between Cornhill and Lombard street, c. 1750:

Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants. Translated by David Jacobson. New York, Vintage Books, 1993, p. 56.

Distribution of coffeehouses in the City of London, by ward:

Map courtesy of Bill Nelson, after Stew, John. Survey of London. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000. As published in:

Cowan, Brian. The Social Life of Coffee - The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse. London, Yale University Press, 2005, p. 185.

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Lloyd's in the 18th century

Lloyd's in the early 19th century

The metropolitan coffeehouse compared with the country alehouse, Caricature, c. 1800

London Coffeehouses

ca. 1650-1750

Despite their similarities in terms of architectural atmosphere, note the difference in the representation of the coffeehouse as a more urban space, compared to the more rustic representation of the alehouse. Note also the transformation in the interior design from an inn-like expansive space to a more packed space with seats suitable for smaller groups.

Coffee becomes the drink of the emergent bourgeoisie. Certain coffeehouses had an exclusive customer base and were converted into private clubs or gave rise to private companies during the 18th century. As one example Lloyd's coffeehouse (opened in 1688 on Tower Street); The coffeehouse was a meeting place for sailors, merchants and shipowners, who discussed insurance deals (turning the coffeehouse into an insurance market). The coffeehouse relocated to Lombard Street in 1691. In 1774, members of the insurance market created the Society of Lloyd's and moved to the Royal Exchange.

Image sources:

Lloyd's in a 18th century representation:

Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants. Translated by David Jacobson. New York, Vintage Books, 1993, p. 50.

Lloyd's in an early 19th century representation:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd%27s_Coffee_House#/media/File:Lloyds_Subscription_Room_edited.jpg

The metropolitan coffeehouse compared with the country alehouse,

Isaac Cruickshank after Georges Moutard Woodward, “Caricature ornaments for screens, &c.” pl. 6 (S. W. Fores, 4 June 1800), Etching with hand coloring, LWL, 800.6.4.1, Courtesy of the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. As published in:

Cowan, Brian. The Social Life of Coffee - The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse. London, Yale University Press, 2005, p. 183

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Garraway's Coffeehouse, Change Alley, mid 18th century

Coffeehouse of London, ca. mid 18th century.

Left to right: Button's Coffeehouse, Great Russell Street. Slaughter's Coffeehouse, St. Martin's Lane. Tom's Coffeehouse, Great Russell Street.

A Coffeehouse in London, Cockspur Street,

Designed by Robert and James Adam Architectes, 1770

London Coffeehouses

ca. 1650-1750

Later representations give a sense of typical London coffeehouses. Some were multi-storied buildings with large rooms on the upper floor. Others were modest structures with glazed facades that opened onto the public space, thus establishing a visual relation between the interior and exterior.

Images sources:

Garraway's Coffeehouse, Change Alley, Illustration from Walford Edward, Old and New London. London, Cassell, 1880. As published in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 84.

Robert and James Adam Architectes, The British Coffeehouse, Cockspur Street, London, 1770:

https://londonstreetviews.wordpress.com/category/77-cockspur-street-nos-1-4-and-nos-22-34-also-pall-mall-nos-1-21-and-117-124/

T.H. Shepherd, Button's Coffeehouse, Great Russell Street, London, watercolor, c. 1841, published in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 84.

T.H. Shepherd, Slaughter's Coffeehouse, St. Martin's Lane, London, c. 1841, published in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 85.

T.H. Shepherd, Tom's Coffeehouse, Great Russell Street, London, c. 1841, published in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 85.

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Conclusions: The Coffeehouse in Global Perspective

Utensils, Rituals, and Architecture

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Coffee pot

1681-1682

London, England

Covered jug for coffee

1715-40

Kütahya, Ottoman Turkey

Profiles of European coffee pots, 17^th -19^th century

Drinking Utensils

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Jan Luyken, The Coffeehouse, c. 1700

Anonymous, Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700.

Ottoman Coffeehouses, 1610

Detail from a 1610 Ottoman painting

Modes and Spaces of Socializing

Emergence of a Public Domain

With coffee and its paraphernalia came new gestures, postures, and manners of socializing, which had an effect on the design of furniture and interior spaces. Some modes of sitting could only be seen in specific regions. But coffee was primarily consumed in a public setting: the coffeehouses. The architecture of coffeehouses housed a wide range of social activities such as conversation and playing. In the absence of newspapers, coffeehouses were the main sites for news exchange. From Isfahan to London, it was in the coffeehouse that the news and rumors were spread. Across the world, some men of letters spent their entire days in coffeehouses.

Images sources:

Jan Luyken, The Coffeehouse, c. 1700, Johan Jacobs Museum, Zurich, published in:

Reinders, Pim, and Thera Wijsenbeek. Koffie in Nederland: Vier eeuwen cultuurgeschiedenis. Zutphen, Walburg Pers, 1994, p. 41.

Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700:

Anonymous, Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700. London, British Museum, museum no. 1931,0613.2

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Tile panel, showing a coffee servant

1701-25

London, England

Kneeling Yough Offering Coffee

1630

By Reza Abbasi

Isfahan, Iran

Painting originally on the door of an armoire in a coffeehouse

ca. 1796

Verona, Italy

The Coffee Server

An obsession with the coffee-server was an aspect of the coffee culture across the globe. The server (often a handsome young boy), depicted in the act of pouring or serving coffee, figures frequently in paintings. (Note that coffeehouses were primarily all-male institutions.) The tile panel (on the left) is said to have adorned the wall of a now-destroyed coffeehouse in London.

Images sources:

Anonymous, Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700. London, British Museum, museum no. 1931,0613.2

http://www.museumoflondonprints.com/image/141847/unknown-tile-panel-18th-century

Painting originally on the door of an armoire in a coffeehouse (Caffè Al Podovano, Verona, Italy), Paolino Caliari, ca. 1796, published in:

Pugi, Ilaria. Torriti, Paolo. ed. Le bevande coloniali: argenti e salotti del Settecento italiano: tè, caffè e cioccolato. Rome, Palombi, Arezzo, Mosaico, 2015, p. 87.

Golestan Palace Library, Tehran.

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Schematic plan after the “Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700”

Drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli

Interior of a coffeehouses in Istanbul, ca. 1800

Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700.

Schematic plan after the “Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore”

Drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli

Interior Spaces

When we consider the architecture of the coffeehouse in this period, we can see several common features. Note for instance the bold presence of an oven or fire-place in both English and Ottoman coffeehouses. Their presence has to do with the nature of coffee as a hot beverage. This was indeed one of the main features that differentiates the coffeehouse from the tavern. Another common element is the arrangement of the seats around a central space that we can find in Ottoman, Safavid, and early Venetian coffeehouses. The rooms are surrounded by a U-shaped bench, accentuating the intimacy of the place. The central space, observed by the sitting audience, resembled a theatre stage.

Images sources:

Schematic plan after the “Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore”, drawing by Luca Basso Peressut, Remo Dorigati, and Elisabetta Ginelli:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, pp. 40-42.

Engraving showing the interior of a coffeehouses in Istanbul, ca. 1800:

Antoine Melling, Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore, published in:

D’Orsi, Angelo. Il caffè, ossia brevi e vari discorsi in area padana, a cura di, Milan, Amilcare Pizzi, 1990, p. 18.

Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700:

Anonymous, Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700. London, British Museum, museum no. 1931,0613.2

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Caffè Florian, plan.

(Source: Peressut, Remo, and Ginelli)

Caffè Florian, San Marco Square, Venice

Coffeehouses, Royal Square (Maydan), Isfahan

Coffeehouses and Urban Spaces

Along with this type of centrally-planned coffeehouse, there emerged an urban typology that was particularly constructed along large urban spaces. Consider, for example, the coffeehouse complex of the Maydan of Isfahan (bottom) and Caffe Florian on San Marco Square (top), which both consisted of a series of small centrally-planned rooms. They were interconnected with the open-air space of the square. (Note in the engraving of San Marco Square how the cafe has bound the arcade and the plaza.) In this manner, coffeehouses altered the meaning and uses of large public spaces. They particularly contributed to the expansion of night life in urban spaces.

Image sources:

Caffè Florian’s plan:

Basso Peressut, Luca, Dorigati, Remo, and Ginelli, Elisabetta, L'architettura del caffè: tradizione e progetto in Europa. Milan, Abitare Segesta, 1994, p. 42.

Caffè Florian and Procutie Nuove’s arcades in a 19th century representation, published (without exact references) in:

Ukers, William H. All About Coffee. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922, p. 30.

Coffeehouses of Isfahan, Plan and Photo:

Farshid Emami, “Coffeehouses, Urban Spaces, and the Formation of a Public Sphere in Safavid Isfahan,” Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World 33 (2016): 177-220, at 187-88.

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Coffeehouse

Tavern

Punch drinkers, William Hogarth, mid 18th century

English coffeehouse, ca. 1674

Coffeehouses vs. Taverns

Ottoman Coffeehouse, 1610

Safavid Tavern, 1531-33

Representations of coffeehouses often depict a sober and calm atmosphere. This picture is not always true with regards to Alehouses or Taverns. Coffee drinking is considered a sober social activity. (Note the striking difference between representations of coffeehouses and taverns across cultures.) Rather than wine, poets began to draw inspiration from coffee. In Europe, coffeehouses are particularly frequented by the emergent bourgeoisie.

Images sources:

English coffeehouse, Anonymous author, ca. 1674, published in:

Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants. Translated by David Jacobson. New York, Vintage Books, 1993, p. 53.

Punch drinkers, William Hogarth (1697-1764), 18th century, Binliothèque nationale de France, Paris, published in:

Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. Histoire des stimulants. Translated by Éric Blondel, Ole Hanse-Love, Théo Leydenbach, and Pierre Pénisson. Paris, Gallimard, 1991, p. 85.

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London 1675:

King Charles II of England banned coffeehouses.

Istanbul 1580:

Ottoman Sultan Murad II banned coffeehouses.

And again in 1633.

.

Venice 1796:

Inquisitors of Venetian Republic banned coffè Florian.

Political Subversions and Reactions

Isfahan 1600s:

Shah Abbas order clerics to preach the public in coffeehouses

.

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J. Buys, Interior of a Dutch coffeehouse, 1763

Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700

Coffeehouses and Public Spheres

Ottoman miniature showing a coffeehouse

All in all, the coffeehouse was a new social institution, operating between the domestic space and public domain. By the end of the seventeenth century, the coffeehouse was the most prominent social space across the regions stretching from London to Isfahan. The coffeehouses was the meeting place for literary circles and the site of political agitation. The architecture of many coffeehouses in this period had a homely feeling, but they were not private places. It is precisely because of this in-between character that many believe that the rise of coffeehouses ushered in a fundamental transformation in the state-society relations. Coffeehouses were the constituent elements of a “public sphere,” a domain of social interactions which looked like the familiar space of the home yet belonged to the public.

Images sources:

J. Buys, Interior of a Dutch coffeehouse, 1763, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, published in:

Reinders, Pim, and Thera Wijsenbeek. Koffie in Nederland: Vier eeuwen cultuurgeschiedenis. Zutphen, Walburg Pers, 1994, p. 48.

Interior of a London coffeehouse, c. 1690-1700:

Anonymous, Interior of a London Coffee-house, c. 1690-1700. London, British Museum, museum no. 1931,0613.2

Ottoman painting:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9c/2f/ce/9c2fce03d7a6a8f30a2d119bcdf66ddd.jpg