www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Byzantine Churches of Istanbul

Well, dear Alex, I long for that multicultural Constantinople, as in those glorious days of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Greek, Jewish, Levantine, and Muslim (Turkish) communities sharing everything concerning everyday and spiritual life. I refuse to see things from a single perspective, whether that be of the Greeks or the Turks. Now, I don't deny the Greek civilization of Istanbul, I even appreciate it with much sincerity, but we must also accept that the Turks, until recently, contributed to that civilization also. The city would fall no matter what, and in that day's context, it fell to the Turks. Is there anything that you and I or somebody else can do about it? It's history. I'm concerned about Constantinople's future, because not many of the inhabitants know what a valuable thing they have. (You people do on this board ) Could I make myself clear?

But of course I would want to see the New Rome blossom again! I agree with you at this point. Peace...

Mustafa

I wanted to attach a few pictures that I had taken last summer. They are from streets of Phanar where the Patriarchate is, and from the Chora Monastery. And 1 or 2 from the Seraglio and the Tekfur Palace (Manuel Komnenus) (believed to belong to the Blachernai Palace).

Unfortunately, I don't know what the mosaics of Chora are depicting. These are not the best pictures, but can give you an idea. No attachment to the board is possible, I suppose, so here is the link for the compressed file (It will expire in a week): http://s21.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=25F8DJ4O751WR35R9XPTOUD15S

Regards...

Dear Mustafa,

It was very kind of you to show us these photos.

Are you perhaps a photographer by hobby or profession?

I also think that you would enjoy taking History of Art classes...It is a great field of study for those who are romantic/nostalgic for History through art and architecture.

Warm regards,
Alice

P.S. Your English is perfect!

Hi Alice,

What a pity I am not a photographer. I took those pictures upon the request of a friend. Well, I wasn't very successful since it requires a wide angle (and a camera that can zoom in) to fit the complete structures to one single shot, I could only do it piecewise. Notice the Greek High School and the Bulgarian Church.

In my senior year at university one of my electives was seminar in Medieval European History, but the content was mostly comprised of the history of Byzantium and her relations with the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire. And the instructor was a Greek guy. I don't think I can do well in a history of art class though. It would be nice if I could.

Have a nice day all...

Mustafa,

Thanks in advance for photos that I know from Alice's reaction are going to be interesting. They are defying my efforts to extract them this evening, but I am very tired and, consequently, lacking in my usual computer saavy. Will revisit them tomorrow.

Many years,

Neil

Greetings to Mustafa and welcome to the forum.
I hope you do not mind but I tool the liberty of downloading your beautiful pictures and placing them on a web page for easier viewing. The link is:

http://www.stanne-byzcath.org/Mustafas_pics.htm

Please let me know if you have any problems viewing these since I used the photo gallery tool to place these.

In Christ,

Michael

Dear Alice, Neil and Michael,

Thank you for responses! Michael, special thanks goes to you! I don't think they are good pictures though. They deserve a better effort. Hopefully this Saturday I will take more and high quality pictures from the old city, spanning the monuments from the sea walls all the way to the land walls.

Many thanks also for accepting me to the forum, because I've always wanted to talk about Constantinople and share the material, her pictures in this case.

Mustafa

Dear Mustafa,

Thank you for the pictures, and welcome to the forum. I know that the 'City' was so well loved by the Greeks that lived there, as well as those that still do.

I have a map of old 'Constantinople' that I treasure. It was in an old 'National Geographic'. I cut it out, and hoped someday to have it framed.

It shows the outstanding buildings of the past, enlarged, with the Emporor and Empress near the palace, with all their regalia. It is sort of a caricature. I just love it. But then again, I'm a romantic.

I can't imagine though, any of those buildings brought back to their original glory. What 'glory' would they be brought back to. By that, I mean which era. There are so many. But then again, the Italians were always able to do it, so why not. They completely rebuilt the walls of Rhodes.

I was totally stunned when I was shown some pictures of some renovated mosaics in Aghia Sophia. I couldn't believe the beauty of the faces, etc. Of course as a romantic, my dream is to have a movie made of the sack of Constantinople by the Franks. How I would just love to see Venice, with it's people in their original dress and 'ways', and Constantinope and it's people, with their own dress and 'ways'.

I believe the women wore veils to cover their faces. I think the cone hats of the Middle Ages, came from Cyprus, and the hanging veil was really brought in front of their faces. But I'm only guessing.

Zenovia

I could not borrow my friend's multifunctional digital camera today. The weather was also overwhelmingly foggy; the pictures would be worse than the previous ones posted here.

Thanks for the pictures.

There was one especially, maybe it was from the Hagi Sophia. The one with the saints, this one http://www.stanne-byzcath.org/images/Chora3.jpg
I remember someone on here saying that when Constantinople was over-run, the bishops disappeared into the wall (something like that). That was just the feeling I had when I saw it, so weird. Michael thanks for making them easier to access.

Pani Rose