I have been to Istanbul more than once. And I always caught myself thinking that I absolutely do not know the city. Trying to correct this feeling, with the help of guidebooks and guides, I discovered new pages for myself each time. Thus, gradually immersing myself in the Istanbul theme, its past, I made an unexpected discovery. Istanbul, with its numerous skyward-reaching mosques and the noise of bazaars, began to expand in time; it no longer seemed to me to be Istanbul. Through the Muslim architectural outline, another, no less great city, Constantinople, the biblical City of Kings, began to emerge.
Its cobbled streets and squares, fortress walls and aqueducts, temples and miniatures, towers and bridges rose from the fog of history, filling the city with the life of Byzantine times. Byzantium did not perish; it was alive, and Constantinople lived on, and I saw and sensed this awakening of the Great Empire. It had not disappeared anywhere; it just needed to be looked for to be seen.
This time, for the journey to Constantinople and Byzantium, we have a whole week - seven days, a car, and a guide, hotels - all included; we just need to deeply immerse ourselves in history.
The uniqueness of Byzantine civilization lies in the fact that it is the only civilization whose dates of birth and death are known with precision to the day. Byzantium was born on November 8, 324 AD, when a new capital of the Roman Empire, named Constantinople, was laid on the site of the ancient town of Byzantium on the shores of the Bosphorus. It completed its historical journey on May 29, 1453, when Constantinople was conquered by the Turks. In fact, the history of Byzantium as an independent state and the history of Byzantine civilization began in 395 AD, when the Roman Empire was divided into two parts. The eastern part of the empire was named Byzantium - after the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium.
The Great Silk Road to China passed through Constantinople, the route to the ports of the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean.
The military-strategic position of Constantinople ensured Byzantium's dominance over the straits. In periods of its power, Byzantium included the territories of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Northern Mesopotamia, part of Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, the islands of Crete and Cyprus, Chersonesus in Crimea, and some areas of Arabia.
A dangerous enemy of Byzantium in the east remained the New Persian Empire with the Sassanid dynasty. It was the only one that could compare with Byzantium in terms of power.
Byzantium was almost constantly at war. In a century of its history, one could count on average no more than 20-25 years of peace. Emperor Justinian ascended to the throne in 527 AD. His first act was to attempt to restore the Roman Empire to its former borders. He partly succeeded. At the same time, large-scale construction was underway. The city walls were pushed even further west. A gigantic Forum, a marketplace (the current territory of the Kapalıçarşı bazaar), the imperial palace of Boukoleon, a circus, a theater, numerous public baths, the Hagia Sophia, and a system of fortifications along the Danube border were built here.
Next is an interesting and little-known fact. At the insistence of his mother, the converted Emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity as the state religion, which from the 4th century defined the spiritual life of Byzantium. It played an integrating and stabilizing role, becoming a dominant factor in the life of society and serving as the ideological foundation of the state.
A unique feature of Byzantine civilization was the combination of Christian religion, Hellenistic culture, and Roman statehood in the life of Byzantium.
The Byzantines believed that the political structure of the world was part of a universal divine plan and was closely linked to the history of humanity's salvation. Constantine ordained that this people should serve Christ and bring the light of the Gospel to the nations.
From the 7th century, the Arabs became a serious enemy of Byzantium, having by that time created a state unified by Islam. However, trouble came from Europe. On April 13, 1204, the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade stormed, plundered, and burned Constantinople. Numerous churches were looted, altars were smashed to pieces, and sacred vessels and jewels were melted down into ingots. The Crusaders particularly zealously hunted for Christian relics, of which there were many in the city after nine centuries. Modern historians believe that the total value of the loot captured by the Crusaders exceeded the annual income of all the countries of Western Europe combined.
Byzantium fragmented into several parts but was soon restored; however, it could never recover from such a blow. By the 15th century, a ring of Ottoman Turks closed around it. In 1453, they approached Constantinople and began a siege that lasted 53 days. On May 29, the Turks broke into the city. Constantine Palaiologos - the last Byzantine emperor - died in battle, and Constantinople became the capital of the Ottoman Empire, renamed Istanbul.
560 years have passed since then. Now a completely different people lives here, different laws reign, and different customs prevail. The Byzantine heritage, alien to the newcomers, has either been destroyed or fundamentally altered. And now it is not so easy to find the paths in the nooks of modern Istanbul life that will "bring you back" to Byzantium. However, they exist and are becoming increasingly noticeable and crowded.
Why did Byzantium perish? There is no consensus among historians. Some insist on the betrayal of the authorities, others blame religion... It is pointless to search for reasons, as it was the will of God - a concept compressed from thousands of circumstances.
Be that as it may, the Byzantine Empire existed for a thousand years, half of the history of our time. And the legacy of this vast journey is invaluable.
The significance of the Byzantine Empire in the history of humanity is hard to overestimate. During a century of barbarism and the early Middle Ages, it conveyed to posterity the legacy of Hellas and Rome, preserved Christian culture, achievements in science, literature, visual arts, book miniatures, decorative applied arts, and architecture. It was in Byzantium that the first church organ was constructed and sent to Western Europe. Moreover, it is impossible to imagine modern society without Byzantine influence.
Sometimes Constantinople is called the "golden bridge" between the West and the East. This is true, but it is even more accurate to consider it a bridge between antiquity and modern times. This is an axiom, and humanity is obliged to do everything to ensure that the hidden values of world history and culture are not lost. This is the main thing.
We have decided to start our journey through the cities of Byzantium with Constantinople. As we already know, until 330 AD, it was called Byzantium. In 326, the Roman Emperor Constantine laid the new capital of his empire on the site of Byzantium, naming it New Rome. However, the name did not stick, and on May 11, 330, he consecrated it as Constantinople.
Emperor Constantine sought for the new capital to surpass Rome in beauty and splendor. At his command, the best sculptures, valuable manuscripts, church utensils, and relics of saints were brought to Constantinople from Rome, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Antioch, and other cities of the empire. Constantine's successors continued this work.
Marble and bronze columns, which had previously adorned Roman temples and squares, were delivered to Constantinople. Tradition has it that 60 tons of gold were spent on the construction of the city. At the same time, the Hagia Sophia was built - the largest Christian temple in the world at that time, which remained so for more than a thousand years until the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome appeared.
"Solomon, I have surpassed you!" - these words were reportedly spoken by Justinian upon entering the constructed cathedral, referring to the legendary Jerusalem temple. The city grew rapidly and became first the business center of the then-known world and soon the largest city in the world.
As a result of disagreements between the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Christian church was divided in 1054, and Constantinople became the center of Orthodoxy. People came to the city from all over the vast Byzantine Empire.
Everyone wanted not only to venerate the relics kept in the sacristies of the cathedrals but also to see the symbol of an entire era, embodied through architecture and human genius. Hagia Sophia - a true wonder of the world!
We too first head to Hagia Sophia - one of the brightest works of world architecture. A visual embodiment of theology in stone and painting! Without Hagia Sophia, one cannot understand Byzantium. It is the only place that gives an idea of the scale of thinking of that time. In neither Egyptian, Greek, nor Roman temples do you feel what you feel in Hagia Sophia. From the outside, it does not seem that enormous. But upon entering, you experience a true shock from contemplating the almost infinite space, somehow accommodated under the vaults suspended to the heavens.
Then we hurry to visit the main Christian district of the old city - Fener, with its crooked and narrow alleys, where the buildings of the Patriarchate of Constantinople are located. In the Patriarchal Church of St. George, unique mosaic icons, the Byzantine ceremonial cross carved from the wood of the Holy Cross, and a stone column to which Christ was tied for scourging are kept. Here, too, is a small church of the Mongolian Mother of God - the only Byzantine temple in the city that has not been converted into a mosque.
Next, the path leads us to the city walls of Edirnekapı, where we admire the pearl of these places - the church of the Savior Monastery with frescoes that belong to the greatest masterpieces of Byzantium.
Turkey is literally soaked in Christianity. Isn't it a miracle that one can touch the stones where the apostles sat, where Christian relics have been kept and await their triumph for centuries?!
Our first Byzantine stop after Constantinople is the city of Nicaea. Due to the presence of a temple in honor of the goddess of Victory - Nike, the city was named Nicaea. During the Byzantine period, the city was a metropolis, and a church of St. Tryphon was built on the site of the temple. Additionally, the church of St. Sophia also rises here.
Another city that caught our attention is the ancient Assos, located on the cliffs by the bay of Edremit in the Çanakkale region. During the Byzantine period, the city was called Makrimaion. Here, on the site of the ruins of the ancient fortress, a temple of Athena was built. The frescoes preserved on sixteen columns depict images of sphinxes, bulls, and mythological heroes. The floor of the temple, which during the Byzantine period was a basilica, is covered with well-preserved mosaics.
The next point of our Byzantine marathon is Bergama. After the Macedonian period, Philetairos founded the Kingdom of Pergamon here, which stretched from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean Sea. During Byzantine times, among the beautiful ancient structures such as a theater for 10,000 spectators, a temple of Athena, an altar of Zeus, and the Pergamon Library, one of the first seven Christian churches was built.
Our journey through the cities of Byzantium continued, becoming an increasingly fascinating exploration. Now we are heading to Miletus. The very Miletus that was one of the authoritative kingdoms of antiquity. During the Byzantine period, it became a missionary center. The main decoration of the city was a theater with 54 galleries. In the lower part, we inspected the places for the city nobility and even sat in the cold stone boxes. The theater had three levels, each 10 meters high, and was lined with colored marble, adorned with columns and statues.
85 kilometers from Izmir lies the famous ancient city of Ephesus. It reached its peak in the 2nd century BC. Ephesus, or rather its ruins, is located in one of the basins of the Selçuk valley. Through the grand gates, we enter the main street. There are so many tourists here that there is no free space. A continuous flow of people. The street is paved with marble slabs. Along it are columns and statues. After a long descent under the watchful eyes of silent statues, we reach the place where Curetes Street intersects with the Port Street. We also saw the houses of love from the Roman period, adorned with frescoes depicting Aphrodite. However, the main symbol of ancient Ephesus is the Library of Celsus, built in the 2nd century AD. From it, a street with columns 600 meters long and 10 meters wide runs along the foot of the basin. The pedestrian part is paved with mosaics. At the end of the street are the theater and the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, once considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
By the middle of the 1st century, when the Apostle Paul arrived in Ephesus to preach, the city had more than 250,000 inhabitants - Romans, Jews, and Egyptians. A few years after Paul, the Apostle John settled in Ephesus. Emperor Domitian - the persecutor of Christians - sent him into exile on the island of Patmos (Aegean Sea), where John not only converted the locals to Christianity but also wrote the Holy Gospel and the Apocalypse.
After the death of the emperor, John returned to Ephesus, where he spent the last years of his life, living to be 104 years old. Sensing the approach of death, the apostle instructed his disciples to dig a cross-shaped grave outside the city, descended into it, and ordered them to cover him with earth. Upon learning of John's death, many of his disciples wept because they could not say goodbye to him. Some of them dug up the grave to bid farewell to their teacher, but it turned out to be empty.
Another Christian trace near Ephesus is the house of the Virgin Mary, where she, according to tradition, lived with the Apostle John during the persecutions. Today it is a Catholic church, with a holy spring in its courtyard.
Our journey was gaining momentum. Leaving behind the hot springs of Pamukkale and the ancient Hierapolis, where in 87 AD the Apostle Philip with seven sons met a martyr's death, we move towards the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. This area was called Lycia in ancient times.
A few kilometers from the coast lies the modern city of Kale, marked in excursion brochures with the more ancient name Demre. But we know this city as Myra. In 60 AD, the Apostle Paul visited Lycia on his way to Rome, and the first Christian community, and later a diocese, was founded here. The most famous bishop was Saint Nicholas. Here he served, and from here he returned after the ascension of Constantine and died. In the 11th century, the relics were transported from Myra to the Italian city of Bari, but the sarcophagus in which they were kept remained here, in the Church of St. Nicholas.
The eastern part of the Mediterranean coast was called Pamphylia in ancient times. Today it is the fastest-growing resort area of Turkey, centered in the city of Antalya. Many coastal cities of Pamphylia date back to antiquity. Each of them has picturesque ruins: in Termessos - a theater and two temples: of Zeus and Artemis; in Perge - a stadium, the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, Roman baths, and Hellenistic gates; in Aspendos, the theater for twelve thousand spectators and the aqueduct are beautifully preserved.
Here, in Antalya, we finally emerged from the depths of Byzantine time, and on the beautiful sandy shore in one of the hotels, our journey through Byzantium came to an end.
Upon returning to Constantinople, we again went to Hagia Sophia. An endless stream of people from all over the world flowed in an unending line under the vaults of the greatest temple. Thousands of tourists dissolved under this boundless dome. Despite the large number of people, there was silence. Everyone was frozen in amazement at the hidden paintings and interiors.
In recent years, thanks to Swiss restorers with the support of UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, part of the dome and wall paintings have been freed from centuries-old plaster, and now they shine, imbued with the spirit of Jesus Christ. In the golden muted tones of the magical glow, in the paintings and Byzantine mosaics, I saw how the fire of life breaks through time. Here it is, the second coming of Christ, in Great Constantinople, in the sacred temple of Hagia Sophia.
The Power of the Renaissance
Today in Turkey, as in Greece, there is everything. You can see and "touch" antiquity mixed with the first centuries of Christianity, the Crusades, and the tragic demise of Byzantium, Ottoman medieval times, the powerful Islamic empire, and the new Turkey, a virtually European country that emerged thanks to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the 20th century.
For many years, Christian shrines in this land remained in ruin and oblivion. But tourism performed a miracle here. The authorities realized that forgotten ruins are like gold bars, and if everything is put in order, one can earn a considerable amount of money. And that is exactly what happened. Money revived Byzantium; its cities were restored, and history and guidebooks were rewritten. And the trickle of tourists became a stream that seems endless.
Today it is evident that tourism in Turkey consists of two streams. One flows through modern resorts, flowing into the Black and Aegean Seas. And the other, perhaps even larger, goes not through Turkey but through Byzantium and ancient Rome.
Starting in Constantinople-Istanbul, it moves through the cities of Troy, Assos, Nicaea, Pergamon, Spharda, Ephesus, Miletus, Hierapolis, Knidos, Anastasiopolis, Xanthos, Myra, Phaselis, Irida, Termessos, Parta, Aspendos, Theopolis...
Today, many tourists come to Istanbul to see Constantinople. They come to Turkey to learn about Byzantium. Just Hagia Sophia brings into the state treasury, by modest estimates, several million dollars. And how much do other monuments of ancient Roman and Byzantine times bring?!
It was not always like this. For many centuries, Byzantium was dead. Moreover, it became an object of hatred and evil; everything even remotely related to Christianity was destroyed. Only after many years did the great Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, seeing the inevitable demise and disintegration of Turkey, manage to unite and mobilize the people's forces and create a new state.
New Turkey could not fail to understand that the heritage of Byzantium is an invaluable treasure, a source of inexhaustible income, bestowed upon the Turks by fate. Thus, against the backdrop of commercial interest, money saved Byzantium. Trivial, yet this thought is not devoid of meaning. This process, it seems, cannot be stopped. So the second coming of Jesus Christ is not far off.