Browsing tag:
Byzantine heritage
I didn't know anything about Yedikule Fortress before I went to see it. In fact, I've never heard of it despite the fact that I've been to Istanbul many times in the past. I went there because that's where I started my tour of Theodosian Walls. I thought that it was part of the Byzantine heritage, but I was wrong. Fatih Sultan Mehmed ordered construction of this fortress immediately after the conquest of ...
When we talk about the Byzantine heritage in modern-day Istanbul, certainly magnificent Hagia Sophia immediately comes to mind. But there are also former Christian Orthodox churches that you can see in the city, which are all mosques now. However, the Byzantine legacy doesn't end there. The Theodosian Walls protected the city for 1000 years, while the only remaining Byzantine imperial palace is the Tekfur ...
Imagine a city that was a centre of the Christian Orthodox faith for 1000 years, which then became a centre of the Islamic Caliphate for 400 years. Sultan Selim I conquered Mamluk Egypt in 1517 and claimed a title of the Caliph. Then, try to imagine a Christian Orthodox church with some of the finest late Byzantine mosaics and frescoes that remained untouched by the Ottomans despite the fact that it became ...
Do you know that, apart from the famous Byzantine wonder that everyone knows, there is also Little Hagia Sophia? Certainly, I didn't know anything about it, but that's because I never really explored the Byzantine heritage in Istanbul before. It was on the occasion of my latest visit that I decided to see and write about this aspect of the city.
Despite the fact that 571 years passed since Constantinople ...
It's almost impossible to talk about Byzantine churches in Istanbul. After the conquest of Constantinople 571 years ago, Ottomans converted almost all Christian Orthodox religious temples into mosques. The only Byzantine church that still retains its original function is the Panagia Mouchliotissa church in Fener. I went to see this church, unfortunately it was closed. But I'm not too bothered because, when ...
