Constantinople Part II

 I apologize for the delay due to technical issues, but I'm back! As promised, I'm going to continue with the history and attractions of Constantinople. Instead of performing my traditional outline of: history, followed by attractions and ending with pictures, I'm going to mix it up by introducing you to something called 'remediation.' In a nutshell, a remediation is when one takes a text and changes its form. For example, Da Vinci took the Biblical text of the last supper, and turned it into a painting. In today's blog, I'm going to give you a brief history of the Latin and Ottoman empires, as well as of Turkey today; for the attractions, I will attempt to give you examples on places to go in order to find remediation, whether through art, music, or other cultural practices. Let's begin!

Latin Empire

The Latin Empire is a relatively short one: with Constantinople booming, it fell under constant threat of invasions, especially from various tribes scattered across the middle east; not surprisingly, these tribes did not create the Latin Empire. It was after 1204 that Constantinople fell under the control of members of the fourth crusade (if you're curious, there were a total of nine crusades) and shortly after, Constantinople was turned into the center of the Catholic Latin Empire. 

As I'm sure you can guess by now, this didn't last long. Tensions began to rise between the Catholic Latin Empire and the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire. Because of this, Constantinople found itself caught in the middle and began to decline in economy, population and defense.  Lacking in the necessary departments for a successful city, Constantinople collapsed and in 1261the Emperor of Nicaea claimed Constantinople, therefore returning it to the Byzantine Empire. At the same time, the Ottoman Turks began invading neighboring cities of Constantinople, therefore, cutting it off from any form of trade or support.

Ottoman Empire
"Officially" conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine XI died while defending the city, and almost immediately after it's capture, Constantinople was declared as the capital of the Ottoman Empire. It is during this point in history that the world sees the changes in names from Constantinople to Istanbul (the name has stuck ever since.) Personally, I see the rise of the Ottoman Empire as being Istanbul's golden age; led by Sultan Mehmed, Istanbul was reborn through things such as the Grand Bazaar (a large covered market place), the return of Catholic and Orthodox residents, as well as the integration of Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

Along with population integration, Istanbul began to flourish with construction of schools, public baths, hospitals and imperial mosques (for those who don't know, a mosque is where the Muslims practice much like how a Christian practices within a church). The Ottoman Empire remained in power until it was defeated and  occupied by the allied forces of World War I. 

Turkey Today
Gaining independence in 1923, Istanbul was not the capital. Instead, it was a city by the name of Ankara. In the 40s and 50s, Istanbul began to re-emerge as new squares, avenues and other roads were constructed. Unfortunately, because of the construction, many of the historical sites were destroyed. On the bright side, many of its historical areas were placed on the UNESCO list in 1985 and in 2010, Istanbul was named a European Capital of Culture by the European Union. 

That goes to show that no matter how old something is, its experiences may continue to have a major impact on the people around it, as well as adding a unique flare to the history books.

In my quest to locate attractions that offer examples of remediation, I'm sad to say that I wasn't successful. But that's okay! I'll still show you some of Istanbul's crown jewels: the Hippodrome of Constantine and the 16th century Suleymaniye Mosque, both which are protected by UNESCO.

That's right fellow travelers, I said "show," not "describe." The reason is that I want you to focus on the simple beauty of the following attractions and to allow your own curiosity to guide you in the direction of either the Hippodrome of Constantine or the Suleymaniye Mosque. 

Hippodrome of Constantine

Notice that the Hippodrome of Constantine (obviously worn down due to weather, construction and invasions) contains two Egyptian obelisks as seen above.

Suleymaniye Mosque

 Exterior of the Mosque

 Interior of the Mosque