Tag: justinian i

Postcard from Istanbul, Turkey: Controversies resurface with conversion of Chora

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Above: Angels surround an image of the Virgin Mary and Child in a 14th-century Byzantine fresco in the dome crowning a side chapel of the former Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, recently reopened as the Kariye Mosque.

I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap.” 

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938)

For many in Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk remains the most respected figure in the republic’s history. Banners bearing Ataturk’s image still flutter across streets and on buildings throughout Istanbul.

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Ataturk led a successful revolution against the Allied Forces to prevent them from dividing up Turkey as spoils of war. He abolished the Sultanate and then proclaimed Turkey an independent republic in 1923.

As the country’s first president, Ataturk launched a host of aggressively progressive reforms: free and compulsory elementary level education for all; equal rights for women; and secularization of the state. Later, both Hagia Sofia and Chora Church were converted into museums, demonstrating Turkey’s tolerance of different religions.

In 2020 to cement his support on the conservative right, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan succeeded in convincing the court to overturn Ataturk’s original decree and announced the conversion of both into mosques. The conversions were accompanied by a promise to keep the mosques accessible to those of all faiths.

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Postcard from Ravenna, Italy: A sleeping beauty awakened

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Honorius (384-423) was only ten years old when his father died. Sad fact on its own, but his father was Theodosius the Great (347-395), Emperor of the Roman Empire. With big shoes to fill, he needed to grow up quickly. The rule of the empire was divided, with his older brother reigning over the eastern half and Honorius presiding over the western half.

Pesky barbarians kept trying to wrest control of his empire, and Honorius decided to move his capital to Ravenna in 402. The new capital was viewed as easy to defend, surrounded by fortifications built by earlier emperors and marshland. While the capital could be defended, its location left much of the rest of Italy vulnerable.

In 408, the Roman Senate bought their way out of danger by paying the Visigoths 4,000 pounds of gold to leave Italy alone. But having run through that the Goths returned to sack Rome itself in 410. Britain and much of the rest of the Roman Empire were left without Roman protection. And, although Rome was regained in 414, Honorius is remembered for the defeats suffered and the unraveling of the empire during his reign.

Perhaps tired of being cold, the Goths returned with a vengeance under the leadership of the King of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric the Great (454-526). Theodoric made Ravenna the base for his new Arian kingdom, welcoming more than 200,000 of his followers to settle in Italy. While this was bad for much of Italy, Ravenna flourished under the attention.

Two decades after Theodoric’s death, Justinian I (483-565), the Byzantine Emperor, was able to wrest control of Ravenna and much of Italy from the Ostrogoths. Ravenna continued to benefit from royal attention.

After the 8th century, Ravenna was no longer a star. This lack of attention and imperialistic investment turned her into somewhat of a sleeping beauty, extremely beneficial for preserving the city’s early Christian monuments. Eight of its 5th and 6th century buildings are recognized on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as demonstrating “great artistic skill, including a wonderful blend of Graeco-Roman tradition, Christian iconography and oriental and Western styles.”

The mosaics inside these monuments are Ravenna’s main attractions, but we are going to ease into those. This first postcard from Ravenna is simply a random combination of photos of the city to whet your appetite.

La Gardela spedino
La Gardela grilled raddicchio
La Gardela fried zucchini
La Gardela tortelloni

Threw in a little bit of food from lunch to make you hungrier for Ravenna. We stumbled across a nice restaurant with street-side seating, La Gardela. As ridiculous as this sounds, the zucchini fries alone were worth the train ride from Bologna.

Okay, it’s not fair to totally hold out on the mosaics. Peek if you must at this UNESCO preview.