the defences of istanbul!

[antaeus]

finally sorted some pics from my time in turkey late last year and early this year..

the theodosian walls in all their glory...

begun during the rule of emperor theodosian the great (while he was still a child) the last tuler of a united roman empire.. the walls stood unbroken by enemies for more than a thousand years. they withstood half hearted attacks from huns (who had heard they had falled down after an earthquake) avars, bulgars, arabs, and many more peoples... only to fall after repeated attempts to turkish canon. the walls were solid enough, that they were repaired and maintained by the turks until the 19th century.

recent repairwork funded by unesco has failed to match the strength of the original walls.. in some cases during the 1999 earthquake, the repaired sections collapsed to reveal the original walls underneath.. i was in istanbul for the coldest part of winter.. so sorry that the pics are dull and grey.. trust me, it was sub zero cold the day i went out there..

repaired bastion showing the outer 2 walls (inner one not repaired)


looking towards the east


Gate of the Rhegium - the red gate... built under the patronage of the reds.. a chariot team of some financial clout.


another shot of the gate of the Rhegium


outer two walls repaired.. the inner wall can be seen peeking over the top.


inner two walls... this section burned out by vandalistic teenagers who were making it their playground..


i'll put up some pics of the aya sofia etc next if people like.. let me know if you want to add me to your flickr contacts.

[kelvintyk]

My my, now those walls have me wondering how it got sacked time and again.

[antaeus]

My my, now those walls have me wondering how it got sacked time and again.

the obvious reason would be stupidity...

the crusaders went in the back door and stormed the city from the sea side.. breaking through the sea wall under under cover of darkness then establishing themselves in the city and sacking it before any major byzantine force with the exception of the varangians.. could get them out...

the turks as said knocked holes in the wall with canon.. a weapon not foreseen by the 5th century designers

[saglam2000]

the walls may be weak but i dont think the Turkish engineers are trying to fix the wall to full strength, i mean it's just for show, its not like they are going to use the walls to defend from a hunnic invasion?

[Erwin Rommel]

wow it still amazes me that the Theodosian Wall is still there

along with the Hagia Sophia

[BNS]

So beautiful, makes me wish the ERE was still around. I definitely have to visit Istanbul once in my life.

[antaeus]

the walls may be weak but i dont think the Turkish engineers are trying to fix the wall to full strength, i mean it's just for show, its not like they are going to use the walls to defend from a hunnic invasion?

the repaired sections do give a fantastic impression of how powerful a defence they were.. i've not seen anything like them before... these days they seem to do just a good a job of keeping the tourists to the city inside, nice and cosy where they can be charged so much more than locals for everything...

[Pivra]

Turkey just got one more tourist from this thread.. hehe..

[neoptolemos]

It is no suprise that people want to visit Constantinople/Istanbul for it's Roman/byzantine past rather than the Ottoman

[Pivra]

It is no suprise that people want to visit Constantinople/Istanbul for it's Roman/byzantine past rather than the Ottoman

I want to see both tho, Renaissance Istanbul and Medieval Constantinople, but the Ottoman Istanbul is the fable and exotic Istanbul like fairytale kinda like... it was even mentioned in Pinocchio! lol But Constantinople seemed more serious and less "cute"

[neoptolemos]

Of course there are beauties from all the city's periods but the majority of the well informed travelers are seeking the Roman past due to it's reputation that's all!
Then it comes the Top Kapi Palace and museum!

[Pivra]

Of course there are beauties from all the city's periods but the majority of the well informed travelers are seeking the Roman past due to it's reputation that's all!
Then it comes the Top Kapi Palace and museum!

I think Istanbul is facing the same fate as Paris... everyone wants to go see the "historical centers" ... when actually both Paris and Istanbul are probably a lot more than just buncha old buildings and old stuff....as a good traveller i need to get over the stereotypes of each city I am about to visit .. its not like.... Mexico City... tacos ...tequila... and mariachi... Paris.. old stuff, museums.. french people..... Istanbul... just the Golden Horn... type of like trips are "wastes of money lol".... whats wrong with modern architectures and skyscrapers and neo classical houses? lol

[antaeus]

my favourite parts of the city were the mosques actually.. some were designed by french and italian architects and after visiting places like versailles and the vatican... its amazing how clear the similarities were... mosques in istanbul tended to reflect the same fashions as were prevalent in churches in the west... showing distinct baroque, neo-byzantine and even victorian styles... there has always been a strong italian community in the city - and there are plenty of active catholic cathedrals to prove it.. i find istanbul to be the most amazing melding of east and west... i have spent time in egypt, jordan, and israel... as well as most big western european cities, and nothing comes close to the experience... for the middle east wary traveller there's the beyoğlu... with its trams, synagogues and cathedrals.. might as well be a suburb of london or paris.. for the the history traveller will probably run out of time before seeing everything.. for the more adventurous its a gateway to further travels heading east..

[boerekovic]

I love sinans buildings, he even boasted himself by saying that he made a larger Cupola than the Ayasofyas ones.

[neoptolemos]

a lot of people wanted to made larger Domus than Hagia Sophia.It was the golden standard for all the domus to come.

In my opinion Sinan made some beautiful mosques when he stopped copying Hagia Sophia and try to experiment with new designs(like the Hadrianoupolis/Edirne mosque)

[saglam2000]

It is no suprise that people want to visit Constantinople/Istanbul for it's Roman/byzantine past rather than the Ottoman

they want to see the roman/byzantine past because those civilizations are dead, and dead civilizations make people wonder about them.

[neoptolemos]

That's another option my friend.
I was referring to the the great numbers of Roman history fans though

[The Noble Lord]

It is no suprise that people want to visit Constantinople/Istanbul for it's Roman/byzantine past rather than the Ottoman

Well, it does make sense when they wanna see the Greek/Roman/Byzantine past instead of the Ottoman past. The city was Greek first, then Roman/Byzantine for 1.1056 years, while it is Ottoman for 556 years. Furthermore, all the Mosques and other buildings were built by following and copying the Byzantine style architecture.

[dogukan]

Hey.....I was there too(well I live in Istanbul)



but not for touristic reasons...there was a basketball match
Funny I live in this city for 18 years and I love history...yet I haven't travelled well enough for looking at historical stuff.

and as for extra contirbution. Hagia Sofia


And beside it stands another wonder

[AnthoniusII]

Guys the photos are great...
To all our Turkish friends...Please guys help to save those bauties!
They belong to you now and it is part of your history too...
Don't let some people to destroy them just becouse your people didn't build them....Save them!!!!!After all the valour of the defeated determines the valour of the winner!