The Theodosian Walls

Like most important pre-modern population centers, Byzantine Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) was a walled city. The extant sections of the land wall date from the time of the Emperor Theodosius II (408-450). Although badly preserved and/or poorly restored, they remain extremely impressive. The sheer size of the walls is incredible. The outer wall was 7 feet thick, rose to a height of 30 feet, and had square towers at intervals of 50-100 feet. The inner wall was even taller, rising to a height of 40 feet. 

We visited the section of the land wall near the Edirne Gate, which Mehmet the Conqueror built to commemorate his capture of the city. This section of the wall lies in the Lycus river valley. It is in an extremely poor state of repair today and was difficult to defend in the fifteenth century as well. It was here that Mehmet's forces broke through the Byzantine defense on May 29, 1453. 

Particularly in comparison to a tiny person like myself, the wall seemed really, really big and massive. Getting to the top required climbing a steep staircase. Here's a picture of the upper part of the climb from the other side of the wall.

Much of my fear was no doubt irrational, but I did not feel very comfortable at the top of the wall since most sections lacked railings or even medieval battlements to prevent one from falling off. I felt as if a strong gust of wind would blow me off. Consequently, I did not linger long at the top, but instead took a bunch of pictures in all directions so that I could study the view later at my leisure.

Some pictures from the top:

For additional images, see:

http://www.byzantium1200.com/landwall.html

http://www.byzantium1200.com/seawall.html

http://www.livius.org/cn-cs/constantinople/constantinople_land_walls.html

(and last but not least:) Wikipedia

Church of St. Savior in Chora

Yesterday (Saturday, May 30) we visited the Church of St. Savior in Chora. Built in the late eleventh century, this building contains magnificent frescoes and mosaics from the fourteenth century. I was surprised by the size of the images. If you are familiar with medieval churches in western Europe, you will know that sculptures and images - though by no means small - are frequently far off from the ground and hard to make out without binoculars. The church at Chora is different. Figures on the walls and ceilings are quite large, and everything is easily visible from the ground (which means that getting good pictures is not at all difficult). Here are a few examples.

the creation:

the resurrection:

Mary and Christ:

The excellent condition of the artwork is, ironically enough, due to Istanbul's Ottoman conquerors. Like most of the other churches in Istanbul, St. Savior was converted into a mosque in the early sixteenth century (Kariye Camii). Rather than destroying the frescoes and mosaics, however, the Ottoman Muslims instead covered over the artwork with plaster and paint. The images remained hidden and unknown until they were rediscovered in 1860.

For those interested in more pictures and information, check out the following cool sites:

http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/byzantium/index2.html (contains 3D virtual reality model)

http://www.byzantium1200.com/chora.html (3D reconstruction of exterior)

http://www.e-turkey.net/v/istanbul_kariye_museum_chora_church/ (photos with explanations)

http://www.choramuseum.com/ (photos and articles)

Nevra Necipoglu on the Byzantine Emprire

Istanbul, May 29th, 2009

History Professor Nevra Necipoglu spoke with us on Tuesday, May 26th. She is a specialist in the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine Empire, whose capital was Constantinople (now Istanbul) spanned the period from the 4th Century BC to the 15th Century. It began when Roman Emporer Constantine moved his capital from Rome to the shores of the Bosphorus. It ended when Sultan Memhet II captured the city 556 years ago today.

Some myths and misconseptions about of the Byzantine Empire:

1) Nobody in the Byzantine Empire had heard of the "Byzantine Empire". That term was conied by German scholars in the 16th Century. The Byzantines thought of themselves as part of the Roman Empire.

2) Gibbon ("Fall of the Roman Empire") describes the Byzantine Empire as suffereing "1000 years of decilne". This is untrue, says Professor Necipoglu. Even when in political decline, modern scholars agree, the Empire advanced culturally.

3) The Empire has a popular image of having been very rigid for 11 centuries. Not true, says Professor Necipoglu. The Empire was poliically and culturally dynamic.

Turbans and Headscarfs

Even though we've been in Istanbul for three days now, the many meetings, cultural events, culinary activities, and (for some) computer troubleshooting issues have hindered the attempts at blogging thus far. For avid readers back in the States, I just wanted to offer the following photos on how life in Turkey has affected the dress and behavior of Grinnell's female faculty members. More humorous and witty posts by our illustrious leader are sure to follow in the coming days.

Gemma learning how to tie a turban from a local:

The Sultan's harem (Topkapi Palace):

The headscarf girls (cf. Orhan Pamuk, Snow):

Why Istanbul?

Strangely, the trip to Istanbul was suggested by a group of faculty who ... didn't expect to go to there. At least, it was imagined that other Mediterranean sites would most likely be chosen instead. It was surprising, therefore, when Istanbul arose as the obvious best-destination for a seminar of this type. We are delighted that this is our destination, and look forward to learning an enormous amount from our visit.

This trip emerged from a CIS-sponsored faculty workshop, in the summer of 2008, on the subject of "The Mediterranean as an Interdisciplinary Study Site." The workshop was, not surprisingly, fairly interdisciplinary. This was part of a College-wide effort, called the Expanded Knowledge Initiative (EKI), to encourage more interdisciplinarity in the curriculum. So a group of about 10 of us spent 5 days discussing what sites in the Mediterranean region would best serve visiting scholars and students from a wide range of disciplines. First we identified some interesting topics. Some literature on each subject was proposed and presented by one or two participating faculty. We sifted the various topics to isolate a list of 6 that could of interest to a multidisciplinary group. Finally, we identified the best Mediterranean sites to study these or similar questions of interest.

The first choices of sites to visit were predictable: Venice, Florence, Cairo, Marseilles, and any number of places in Greece, for example. Yet, Turkey appeared on almost everyone's list. Usually not at the top of the list but almost always there. The final sets of topics and sites are listed below:

TOPIC AREA: RELEVANT SITES

• Religious Tolerance and Intolerance: Venice, Turkey, Greece, Marseilles

• Water Use: Scarcity and Conflict: Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Grenada

• Identity and Nationalism: Turkey, Greece, Venice

• Migration: Marseilles, Turkey, Greece

• Trade and Commerce: Venice, Turkey, Greece

• Development of Art and Sciences: Venice, Greece, Turkey

• Human Rights, Status of Women: Egypt, Turkey

So to which, and to how many, of these places should we plan visits. In addressing this question CIS director David Harrison and I decided to take an interesting and unique perspective. "Let's pretend," we said to ourselves, "that we're planning a trip for a college whose endowment has just lost more than half a billion dollars." That sounded like a fun way to approach the question. Travelers from this hypothetical institution couldn't possibly visit some extravagantly large number of sites, like, say, two. One site would have to do. So, because Turkey appeared in all of the site lists in the table above, Istanbul made an obvious choice.

A Pre-Departure Test Blog

This is the official blog of the Grinnell College Faculty Seminar in Istanbul , May 2009, sponsored by the Grinnell College Center for International Studies (CIS). Actually this is the first blog of ANY CIS faculty seminar. And this is my first blog on any subject whatsoever, so I'm unsure how the software works. If you're reading this I suppose I must have figured it out.

I am Mark Montgomery, Professor of Economics, blogger-in-chief, and "leader" of the seminar (whatever that means).

And now one of the first tests of my capacity as a seminar leader and a blogger: can I upload pictures? Pictures are surely an essential element of a travel blog. OK, there's one, above. (That is leftover from when I was chair of Grinnell's strategic planning Committee a few years ago.)

Well it appears that blogging is technologically feasible, and I am at least minimally capable of doing it, at least in the pre-departure, haven't-left-Iowa phase. Now on to more serious issues.

Exactly whom do you imagine yourself to be "leading"?

The faculty under my command... I mean, the seminar particpants are:

Susan Ferguson (Sociology)
Kathy Kamp (Anthropology)
Ellen Mease (Theatre and Dance)
Jenny Michaels (German)
Tinker Powell (Economics)
Tyler Roberts (Religious Studies)
Gemma Sala (Political Science)
John Wei (History)
John Whittaker (Anthropology)
Shawn Womack (Theatre and Dance)

Where will you stay?

We will stay mainly in the dorms at the prestigious Bogaziçi University, one of the most presitigious in Turkey. The Center for International Studies (our sponsor) has arranged for a number of Bogaziçi faculty to meet with us and discuss a variety of subjects related to Turkey. We are very excited about meeting these scholars.