Ist002. Istanbul. Constantinople. Byzas. Estab'd 660 B.C. as per instructions from the Oracle at Delphi "to settle this site". 150yrs later Darius + merry band of brothers 'came knocking' on city gates. The Star and Crescent Moon his Persian logo.
** 148 B.C. the Romans came. Liked what they scoped. Snuggled in, for the long haul.
The Empire played happy-families, the next consecutive 1,123 years (accommodating 88+ Rulers). Constantinople at its height, a city of 1x million ppl.
Besieged many times, it fell only once to a lootin, shootin Venetian.
** 1204 A.D. the 85yr old Doge from Venice, on his Crusading way to sack + pillage Jerusalem... (unfortunately) had a 'light-bulb moment'...
Realised logistically - Constantinople was closer.
Wasn't an easy Victory. Siege took 11,000 armed Venetians - 9x months to win.
Formidable Land + Sea walls (50' tall) had only two vulnerable points:
a) the water gate (by Golden Horn) + a ship repelling Sea-chain (stretched from Eminonu to Galata Tower)
b) Military Gate on top of the Lycus Rivers culvert.
So began 57 years of Venetian 'slumming'.
Dissembling the richest undisturbed Treasure hoard anyone had ever seen.
They 'relocated': statuary/ gold/ jewels/ books/ furniture/ inventions/ intellectual property …siphoning off everything they fancied, Fed-Ex-ed to Venice. (ah ha ! might explain the so called "Renaissance". When was it ?)
Buildings were destroyed. Businesses in disarray. Locals in turmoil.
Split the Eastern and Western Churches down the middle. Tetchy relationship still today, despite 1962s pithy afternoon Tea-Party. (Not too much joy round THAT table.)
** Next Up (1453 A.D):
160,000 Ottomans fought for 53 days (+ an estimated 50,000 lbs of gunpowder) against 8,000 defenders. The city became Mehmet II's.
** Cycle on. Thru a couple of WW's and Ataturks Sweeping republic Reforms (1923).
Viola, 2014 !
The Turkish Delights we enjoyed during our holiday, a direct result of this AWEsome History.
Frisbee-d into Istanbul, spent some time - before hiring a vehicle to inhale a few rural-sites.
Returned to Istanbul. Explored some more.
Exited.
If time ? Swat-up before u go, gives depth to what u see.
Asia Minor Ottomans were seldom mentioned, by our Euro-focused school curriculum.
Hell, backup further: heard of Biruni : Tusi : Musa-Al Khwarizmi ?
Persians etc… waaay ahead of the game - before the Greek/ Romans stepped-up for 'ownership' (of EVERYthing) on our text book pages.
Cultural Transference…appears to have been the norm, longer than we're taught.
Maybe
ALL peoples aren't so different...
(just our 'window dressing')
ps:
Curiosity. has Never killed a cat.
Ist002. Istanbul. Constantinople. Byzas. Estab'd 660 B.C. as per instructions from the Oracle at Delphi "to settle this site". 150yrs later Darius + merry band of brothers 'came knocking' on city gates. The Star and Crescent Moon his Persian logo.
** 148 B.C. the Romans came. Liked what they scoped. Snuggled in, for the long haul.
The Empire played happy-families, the next consecutive 1,123 years (accommodating 88+ Rulers). Constantinople at its height, a city of 1x million ppl.
Besieged many times, it fell only once to a lootin, shootin Venetian.
** 1204 A.D. the 85yr old Doge from Venice, on his Crusading way to sack + pillage Jerusalem... (unfortunately) had a 'light-bulb moment'...
Realised logistically - Constantinople was closer.
Wasn't an easy Victory. Siege took 11,000 armed Venetians - 9x months to win.
Formidable Land + Sea walls (50' tall) had only two vulnerable points:
a) the water gate (by Golden Horn) + a ship repelling Sea-chain (stretched from Eminonu to Galata Tower)
b) Military Gate on top of the Lycus Rivers culvert.
So began 57 years of Venetian 'slumming'.
Dissembling the richest undisturbed Treasure hoard anyone had ever seen.
They 'relocated': statuary/ gold/ jewels/ books/ furniture/ inventions/ intellectual property …siphoning off everything they fancied, Fed-Ex-ed to Venice. (ah ha ! might explain the so called "Renaissance". When was it ?)
Buildings were destroyed. Businesses in disarray. Locals in turmoil.
Split the Eastern and Western Churches down the middle. Tetchy relationship still today, despite 1962s pithy afternoon Tea-Party. (Not too much joy round THAT table.)
** Next Up (1453 A.D):
160,000 Ottomans fought for 53 days (+ an estimated 50,000 lbs of gunpowder) against 8,000 defenders. The city became Mehmet II's.
** Cycle on. Thru a couple of WW's and Ataturks Sweeping republic Reforms (1923).
Viola, 2014 !
The Turkish Delights we enjoyed during our holiday, a direct result of this AWEsome History.
Frisbee-d into Istanbul, spent some time - before hiring a vehicle to inhale a few rural-sites.
Returned to Istanbul. Explored some more.
Exited.
If time ? Swat-up before u go, gives depth to what u see.
Asia Minor Ottomans were seldom mentioned, by our Euro-focused school curriculum.
Hell, backup further: heard of Biruni : Tusi : Musa-Al Khwarizmi ?
Persians etc… waaay ahead of the game - before the Greek/ Romans stepped-up for 'ownership' (of EVERYthing) on our text book pages.
Cultural Transference…appears to have been the norm, longer than we're taught.
Maybe
ALL peoples aren't so different...
(just our 'window dressing')
ps:
Curiosity. has Never killed a cat.