Τετάρτη 17 Απριλίου 2013

It is such a secret place, the land of tears.



Hello everyone.

I always have this feeling, that time goes by so quickly and the only way to remember our life
is by the memories we create. The good and the bad ones. And of course, if you have a bad memory
 as i do, from photographs. My big anbsence from the net world can be justified from my lack
of mood and time. So many things have happend during the past weeks, some bad, some good.


Among them? The previous Monday i got officially my degree from the university.
A small ceremony with a lot photographers :S Now i feel what celebrities feel with paparazzi !! :P
I do not have any of the photos yet so here is a little sample of me.


Other lovely things, my trip to Constantinople,
"The city was originally founded as a Hellenic colony under the name of Byzantium in the 7th century BC" as a gift from my grandparents. So many photos... here you can see some of them.
Enjoy!


I didn't like the modern city much but i felt the chills all over my body
when i set my eyes and body in to Hagia Sophia. To the Prince Islands where Hellenic (Greek!) people lived there before the battle of 1453 and again before the worst time during the 1922.
Hellenic wonderful mansions, other abandoned left to rot, other preserved, all taken away
from the people who had them...

During the nineteenth century, the islands became a popular resort for Istanbul's wealthy, and Victorian-era cottages and houses are still preserved on the largest of the Princes' Islands

It felt like home among the old ruins/ monuments/ houses...
maybe because i have roots from those places or maybe it is just all in head?
Who knows...


It had the most beautiful weather 


Hagia Sophia ( from the Hellenic: Ἁγία Σοφία ) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, 
later a mosque, and now a museum in Constantinople, Turkey. 
From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral 
and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. 

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, 
sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom – the full name in Greek 
being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God". 



Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture 
and is said to have "changed the history of architecture." 
It remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years thereafter, 
until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. 


The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 
on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom
 to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. 
It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, 
and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.

Imperial Gate

The Byzantine Empire used Roman and Greek architectural models and styles to create its own
 unique type of architecture. The influence of Byzantine architecture and art can be seen in the copies
 taken from it throughout Europe. Particular examples include St Mark's Basilica in Venice,
 the basilicas of Ravenna, and many churches throughout the Slavic East.


You can understand just by looking the people around,
how tall big , majestic is that church!


Crosses appear inside the Hagia Sophia 
( its truly all over the church! )


We were pretty much all day in the road, i had to keep eating the way i do.
Very expensive life and no alcohol. 


Flowers all over the place , beautiful parks and clean streets around the Hagia Sophia.
That was good! 


An Arabic cemetery , some feets away from the Hagia Sophia,
gave me the chance to take some photos , enough with the colourful parks! :P





There are Hellenic people everywhere.

The most amazing part of all, is that Turks call us Yunan which derives from the word "Ionian".
The Ionians were only one tribe of Greeks but the Persians and other eastern peoples refered
to all Greeks as "Yunan". The Persians named the Macedonians "Yunan takabara"
meaning "Greeks with shield like hats", because they wore hats.
Later the Turks also called the Greeks "Yunan". 


To be continued... Untill then,

23 σχόλια:

  1. Beautiful pictures! I couldn't help but think of the architecture of 'The Free Cities' in Game of Thrones such as Qarth and Pentos when looking at that massive church/temple and hearing about it's history! That is a very impressive building! Also, I love those really twisted skeletal trees!

    I would love to visit that Egyptian Bazaar! I bet it smelt wonderful! My other half would be in heaven in that Turkish Delight shop! He loves the stuff! Me.. not so much! XD ♥

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    1. Thank you my dear! The particular church has something unique! It is truly magnificent even though i like Gothic architecture more! And i noticed that Turks took the architecture of the Hagia Sophia and built their churches in that type exactly!! Aww yes, the trees were a great touch to the beautiful weather!! :) Haha let me tell you a secret, it was too much for my nose too. If you take some spies separately they smell good, but all of them together had a weird smell i couldn't stand for long!

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  2. Congratulations for your degree, lovely!
    I visited most part of Greece when I was really young, I wish I could remember all theses beauties better! Your pictures are wonderful, so I'm travelling again with them!

    And something a bit "unrelated"... I was thinking while reading this article if you saw the last movie of Neil Jordan "Byzantium", quiet vampirish, I was thinking maybe you would love it!

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    1. Thank you so much my lady <3
      Really? That is amazing! Wish you to come again one day in my country , if you like the sun the summer!! :P I want so much to visit yours!^^ Yeap, i saw that movie around the interent some months ago and until then i cannot find it anywhere :S Usually i download them cause i need the subs & i want so much to watch it but i cannot find it!

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  3. Beautiful photos! I've always wanted to visit Istanbul, but the spouse isn't interested. Maybe one day I'll do a tour by myself. I can only imagine how wonderful the bazaar smelled - there were a few in Israel that looked a little like that, and it was a feast for the senses!

    Congrats on your degree!! :D

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    1. So sweet of you, thank you ^^ And for the wish!! Well, i know most of the spices they had cause my grandma cooks like that sometimes, but when i set my foot to the bazaar it was really not what i expected. All the spices together have a weird smell, if you take them individually some of them are good, some extremely heavy and some not that great. Of course it is a city you have to travel , at least once in your life but it was not something you can go several times! Nothing much to see from the "modern" city!

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  4. Συγχαρητήρια για το πτυχίο! Καλή σταδιοδρομία σου εύχομαι. Οι φωτογραφίες από την Κωνσταντινούπολη με μελαγχόλησαν λίγο :/

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    1. Ευχαριστωωωω πολυ!!!! <3 Και συ οτι επιθυμεις στην ζωη σου!! Χμμμ που να ησουν μαζι μου. Ολη την ωρα εκλαιγα ειλικρινα τετοιο πραγμα... απο τα παραλια στην Μ.Ασια οταν πηγα! Επισης, αυτοι, εχουν γραμμες λεωφορειων μπροστα απο την Αγια Σοφια.. ενα εγραφε 1453 γραμμη! Ποσο ξεφτιλα?!

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  5. Oh the Haga Sophia is stunning! What a beautiful building. I hope I will be able to visit Istanbul once :)

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    1. Yes, that is true!! Pictures cannot describe even in 1% how beautiful and majestic this church looks from close! Wish you to go one day ^^ <3

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  6. omg this game the goosebums the whole time i scrolled <3 I have Istanbul as a future goal for travels! I envy you soo much you gorgeous creature. Glad you had a good time and that youre back blogging <3

    Congrats on the degree!!

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    1. You made me blush for real. Thank you so much for your wonderful words always a pleasure to hear from you <3 I do hope one day to manage to go there!!! :**

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  7. Hello, Hola soy una fiel seguidora de tu blog, desdeEspaña, que también existen personas goth, que seguimos muchos blogs de otros lugares, simplemente eres fantástica . espero siempre con impaciencia que subas fotos, perdona que no entiendo nada de ingles, ojalá alguien te pueda traducir este comentario. Eres una total inspiración para mi.Te mando un abrazo enorme desde España. Muuuuuuuuaaaaccccckkkk.Las fotos primaverales son preciosas, lo oscuro no esta reñido con la luz.

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  8. That church is just breathtaking! I love those really tall buildings with incredibly high ceilings that make you feel tiny! I have always wanted to go to Constantinople.

    Congratulations on your degree!

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    1. Exactly! You feel so small comparing yourself to those amazing , tall buildings!! Having yourself where centuries ago people walked the same ground!! Chilling!! Wish you to go there one time my dearest! And thank you also for the wish!!! <3

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  9. Oh my! Such a wonderful amount of wonderful photos! Oooh *tries to poke the beautiful places in the photos* Prettypretty~~

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  10. Whyyy am I seeing this post so late? </3 I can't express how deeply envious I am, I just sit and scroll up and down absorbing the beauty of your photos, wishing even more I will wisit this city someday, too. I probably couldn't handle seeing Hagia Sophia, I probably would curl into a tight ball somewhere under a wall and start to rock back and forth and mumble :'D Such majesty I can't even comprehend nor express freely in English. I just want so much to go there ;_;

    And oh, I find it interesting that Greek people still use the name Constantinople referring to the modern city. It's hard to let go of a precious past, isn't it? Though I have read an opinion once that Greeks, mostly in 19th century, weren't too proud of having Byzantine Empire as their cultural ancestor and preferred to be perceived as descending directly from Ancient Greeks, with no Byzantine Empire inbetween, because it was seen as decadent and too Levantine. Could you tell me something about it? Or your personal opinion?

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    1. Hello there, i just saw your comment. ^-^ Thank you so much for it and your questions! I will make an other post for you from my trip there - i have many more to share. I had it in my mind but i forgot it completely. Anyway, to my answer because i think it will be huge. First of all, i wish you one day to be able to travel there. It's a lovely place but not as lovely as i expected. I mean, they turned it so.. modern for my taste. But the old buildings and monuments they somehow preserve, are an experience worth travelling for. I cannot express my feelings when i first glimpse Hagia Sophia from distance and even more, when i step my foot inside. I had never see such a majestic church in my life (till then). I was studying about Hagia Sophia architecture in university and many times i was wishing to see it from close. And when it happened, when i first went inside and saw all that beauty at once, the time just froze still for couple minutes with me staring in awe, having goosebumps all over my body and soul and tears in my eyes!! The experience was double. For it's architecture glory and of course because it was an Orthodox cathedral and in Greek land. One of the things that made me angry was the - intentional or not - fact that they put a bus outside the Hagia Sophia for public transportation with the number 1453, which marks the year when Constantinople was conquered by turks. That was in anyway sick and i have a picture from this emetic moment i had to witness (that i am still not crazy). I used to have relatives in there (distant relatives but still Greek people who had been forced to move from their places) and i will always use that term for this city, it's original name after all :) For me is really hard to let go of the past. Of course every country/ town/ has it's own bloody massacre or horrible history in general but i don't think i will ever let go of that feeling. A feeling that something was/is missing from my life. And when i went there i was sure that maybe if things went the other way, i would live my life there. Especially at the Prince Islands.

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    2. So with their temperament Greeks create many enemies. Greece is hated by many countries because of it's location (even though everyone keeps telling how much they love us - and i am talking about ruthless governments etc). We lost so many people and it all end up to some huge wrongness caused half by our arrogance and half by other countries and their special interests. No one recognize the massacres turks performed and that makes my heart ache. I don't know if all the souls will ever find peace - of course that includes every soul that died in vain during worlds history. I think that some recognition will rest their souls and even though this is my thought i hope one day to happen. Greeks was/ are one of the most egoistic nation. They used to be from their beginning and is not something that will change. :/ Ancient Greeks were of course brilliant minds and their thoughts and actions became the foundation of the western civilization but still, they were people with many flaws. Before Christianity they used to have their own faith. Suddenly, Christianity with violence demanded royalty to a total different God. By fear many of them changed. But deep down, no one can force someone to believe if is not coming from within. Many accept Christianity in fear for their families, others because they felt like it was the right religion for them. Many died, and many were saved because of their choice. I believe that happened. There were faithful people to Christianity of course and till now, 80% of the population of Greece are Christians. But, there are some people till now who will never fully accept Christianity. There are many who embrace the pagan and neo pagan religions and many who still believe in the Twelve Olympians and the glory of Ancient Greece. Ancient Greece and Christianity are placed in two completely different sides. And even so, mysteriously for some academics, Greeks accepted Christianity with open heart. To my mind, most religions came with force, spreading corpses all around. We are lucky enough to live in countries were we are not forbidden to express our own minds. The freedom of choice is a basic good those people back there did not have.

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