Tag: Diaspora

This article describes a wondrous tour in Constantinople to investigate credible information on an exciting scenario regarding the burial ground of Constantine Palaiologos. The information we gathered is astounding! Even though we were wandering around for several hours without finding exactly what we were looking for, we at least had the chance to daydream for a while. To us Greeks, Constantinople is the legendary city of our hearts, where we are allowed to daydream without the risk of being misjudged as stargazers.

Today, Egrikapi is a neglected gate of the abandoned Byzantine castle and is located near Emperor Porphyrogennetos's palace. The gate's story is known to almost nobody living in modern Istanbul except for the few Greeks of the city. At the dawn of 29th May 1453, a group of Turkish soldiers entered the castle through it and broke the city's defense from within. The gate used to be a remote entrance to the castle, possibly for spies and supplies to enter during the night. The Turks might have secretly been watching the gate and and found the opportunity to invade in as soon as the Greeks opened it for a while. The gate had probably been lightly guarded, as a few miles away, at Romanos's gate, the major battle under Constantine Palaiologos's leadership was taking place. It's not clear whether there was a traitor responsible for opening the gate to the Turks but it's possible. Traitors have been the reason for many lost battles in history, but often they are invented in order to justify defeats simply caused by negligence.

The historical Church with the legendary mosaics is about to follow the fate of Hagia Sofia and fall a victim of the revengeful obscurantism. Soon, black curtains will deprive humanity of a high art. The symbolisms of this choice are many and on various levels. The supremacy of Islam, the right of conquence, the disobedience to the West; yet, what seems to be prevailing is the hate of the predecessor, as well as an anger that neither time nor the magic of art are capable of healing. TEXT-PHOTOS: George Zafeiropoulos, SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

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At the dawn of 29th May 1453 the Constantinople’s defense collapsed. The emperor was at the gate of Romanos hearing the Turks coming closer. "If you can save yourselves then do it and if you are ready to come across death then follow me", said he to those who were surrounding him. His cousin Theophilus Palaeologus answered without a second thought: "I'd rather die than live". When the emperor saw a group of Turkish soldiers running in one side of the wall, he went against them with his horse in order to repel them. Don Francisco, the heroic Spanish, and Demetrius Katakouzinos were riding beside him and Ivan Dalmaton behind him. Theophilus Palaeologus was killed first, then Don Francisco and the others, leaving the king alone, fought in despair. When a soldier among the enemies injured him in the face, Constantine screamed: "Isn't there any Christian to take my head?". A few seconds later, a black soldier from the Ottomans, who was right behind him, cut his head with his sword. This soldier wasn’t aware that he had killed the Greek king nor that he marked the end of a glorious empire with this action, an empire that lasted for 1,123 years and 18 days. Just like Leonidas from Sparta, Constantine Palaeologus died in the battlefield like a simple soldier, knowing in advance that he would have a horrible death.

"There are many Turkish, American and European schools in Constantinople, which are really outstanding. None of those, though, can compete with the glory of The Great School of the Nation. Whoever graduates this school has his soul marked to the end of his days".

In the awful morning of the 29th of May 1453, Hagia Sophia was crowded with women, children and elder people, who were watching their life's last service. When the Ottomans arrived shouting outside the church the heavy door was bolted. At first they tried to open it by clanking their swords on it and pushing it with their bodies, but it was strongly resisting. Then they were rushing and striking it with heavy wooden beams.

According to the tradition, on May 29th 1453, a monk of Baloukli Abbey in Constantinople was frying fish beside the holy water gushing at the foundation of the monastery, when someone informed him that the city was conquered. "Only if the fish jump out of the frying pan and get into the Holy Water shall I believe you", the monk answered. He hadn't finished his word when the half-fried fish jumped into the water. That is how the Zoodohou Pigi's monastery took the name Baloukli, coming from the Turkish word "balik", which means fish.

Constantine Cavafy was born in Alexandria in 1863 and his parents were of Constantinople descent. He was a cosmopolitan, since his family roots were spreading from Constantinople to Alexandria and from Trapezounta to London. He lived as an authentic Greek and as a world's civilian at the same time.

Many Greeks of the diaspora who passionately love Greece visit www.greecewithin.com. One of them is Dimitris Rellos, who was born in Kleitoria, Kalavryta, and migrated to New York 43 years ago. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science and became a manager in large U.S. companies, as well as owner of his own software development consulting firm. Every year, he visits his home village and reunites with family and childhood friends. We recently communicated and learned that he is a master of expressive photography and maintains the notable website www.DimitriRellos.com. We asked him to send us a series of photos he shot during his travels in Greece and to accompany each photo with a caption that describes his emotional response to the visual stimulus of each subject captured. The results are striking and affecting.

"I've learned to distinguish the Yunan (Greeks) in all the years I travel this route. Worshipers from Yunnanistan (Greece) never stop visiting Halki Theological School. They come all year round", said an old man, sitting beside us on the boat, on our way to Halki.