Anonymous
12/25/2023 (Mon) 14:25
[Preview]
No.44057
del
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
How's Christmas in Byzantium?
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
Did I ever tell you that there is no city on Earth that I want to visit more than Istanbul?
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Did I ever tell you that Constantinople is a city frozen in time? A focal point of human history? A living breathing museum? A modern biblical Babylon if there even is one?
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Did I ever tell you that this City saw Empires crumble? That it saw Darius the Great pass through its body during his conquest of Greece? That it saw Athenian and Spartan fleets on fire in the ancient Cold War? That it saw Alexander the Great as he sailed through the Bosporus Strait onto his godhood?
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
Did I ever tell you that it is literally split between two continents: Europe and Asia? That it saw Roman rule long after the Romans lost it? That it saw Persia reborn, and then destroyed? That it saw the birth of the New Religion, never before seen?
cewl.. cwley.. cewly..
As I close my eyes, I can see you walking down its ancient streets, bearing witness to its memory. As you enter the Forum of Constantine - the very hearth of the City - you can see the Column of the same name, commemorating the birth of a new, medieval, world, and the death of the older, ancient one. As you go further eastward you see the truly magnificent Hagia Sophia - the Palace of the New Religion, an antechamber into the Kingdom of God - at first simply Christian, then Orthodox, Catholic, Orthodox again, Islamic, and, finally, Secular. As you enter its ancient halls you are appalled by the sheer history dripping from its monumental walls, screaming at you from its weathered murals. Is this a time capsule, a sarcophagus? You're suffocating, you can't breathe - the Air itself has stopped.
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
As you get out gasping for breath, and continue east on your journey through time, you stumble upon the old military fortifications, now long abandoned. These are called Theodosian Walls, or simply Walls of Constantinople.
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
Did I ever tell you that Constantinople withstood more sieges than any other city? Oh, how would I love to walk with you on these ancient walls! To tell you about all the battles they witnessed, about all the people they saw: the Goths, the Avars, the Arabs, the Bulgars, the Rus, the Crusaders, the Ottomans!
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
As you keep walking pondering all the moments long gone, you abruptly come to an end. This is where the Walls meet Bosporus - the wound in the Earth.
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..
Did I ever tell you that the Ancients believed Bosporus to be guarded by two rocks crushing any ship that tried to pass through it? According to myths it was Jason the Argonaut who cut a path through them for humanity into a new world, just like Columbus. The name itself comes from the legend of Io, the unfortunate lover of Zeus turned heifer, as she wandered Earth and passed through the strait. Oh, how would I love to be there with you in that moment, looking as the sun sets across Bosporus in Asia, while standing in Europe!
cewl.. cewley.. cewly..