Constantinople through the Ages aims to map the long and rich history of Constantinople, from its foundations to the present. Starting point is the ‘visible city’; the ways in which continuity and change in history are still observable in present-day Istanbul. The contributors, each of them foremost experts in their fields, address the interaction between the different layers of time from various sources and perspectives. They explore how later inhabitants received and appropriated the legacy of their predecessors, and how the city’s tangible and intangible heritage has been perceived and (ab)used in both the past and the present.
Diederik Burgersdijk, PhD (2010), is Lecturer in Classics at Utrecht University, and Research Fellow at Humboldt University in Berlin, specialized in the Later Roman Empire. He has published extensively on Latin Literature and Roman History, with a special interest in the Constantinian Era.
Fokke Gerritsen, PhD (2001), holds positions at Leiden University (as Netherlands Institute in Turkey Director) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research and publications focus on the prehistoric archaeology of Anatolia and on the significance of cultural heritage in contemporary Istanbul.
Willemijn Waal, PhD (2010), is Associate Professor at Leiden University and currently serves as Director of the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO). Her research focuses on Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Anatolia and the connections between West Asia and the Aegean.
Contributors are: Ceren Abi, Diederik Burgersdijk, Buket Cengiz, Floris van den Eijnde, Fokke Gerritsen, Paolo Girardelli, Mark Humphries, Brian Johnson, Enno Maessen, Filippo Ronconi, Fabian Schulz, Rolf Strootman, Shaun Tougher, Nicola Verderame, Mariëtte Verhoeven, Joanita Vroom, Willemijn Waal, Richard Wittmann.
List of Figures and Maps Notes on Contributors
Introduction Diederik Burgersdijk, Fokke Gerritsen, and Willemijn Waal
1
Byzantium’s Earliest History. Formation, Colonization, and Habitation of the Βοσπόριος ἄκρα Floris van den Eijnde
2
The Shadow of Constantinople: the New Rome and the Old from Constantine to Constans II Mark Humphries
3
The Bishops of Constantinople and the Opposing Occident: Gregory, Photios, and Rome Fabian Schulz
4
Court Life in Byzantine Constantinople: the Age of the Macedonian Dynasty (867–1056) Shaun Tougher
5
Visible Words. The Transmission of Classical Texts in Constantinople and Its Consequences on Byzantine Culture and Society in Light of Surviving Manuscripts and Literary Evidence Filippo Ronconi
6
The Byzantine Churches of Constantinople: History, Transformation, and Heritage Mariëtte Verhoeven
7
Next Stop, Constantinople: How a New Istanbul Metro Line Revealed Archaeological Treasures Joanita Vroom
8
From Hippodromos to Atmeydanı: Continuity and Change in the Urban Layout of Constantinople after the Ottoman Conquest Rolf Strootman
9
A Levantine Landscape: Galata and Pera Paolo Girardelli
10
Re-branding Water: Imperial Fountains in the Hamidian Historical Peninsula Nicola Verderame
11
Funerary Heritage of the Grand Champs des Morts: Evidence of Istanbul’s Communal Diversity in Feriköy Brian Johnson and Richard Wittmann
12
Istanbul during the Allied Occupation: Ottoman and Allied Relationships to the City and Its Past (1918–1923) Ceren Abi
13
The People of the Palimpsest City: Istanbul in Prose Fiction after the Twentieth Century N. Buket Cengiz
14
The Beyoğlu District between Resilience and Conflict 1950–2010 Enno Maessen
Bibliography Index
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Constantinople, and the ways in which the past is still visible in Istanbul today, from undergraduates to specialists.