Constantinople through the Ages aims to map the long and rich history of Constantinople, from its foundations to the present. Starting point is the âvisible cityâ; 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 cityâs 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.
Introduction
âDiederik Burgersdijk, Fokke Gerritsen, and Willemijn Waal
1 Byzantiumâs Earliest History. Formation, Colonization, and Habitation of the ÎοÏÏÏÏÎ¹Î¿Ï á¼ÎºÏα
âFloris van den Eijnde
2 The Shadow of Constantinople: the New Rome and the Old from Constantine to Constans II
âMark Humphries
3 The Bishops of Constantinople and the Opposing Occident: Gregory, Photios, and Rome
âFabian Schulz
4 Court Life in Byzantine Constantinople: the Age of the Macedonian Dynasty (867â1056)
âShaun 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
âFilippo Ronconi
6 The Byzantine Churches of Constantinople: History, Transformation, and Heritage
âMariëtte Verhoeven
7 Next Stop, Constantinople: How a New Istanbul Metro Line Revealed Archaeological Treasures
âJoanita Vroom
8 From Hippodromos to Atmeydanı: Continuity and Change in the Urban Layout of Constantinople after the Ottoman Conquest
âRolf Strootman
9 A Levantine Landscape: Galata and Pera
âPaolo Girardelli
10 Re-branding Water: Imperial Fountains in the Hamidian Historical Peninsula
âNicola Verderame
11 Funerary Heritage of the Grand Champs des Morts: Evidence of Istanbulâs Communal Diversity in Feriköy
âBrian Johnson and Richard Wittmann
12 Istanbul during the Allied Occupation: Ottoman and Allied Relationships to the City and Its Past (1918â1923)
âCeren Abi
13 The People of the Palimpsest City: Istanbul in Prose Fiction after the Twentieth Century
âN. Buket Cengiz
14 The BeyoÄlu District between Resilience and Conflict 1950â2010
âEnno 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.