The Obsession

The 5,000 janissaries were accompanying Sultan Mehmet deep into the capital city. 

The marching band kept playing their music proudly, while the janissaries stomped and chanted in complete unison, the words of the song:

“O glorious army! O great soldier, Come to the glorious land of bastion smashers. A shield in one hand, and the dagger in the other, Let us advance to the border of death, O gallant soldier. May everything be victorious in this land, Chanting the prayer, Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, Let our army be immortally victorious!” 

The final destination - Hagia Sophia Church. 

Purchase and experience the love and respect Sultan Mehmet had for the divine capital city of Constantinople. 

ENJOY!

The Proud Stand

Emperor Constantine looked at his guests sitting around the imperial rectangle table, smiled dryly, and said softly, “greetings everyone.” 

The guests leaned forward toward the emperor. The ruler continued, “Madams, sirs, illustrious captains of the army, and our most Christian friends, I bid you all welcome to my table this evening.” 

He cleared his throat, then continued loudly, “We are here today to enjoy a delicious meal and drink. Before beginning to eat, I want to bring to everyone’s attention that the hour of battle is approaching. I want to make it clear to everyone, we, the people of Constantinople, must stand together with firm resolution. Remember that we have always fought with glory against the enemies of Christ. Now the defence of your fatherland will begin, the infidel, evil, and hideous Ottoman Turks are preparing for a siege of our city, once again.” 

The Proud Stand by the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire is exciting; this novelette tells the tale of the last confrontation between the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires. 

Purchase the book today. ENJOY!

Fatih District of Istanbul

Fatih District of Istanbul 

 historically Constantinople, is the capital district and a municipality in Istanbul, Turkey which hosts the provincial authorities, including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office while encompassing the peninsula coinciding with old Constantinople. In 2009, the district of Eminönü, which had been a separate municipality located at the tip of the peninsula, was remerged into Fatih because of the small population of Eminönü. Fatih borders the Golden Horn to the north and the Sea of Marmara to the south, while the Western border is demarked by the Theodosian wall and the east by the Bosphorus Strait.

Byzantine eraEdit

Map of the city in the Byzantine period

Historic Byzantine districts encompassed by present-day Fatih include: Exokiónion, Aurelianae, Xerólophos, ta Eleuthérou, Helenianae, ta Dalmatoú, Sígma, Psamátheia, ta Katakalón, Paradeísion, ta Olympíou, ta Kýrou, Peghé, Rhéghion, ta Elebíchou, Leomákellon, ta Dexiokrátous, Petríon or Pétra, Phanàrion, Exi Mármara (Altımermer), Philopátion, Deúteron and Vlachernaí.

Immediately after the conquest, groups of Islamic scholars transformed the major churches of Hagia Sophia and the Pantocrator (today the Zeyrek Mosque) into mosques, but the Fatih Mosque and its surrounding complex was the first purpose-built Islamic seminary within the city walls. The building of the mosque complex ensured that the area continued to thrive beyond the conquest; markets grew up to support the thousands of workers involved in the building and to supply them with materials, and then to service the students in the seminary. The area quickly became a Turkish neighbourhood with a particularly pious character due to the seminary. Some of this piety has endured until today.

Following the conquest, the Edirnekapı (meaning Edirne Gate) gate in the city walls became the major exit to Thrace, and this rejuvenated the neighbourhoods overlooking the Golden Horn. The Fatih Mosque was on the road to Edirnekapı and the Fatih district became the most populous area of the city in the early Ottoman period and in the 16th century more mosques and markets were built in this area, including: Iskender Pasha Mosque, once famous as a centre for the Naqshbandi order in Turkey); Hirka-i-Sharif Mosque, which houses the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad (The Mosque is in common use but the cloak is only on show during the month of Ramadan; the Jerrahi Tekke; The Sunbul Efendi Tekke and the Ramazan Efendi Tekke both in the Kocamustafapaşa district and the Vefa Kilise Mosque, originally a Byzantine church. The last four were named after the founders of various Sufiorders, and Sheikh Ebü’l Vefa in particular was of major importance in the city and was very fond of Fatih. Many other mosques, schools, baths, and fountains in the area were built by military leaders and officials in the Ottoman court.

From the 18th century onwards, Istanbul started to grow outside the walls, and then began the transformation of Fatih into the heavily residential district, dominated by concrete apartment housing, that it remains today. This process was accelerated over the years by fires which destroyed whole neighbourhoods of wooden houses, and a major earthquake in 1766, which destroyed the Fatih Mosque and many of the surrounding buildings (subsequently rebuilt). Fires continued to ravage the old city, and the wide roads that run through the area today are a legacy of all that burning. There are few wooden buildings left in Fatih today, although right up until the 1960s, the area was covered with narrow streets of wooden buildings. Nowadays, the district is largely made up of narrow streets with tightly-packed 5- or 6-floor apartment buildings.

At present, Fatih contains areas including Aksaray, Fındıkzade, Çapa, and Vatan Caddesi that are more cosmopolitan than the conservative image which the district has in the eyes of many people. With Eminönü, which was again officially a part of the Fatih district until 1928, and with its historical Byzantine walls, conquered by Mehmed II, Fatih is the "real" Istanbul of the old times, before the recent enlargement of the city that began in the 19th century.

The area has become more and more crowded from the 1960s onwards, and a large portion of the middle-class residents have moved to the Anatolian side and other parts of the city. Fatih today is largely a working-class district, but being a previously wealthy area, it is well-resourced, with a more thoroughly established community than the newly built areas such as Bağcılar or Esenler to the west, which are almost entirely inhabited by post-1980s migrants who came to the city in desperate circumstances. Fatih was built with some degree of central planning by the municipality.

Istanbul University which was founded in 1453 is in Fatih. In addition, since 1586, the Orthodox Christian Patriarchate of Constantinople has had its headquarters in the relatively modest Church of St. George in the Fener neighborhood of Fatih.

Fatih has many theatres, including the famous Reşat Nuri Sahnesi. The area is well-served with a number of schools, hospitals and public amenities in general. A number of Istanbul's longest-established hospitals are in Fatih, including the Istanbul University teaching hospitals of Çapa and Cerrahpaşa, the Haseki Public Hospital, the Samatya Public Hospital, and the Vakıf Gureba Public Hospital. A tramway runs from the docks at Sirkeci, through Sultanahmet, and finally to Aksaray, which is a part of Fatih.

Also, besides the headquarters, some main units of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, including the city's fire department, are based in Fatih.

Fatih has many historic and modern libraries, including the Edirnekapı Halk Kütüphanesi, Fener Rum Patrikhanesi Kütüphanesi (the Library of the Patriarchate), Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa Halk Kütüphanesi, İstanbul University Library, İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi Kütüphanesi, İstanbul Üniversitesi Kardiyoloji Ensitütüsü Kütüphanesi, İstanbul Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Hulusi Behçet Kitaplığı, İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kadın Eserleri Kütüphanesi, Millet Kütüphanesi, Mizah Kütüphanesi, Murat Molla Halk Kütüphanesi, Ragıppaşa Kütüphanesi, and Yusufpaşa Halk Kütüphanesi.

On the other hand, today Fatih is known as one of the most conservative but peaceful religious areas of Istanbul because of the religious residents of the Çarşamba quarter which is essentially a very minor part of this historical district. Çarşamba is famous with bearded men in heavy coats, the traditional baggy 'shalwar' trousers and Islamic turban; while women dressed in full black gowns are a common sight as this area is popular with members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order affiliated to a Sheikh. Conservative political parties always do well in this area.

Kalenderhane Mosque

Kalenderhane Mosque

Kalenderhane Mosque is a former Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans.   The church, when built was originally dedicated to the Theotokos Kyriotissa, meaning Virgin the mother of God.

Kalenderhane Mosque

Built on top of a fifth or sixth century Roman bath complex, the Church of Theotokos Kyriotissa was built in the twelfth century during the Komnenian Dynasty and functioned as a Greek Orthodox Byzantine church until 1453.  In 1453, after the conquest of Constantinople the church was assigned to the Kalenderi Dervishes and they used the structure as a zaviye (Islamic religious school) and imaret (soup kitchen).

In 1746, Haci Besir Aga - chief eunuch of the Topkapi Palace converted the church into a mosque by adding mihrab, minbar, and mahfil.  The structure was restored several times due to the fires that took place in the late nineteenth century.

This is my video filmed in August of 2017 of the interior (hyperlinked below), there is a second video of the exterior, (please find it in YouTube as well), enjoy. 

https://youtu.be/glNk-kRIFVE

View from the Pera Hill

View from the Pera Hill

I would like to share the transcript of the seventh speech of mine, with some alterations made to it over the years.  This speech was given to my peers in January of 2012; for our Toastmasters group. 

Here it is below.  

Toastmasters, Speech number 7

View from the Pera Hill

On the communication manual it states that project 7 should be a “Research Your Topic” speech.  I actually did not know we were following the manual this close, really? Therefore thought back and realized that my last two speeches were not exactly done as the manual wanted and I want to correct this today.

Speech 5 guideline states that this should be a something that has an element of “Your Body Speaks”.  I definitely did not do that. I remember, I just stood out here and therefore, I would like to show you my delayed reaction…”Ohhh my, a TV!!” and “I cannot believe my eyes!".  (Make like your hands are in the air and start jumping around).  For those of you who missed my speech 5, this was a speech about the first time a Television was brought into our home, when I was only 5 or 6 years old.  

Speech 6 guideline states that it should have “Vocal Variety”. Again, I did not do that.  But, I want to correct this and here is my impression of, Lets see if you can guess this character actor? “Ahhh, A make him an offer, he can’t refuse…”  (Say it with an Italian accent) Anyone? The answer is Marlon Brando, starring in the oscar winning role of the The Godfather.

Most of you do not know, but I love to write.  I have over a dozen short stories in my native language.  I am in the process of slowly converting these stories into English.  My goal one day is to take a long leave of absence from work and try to chase this dream of mine to convert the stories into English and also expand these short stories into novels.

My speech today is titled “The view from the Pera Hill”.  I am not referring to Pisa in Italy.  I might add that, that would be a nice place to visit, right?  It would be nice to see the Leaning Tower, can you imagine standing by the leaning tower and having your partner take your picture while you are doing this (Make like you are holding up the tower).  Also, did you guys know that Pisa has less than 90,000 residences, but over a million tourists visit that city each year? That is over 10 times the population. Think about that. If we use the percentage calculation for Edmonton, that would mean that if there is 1 million residences living here (Give or take), we would have 10 million tourists visiting here. Imagine the traffic? Yuk!!

Also, my speech today is a just a very small part of one of my short stories.  The story is based in the year 1453.  This is a very important year.  It is said that “History, is written by the victor”, (Say this in an English accent), that is suppose to be an English accent by the way.  Can anyone guess who said that very famous phrase? Winston Churchill is the answer. 

I do not like wars, I am absolutely against them. “Wars are no solution to peace!” Therefore, I took an event which was a very important date in the history of Europe. 

The concurring of Constantinople. 

The fall of the old Rome. 

The end of the Byzantium Empire. 

The beginning of the mighty Ottoman Empire. 

My birth city, the city on the seven hills.

Therefore, what I did was that since the city was going to fall to the New lions of Anatolia. I dreamt up a way for not one person to die while the ruling hands changed in this city.

I describe the conversation between Fatih Sultan Mehmed; the young 21 year old conquer of the city that backs onto the Golden Horn body of water.  A body of water which holds 3000 years of treasures.  And the conversation is with a 74 year old Priest Patrick Gennadius Skolarious, who lives in the St. Aposteli Church.  A Church which has a secret item buried deep in the catacombs below it.  And, whoever has possession of this item, which dates back to the City of Jerusalem, and prior to that, to the town of Bethlehem.  The item once owned by a poor Sheppard, we all know who I am referring to.

Whoever has possession of this item, would have his one wish granted.  This conversation occurred between the two characters at 3 am on May 25, 1453 in the wooded parts of the Pera Hill on the East/North side of the Golden Horn body of water, overlooking the treasure below, the walled city of Constantinople. 

The trade occurs which saves every person, not one drop of blood spills, and everyone’s happy.

I am running out of time and therefore leave it to your imagine of how the two characters meet and communicate.  How one is at the prime of his life, full of brute force and the other advanced in years, full of wisdom share. 

Thank you for reading.