A Muslim in Turkey went to Hagia Sophia to pray and found parchments behind broken pieces of a wall. Inside were documents with writing in Hebrew. This could be a great historic and cultural find.
This serves as a reminder of how Hagia Sophia continues to be desecrated. Hagia Sophia’s primary significance is spiritual and there are those of us who will not stop reminding the world that Hagia Sophia is a product of the Gospel and Greek Orthodox faith. It is also a great historical and cultural site.
The discovery of the parchment raises the question as to how much undiscovered history remains in Hagia Sophia. It will be interesting to see how old the parchments are and to what era they originated in. If nothing else, this discovery demonstrates that the status of Hagia Sophia should not have been changed.
It was two hundred years ago today (technically the anniversary will be in thirteen days as the Julian Calendar was in use then) that the Greeks rose up to claim their place in the world. A free and independent Greece came to be because of the long and bloody struggles and sacrifices of the heroic Greek freedom fighters. Those sacrifices are remembered by the nations of the world on this day!
World leaders arrived in Athens for the festivities. Covid 19 could not disrupt the festivities. Greece was today the center of the world. Prime Minister Mitsotakis performed very well before his distinguished guests. The Greek Prime Minister has the potential for greatness.
The spirit of defiance that led to the heroic uprising of March 25 lives again with the policies and alliances formed by Prime Minister Mitsotakis. Two hundred years ago, the Greeks fought against the tyrannical rule of the Ottoman Empire. Today, Turkey is led by a President who vows to restore the Ottoman Empire.
Greece has seen successes and failures over the past two hundred years. The Greek State expanded from 1821 until 1947 when the Dodecanese islands became part of Greece. The effort to liberate Cyprus failed when Turkish aggressors invaded and occupied that Hellenic island in 1974. The Greeks of Northern Epirus remain under persecution in Albania.
The Turkish Government today openly covets the Greek islands. Greece again faces a tyrant with genocidal ambitions. The Greeks must take inspiration from the heroes of 1821 such as Theodore Kolokotronis and Laskalina Baboulidis, but above all they must take inspiration from God!
Orthodoxy sustained the Greek people throughout the centuries of Ottoman rule. The faith of Christ bestows strength upon those who struggle but keep the faith. It is not an accident of history that Archbishop Germanos raised the standard of revolt. The Archbishop of Patra is the spiritual father of modern Greece.
On Easter Sunday, Patriarch Gregory V was hanged at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in retaliation for the Greek uprising against the Turks. The Patriarch had known about the uprising that was being planned, and while he distanced himself from it he did not reveal the plans of the Greeks to the Turks. For this reason, he forfeited his life.
The Greeks today have much to be proud of and to celebrate. The future of Greece depends on the national consciousness and the remembrance of what the founders fought and died for. Concepts such as independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity keep a nation-state functioning.
Long live Greece on the day of the feast of the Annunciation when the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she was chosen to become the Mother of God. May the Most Holy Theotokos (Mother of God) watch over the Greek nation and guide them into the arms of her Son. May Christ watch over and protect the Greek nation from all threats spiritual as well as from the menace of external invaders.
Today in history the treacherous forces of Mussolini’s Italy invaded Greece. Mussolini believed that Greece would be an easy conquest. As Hitler had conquered country after country in Europe without consulting his ally Mussolini, the “Duce” decided he would show Hitler by taking Greece. It was a miscalculation and Prime Minister Metaxas responded with the defiant “OHI” when the Italians requested free passage of their troops in Greece.
In only ten days, the Greeks crushed the Italians and pushed them back into Albania. Hitler had not been interested in Greece and had Mussolini not ordered the invasion of Greece, it is possible Greece would have sat out the war unscathed. Hitler ordered the invasion of Greece to bail out his Italian allies.
The significance of the Greek victory cannot be understated. The decisive victory over the the Italians and the German invasion of Greece delayed the Nazi invasion of Russia which allowed the Russian winter late in 1941 to have its effects on the Germans. This was the restoration of Hellenic glory.
The Germans forced the Greeks to surrender to the Italians despite the fact that Greece had decisively crushed them. Greece was subsequently occupied by Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria. Greece endured three and a half years of brutal occupation accompanied by famine and horrific massacres.
In addition, the Jews of Greece became subject to humiliation and subsequent deportations to Auschwitz where the vast majority were murdered. Most of the Jews of Northern Greece were deported under the zone of the Bulgarian occupation. The Greek Orthodox Church made maximum efforts to protect the Jewish population.
Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens protested and condemned the efforts to deport the Jews of Athens. Other Bishops such Gennadios of Thessaloniki, Chrysostom of Zakynthos, and Ioacheim of Volos assisted Greek Jews and have been recognized as “righteous among the nations” by the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. In Northern Greece, Greek Bishops had been expelled and replaced by Bulgarian Bishops and this was a contributing factor to the high death rate of Greek Jews.
The war had a devastating impact on Greek society. Nevertheless, the Greeks fought with bravery and honor from the initial invasion by the Italians to the end when the Germans and their Bulgarian allies were forced to withdraw from Greek soil. The Greeks fought hard and bravely.
As a result of the Greek participation in the war and Turkey’s neutrality, the Dodecanese islands were ceded to Greece by the Italians as compensation for the invasion. Greek bravery led to the liberation of the Dodecanese! These same islands that are today claimed by Turkey.
The Greeks have always been valiant fighters. They will fight again in defense of Greek territory today if Turkish aggression were to manifest itself against Greek territory. May the Greek nation never forget the heroes who fought in defense of Greece against the Italians, Germans, and Bulgarians.
The Orthodox Church of the Czeck Lands and Slovakia is the latest of the local Orthodox Churches to oppose the conversion of Hagia Sophia to a Mosque. The Czeck Church joins the Churches of Russia, Serbia, Rumania, Georgia, Bulgaria, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Greece, Cyprus, and Albania in condemning Turkish plans for Hagia Sophia. The New York Times had an excellent editorial on the importance of Hagia Sophia.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America travelled to the White House to meet President Trump and Vice President Pence to discuss the matter of Hagia Sophia. From a moral standpoint, a case can be made that there has been a moral victory of sorts considering the international attention that is directed at Turkey. This is all very welcome, but unless there is a miracle (always a possibility) this will not be enough.
The Serbian Church has joined the Greek Churches in singing the Akathist Hymn. The Akathist Hymn was sung by the faithful of Cosntantinople in 626 AD when the Avars were threatening the City. The Emperor Heraclius was away fighting the Persians and the Avars threatened the City.
The faithful gathered under the leadership of Patriarch Sergius at the Church of the Panagia of Blachernae for an all night vigil where they sang the Akathist Hymn. After the Avars lost the battle and Constantinople was saved, enemy soldiers claimed to have seen a mysterious woman on the walls of the Blachernae section of Constantinople.
The spiritual activity emanating throughout the Greek world is truly wonderful. Perhaps if the Greek world had rallied like this a few years ago, victory would have been assured. It should be remembered that the path to the conversion of Hagia Sophia began in 2013 with the conversion of the former Church of Hagia Sophia in Trebizond to a Mosque.
The activity surrounding Hagia Sophia has its benefits even if the Turks hold their prayer services in Hagia Sophia. President Erdogan sacrificed a crucial opportunity to improve his image throughout the world. His activities on Hagia Sophia are taking place while he is exacerbating tensions with Greece and his allies Azerbaijan are waging acts of aggresion against Armenia.
The Turkish government has recruited Syrian Jihadists to fight in Libya. Turkey and Russia were enemies over Syria. Now the two of them are on opposite sides in Libya. Turkish diplomatic abilities are being overstretched. Turkey is waging too many acts of aggression at the same time. On top of all this, Erdogan insists on antagonizing the world over Hagia Sophia.
Hagia Sophia may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The conversion of Hagia Sophia is intended to be a symbol for the success of Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman revolution. It is proving to be a very expensive symbol as it is costing enormous diplomatic good will for Turkey.
Hagia Sophia remains holy ground. The holy ground of Hagia Sophia may very well bury him and his revolution considering the enormous fall out which includes world wide negative publicity in the world’s media and among foreign governments.
“O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance, they have defiled thy holy temple;
Psalms 78:1 Septuagaint version
“Unto you, O Theotokos, invincible champion, Your city in thanksgiving ascribes the victory for the deliverance from sufferings.But having your might unassailable, free me from all dangers, so that I might cry out to you: “Hail! O bride, Ever -Virgin”
The Akathistos hymn
“As soon as the Turks were inside the City, they began to seize and enslave every person who came their way.; all those who tried to offer resistance were put to the sword. In many places, the ground could not be seen, as it was covered by heaps of corpses. There were unprecedented events: all sorts of lamentations, countless rows of slaves consisting of noble ladies, virgins, and nuns, who were being dragged by the Turks by their headgear , hair, and braids, out of the shelter of Churches to the accompaniment of mourning. There was the crying of children. The looting of our sacred and holy buildings. What horror can such sounds cause? The Turks did not hesitate to trample over the blood and body of Christ poured all over the ground and were passing his precious vessels from hand to hand; some were broken to pieces while others intact, were being snatched away. Our precious decorations were treated in a similar manner. Our holy icons, decorated with gold, silver, and precious stones were stripped, thrown to the ground, and then kicked. Our wooden decorations in the churches were pulled down and turned into couches and stables. The enemy’s horses were clothed in priestly garments of silk embroidered with golden thread, which were also used as tablecloths. They stripped our saintly vessels of their precious pearls, they scattered and trampled all sacred relics. Many other lamentable crimes of sacrilege were committed by these precursors of antiChrist.
Christ, our Lord, how inscrutable and incomprehensible your wise judgements! Our greatest and holiest Church of Saint Sophia, the earthly heaven , the throne of God’s glory, the vehicle of the cherubim and second firmament, God’s creation, such edifice and monument , the joy of all earth, the beautiful and more beautiful than than the beautiful, became a place of feasting, its inner sanctum was turned into a dining room, its holy altars supported food and wine, and were also employed in the enactment of their perversions with our women, virgins, and children. Who could have been so insensitive as not to wail, Holy Church? Everywhere there was misfortune , everyone was touched by pain. There were lamentations and weeping in every house, screaming in the crossroads, and sorry in all Churches; the groaning of grown men and the shrieking of women accompanied looting, enslavement, separation, and rape. Venerable nobility commanded no respect, wealth afforded no protection. Misfortune manifested itself in squares and corners everywhere in the city. No place remained un-searched and untouched. Christ, our Lord, protect all Christian cities and lands from similar affliction and sorrow! All gardens and houses within the walls were searched and dug to yield possible hidden wealth, thus many old and recent treasures, as well other precious possessions, came to light and enriched our enemies.”
Account of the Fall of Constantinople by George Sphrantzes friend of the Emperor Constantine Paleologos
from “The Fall of the Byzantine Empire A chronicle of George Sphrantzes 1401-1477 Translated by Marios Phillipides
In the latest developments regarding Hagia Sophia. A Turkish professor has called for the removal of mosaics from Hagia Sophia. This is now the second time a Turk has called for the removal of mosaics from Hagia Sophia. The Professor is offended by the image of the Byzantine Empress Zoe who he called a “whore” which is offensive to the conquering Sultan Mehmet II (more on him below).
The first call for the destruction of the Christian mosaics of Hagia Sophia centered around the images of the Serapheim. According to Saint Dyonisios the Areopagite, the Serapheim are the highest ranking angels. The ranking of Angels are the Serapheim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, and Archangels. It is unclear why the Turks were offended by the Serapheim in particular and not by the other iconography. Of course, we are not dealing with rational people.
The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church took a position criticizing Turkey for the move to convert Hagia Sophia and emphasized the importance of the Church to Orthodoxy. The Bulgarian Church joins the Churches of Russia, Serbia, Rumania, Jerusalem, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, and Albania in criticizing the Turkish government’s plans for Hagia Sophia. This is in addition to the Vatican and the World Council of Churches.
A commentator in the newspaper, “The Saudi Gazette” has condemned President Erdogan for the conversion of Hagia Sophia. In Egypt, the Grand Mufti has also condemned President Erdogan’s decision and said that Islam prohibits the conversion of Churches. These voices in the Muslim world that are protesting the conversion of Hagia Sophia are very much welcome. On the other hand, Iran has praised President Erdogan for converting Hagia Sophia.
Returning to the Turkish Professor and Sultan Mehmet II. The Professor objects to the depiction of the Empress Zoe for being in his words, “a whore”. Quite ironic considering that the conquering Sultan Mehmet II was not only a heavy drinker (in contrast to Islamic teaching) but a homosexual and a pedophile. According to the great Byzantine historian Steven Runciman, after the conquest of the City the Sultan asked the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras to help him rebuild the city.
Upon meeting the Grand Duke’s two sons the twenty one year old Sultan expressed an interest in the younger boy. The Grand Duke said no and for this refusal both the Duke and his sons were sentenced to death by decapitation. Apparently, the Turks need some reminding of Mehmet’s personnel life, especially as he is the Turkish President’s hero.
It appears that despite assurances that President Erdogan has given the Russians, the mosaics of Hagia Sophia will ultimately be destroyed. Turkish assurances are worthless in any circumstances. The fact that Turkish academics and others are openly demanding the destruction of a particular mosaic indicates they have a Taliban mentality.
Despite what this fake Professor says, Hagia Sophia is not a Mosque. Hagia Sophia is a Church and was established as such in the sixth century. Other than disregarding the theological origins of Hagia Sophia, this pseudo academic disregards the historical and cultural relevance of the iconography of Hagia Sophia.
President Erdogan had the chance to improve his image which has taken a beating because of his government’s collusion with ISIS. If he had been inclined to respond positively to the international appeals to leave Hagia Sophia alone, he could have demonstrated an inclination for moderation and restraint. Instead, he is affirming his image as an extremist.
The Russian government has declared the matter of Hagia Sophia to be an internal matter for Turkey. The Russian government did take up the matter with Turkey and President Erdogan has apparently assured the Russians that the Christian-Byzantine iconography will be protected. The Russians did protest and members of the Russian Duma had sent protests to their counterparts in the Turkish Parliament. The Russian Church likewise publicly protested.
Two Bishops of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church have taken positions on Hagia Sophia. One Bishop denied that the conversion of Hagia Sophia was God’s punishment on the Ecumenical Patriarchate and stated that Hagia Sophia did not belong to the Patriarchate or to Turkey, but only to God. Another Bishop declared that the day may yet come when Hagia Sophia becomes a Church, and also went on to point out (correctly) that Hagia Sophia has been an issue for years but that Patriarch Bartholomew chose instead to intervene in the Ukrainian Church.
The Greek world must now decide how to proceed. The best idea has been suggested by some Greeks who believe that Kemal’s house in Thesaloniki should be seized from the Turkish Consulate and be turned into a genocide museum. Absolutely a great idea. The Greek Mayor of Thessaloniki in 1937 donated that house to the Turkish Consulate in a spirit of good will (without getting anything in return from Turkey such as Hagia Sophia).
In 1955, the staff at the Turkish Consulate bombed Kemal’s house in order to stir up anti Greek hatred for the pogroms in Constantinople. The Consulate should have been closed then, its staff arrested, and the house turned into a public restroom or a shelter for animals. In 2015, I walked by the Consulate-Museum while visiting Thessaloniki.
The place looks like something out of East Germany. There were security cameras and no one around to answer the door when I decided I would visit the Museum. A very sinister looking place and it is long past time the Consulate was closed and the house done away with. A genocide Museum would be perfect in honor of the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christians slaughtered by Kemal.
It is also time to continue to work for the recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides. It is also time to take the gloves off regarding Turkey. While the support for Hagia Sophia has been welcome, most articles have been too deferential to the murderous Turkish regime. Kemal has been referred to as some sort of enlightener of the Turkish nation when he was a butcher.
In recent years, two excellent books have been published. “The Great Fire” by Lou Ureneck and “The Thirty Year Genocide” by Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi which are masterpieces. The genocide of the Greeks is gradually gaining recognition. Working to gain full recognition of the genocide and working for justice for Cyprus and the defense of the Greek islands are the best ways to respond to the seizure of Hagia Sophia.
On 29 May 1453, the glorious capital of Christendom fell to the Ottoman Turks after a heroic fifty five day resistance. Constantine XI Paleologos fought to the end after refusing all entreaties throughout the siege to save himself and leave the City. In an exchange with Sultan Mehmet during the siege he defiantly declared, “To surrender the city is not for me to do, nor anyone else who inhabits it; because it is our common decision to die voluntarily and not to spare our lives.”
Constantine XI Paleologos defending Constantinople to the end
The last Emperor was an honorable but tragic figure. He was twice widowed and left no heir. He was a man of character who came to the throne when the city was long past its glory. Constantine was governor at Mystra when he learned of the death of his brother John who was Emperor in 1448. Because of the tensions at Constantinople owing to John’s acceptance of the heretical Council of Florence in 1439, Constantine could not be crowned at Hagia Sophia. He was crowned at the Church of Saint Demetrios at Mystra.
In 1451, a new Sultan came to the throne of the Ottoman Empire which was then at Adrianople. Mehmet II was only nineteen years old and was known for his ruthlessness and ambition. The city was in his sights for the glory of Islam.
Constantinople was inaugurated in the year 330 AD by Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor. Constantine was the Roman Emperor who legalized Christianity and who presided over the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 AD which condemned the heresy of a priest named Arius and established Orthodox teaching that the father and son within the trinity were of one essence and being and that the second person of the trinity the incarnate logos and word of God was not a creature as Arius had been teaching.
Constantine the Great set in motion the new Christianized Empire which would last for over eleven centuries. Over the centuries, the Empire would be divided by numerous heretical teachings that arose. Ecumenical as well as lesser councils would be convened to clarify what was Orthodox and to condemn heresies and their proponents. Such heresies included nestorianism, monophysitism, and iconoclasm.
Constantinople became well known for its Cathedrals and Churches. In 537 AD, the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia was consecrated under the auspices of the Emperor and theologian Justinian the Great. Justinian presided over the Fifth Ecumenical Council that affirmed the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council one century earlier that taught that Jesus Christ had two natures human and divine, he was both God and man.
Constantinople became a place of learning and culture. The City preserved texts in its splendid libraries from classical Greece and Rome. It produced a few heretics but more Saints such as Photius the Great in the ninth century. Saint Photius followed Saints Gregory the theologian, John Chrysostom, and John the Faster on the Patriarchal throne.
Like the early Church fathers, Photios the Great was a staunch teacher of Orthodoxy that sought to correct the errors of the Latins in Rome. He protested the addition to the creed (the filioque) by Rome which asserted the Holy spirit proceeded from both the father and the son. This was in complete defiance of three ecumenical councils which prohibited any alterations to the creed and it confused the hypostasis of the father with the son.
In 1054, the Latins formally left the Church when they arrogantly threw a bull of excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia supposedly excommunicating the Greeks.
Previous to this in 988 AD under the Emperor Basil II Russia was converted to Christianity,
“When we journeyed among the Bulgarians we beheld how they worship in their temple, called a Mosque while they stand ungirt. The Bulgarian bows, sits down, looks hither and thither like one possessed, and there is no happiness among them but instead only sorrow and a dreadful stench. Their religion is not good. Then we went among the Germans, and saw them performing many ceremonies in their temples; but we beheld no glory there. Then we went to Greece, and the Greeks led us to the edifices where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heavan or on earth. For on earth there is no such splendor or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it. We know only that God dwells there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations. For we cannot forget that beauty.” Russian envoys report to Prince Vladimir Medieval Russia’s epics, chronicals, and tales
In August 1071, an event occurred that has cursed the Greek world up to the present time. The Battle of Manzikert led to the Seljuk Turks defeating the Eastern Roman (Greek) Empire and conquering many of the eastern territories. This not only created a security threat but it deprived Constantinople of important sources for taxation.
In 1095, Emperor Alexios Comnenus with the best of intentions asked for mercenaries from the west to help defeat and turn back the Seljuk Turks. In response, the Pope created the concept of the Crusades. Over 100,000 angry Crusaders arrived at Constantinople.
The Latins arrived and were astonished by the glorious city of Constantinople. The Greek city was full of spiritual and cultural treasures which were lacking in the west. They were further confused by the inability of the Greeks to comprehend the idea of “holy war”. The Greeks explained to them that their wars were imperial wars and while the Church blessed the Emperor and the army it did not bless the killing of people itself.
By 1187, the Crusaders were driven from the holy land. A subsequent Crusade intended for Jerusalem was in effect diverted to Constantinople by the stupidity of a Greek named Isaac Angelus who claimed authority that he did not have and offered them funds the treasury of the empire did not have. It ended badly when the Crusaders attacked and destroyed Constantinople and confiscated its wealth while perpetrating massacres and destroying Churches. The Latins occupied Constantinople from 1204 until its liberation in 1261.
By this time Constantinople was in irreversible decline. Theology was still important for the Greeks as can be seen by the Palamite councils of 1341 and 1351 which exonerated the teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas and his teaching on “hesychasm”, a mystical form of prayer. By the end of the fourteenth century, the Ottomans for the first time attempted to conquer Constantinople.
Emperor Manuel II Paleologos travelled to England and France to obtain European support but to no avail. He returned to his city with nothing to show for his troubles. The second Ottoman attempt to take Constantinople occurred in 1422 but ended in failure.
At this point, the Greeks were desperate and in times of desperation people turn to desperate measures. Emperor John Paleologos sought survival through the union of the Greek Church with the Latins. This was too much for the Orthodox party that found such a solution intolerable. A Monk later known as Saint Mark of Ephesus emerged as the leader of the opposition.
Saint Mark was elevated to the status of bishop in order to attend the Council of Florence and negotiate with the Latins. The other Bishops having been intimidated by the Emperor agreed to union with the Latins although the latter failed to repent of their heretical doctrines. Saint Mark alone refused to sign and returned to Constantinople.
In Constantinople, the people of the city responded in anger at the news that the bishops betrayed Orthodoxy. Riots and protests broke out. All this was in the background when Emperor John died and his brother Constantine was called to take up the throne of Constantinople. The Megaduke Lucas Notaras declared, “better the turban of the Sultan than the cardinal’s hat”.
Sultan Mehmet began the siege in the first days of April. Two thousand Italians from Venice and Genoa had arrived to fight for the city. Considering that the Greeks had five thousand soldiers who could fight and the Sultan had an army of eighty thousand, this was not enough. So much for the efforts of the unionists.
Constantinople under Turkish attack
Whatever else can be said, the Greeks fought valiantly, and the Italians who arrived deserve admiration particularly the General Giustiniani. The Greeks fought hard and they frustrated the Ottomans. The elderly and others contributed by bringing food and water to the soldiers defending the walls of the city.
During the siege of the city, priests led a procession carrying the icon of the Most holy theotokos. The icon fell to the ground and broke. This was seen as a terrible sign of things to come. The Emperor himself maintained his composure and remained optimistic throughout the siege.
Near the end the Emperor’s military ally, Giustiani was wounded by the Turks and he lost his nerve and returned to his ship to depart. Earlier, the Turks had purchased cannons from a man named Orban. He had originally offered the sale to the Greeks but the latter could not afford it. The great walls of the city that had saved it and its inhabitants so often in the past were devastated by the cannons.
On the eve before the fall of the city, the Emperor entered Hagia Sophia to receive holy communion for the last time. He expressed remorse to all those who he may have offended. With great humility he received the holy gifts.
On the early morning of 29 May 1453 the Emperor spoke offering encouragement to his troops. Off to battle he went for the last time and fell as a common soldier having thrown off the royal purple. The city had fallen!
“The Christian troops had been waiting silently; but when the watchmen on the towers gave the alarm the Churches near the wall began to ring their bells, and Church after Church throughout the City took up the warning sound until every belfry was clanging. Three miles away, in the Church of the Holy Wisdom the worshippers knew that the battle had begun. Every man of fighting age returned to his post; and women, nuns amongst them hurried to the walls to help bring up stones and beams to strengthen the defenses and pails of water to strengthen the defenses. Old folk and children came out of their houses and crowded into the Churches, trusting that the Saints and Angels would protect them.”
The Fall of Constantinople 1453 by Sir Steven Runciman
The following eyewitness account comes from George Sphrantzes the official and friend of the Emperor,
“As soon as the Turks were inside the City, they began to seize and enslave every person who came their way, all those who tried to offer resistance were put to the sword. In many places the ground could not be seen, as it was covered by heaps of corpses. There were unprecedented events: all sorts of lamentations, countless rows of slaves consisting of noble ladies, virgins, and nuns, who were being dragged by the Turks by their headgear, hair, and braids out of the shelter of Churches, to the acompaniment of mourning. There was the crying of children, the looting of our sacred and holy buildings. What horror can such sounds cause! The Turks did not hesitate to trample over the body and blood of Christ poured all over the ground and were passing his precious vessels from hand to hand;
“Christ our Lord, how inscrutable and incomprehensible your wise judgements! Our greatest and holiest Church of Saint Sophia, the earthly heaven, the throne of God’s glory, the vehicle of the cherubim and second firmament, God’s creation, such edifice and monument, the joy of all earth, the beautiful and more beautiful than the beautiful, became a place of feasting; its inner sanctum was turned into a dining room; its holy altars supported food and wine, and were also employed in the enactment of their perversions with our women, virgins, and children. Who could have been so insensitive as not to wail Holy Church?
The above account comes from “The Fall of the Byzantine Empire A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes 1401-1477 Translated by Marios Phillipides
The slaughter proceeded for three days without ceasing. Before the onset of hostilities, Sultan Mehmet had offered the Greeks a choice. Surrender peacefully and the inhabitants and their families and possessions would remain unmolested. Convert to Islam, or fight and suffer the consequences in which three days of pillage would ensue. The Empire Constantine and the people of the city chose to fight.
The following passage pertains to the horrible fate suffered by the Grand Duke Lukas Notaras and his family. The quote comes from Franz Babinger’s “Mehmed the Conqueror and his Time:”
” the Sultan prepared a great banquet near the imperial Palace. Drunk with wine, he ordered the chief of the black eunuchs to go to the grand duke’s home and bring back his youngest son, a handsome lad of fourteen. When the order was transmitted to the boy’s father, he refused to comply, saying he would rather be beheaded than allow his son to be dishonored. With this reply, the eunuch returned to the sultan, who sent the executioner to bring him the duke and his sons. Notaras took leave of his wife and accompanied by his eldest son and his son in law Cantacuzenos, followed the executioner. The sultan ordered all three beheaded. The three heads were brought to the Sultan; the bodies remained unburied. Notaras, popularly known as the “pillar of the Rhomaioi (Romans) had once declared “Rather the Turkish Turban in the City than the Roman miteir”. His wish had been fulfilled”.
In the aftermath the Greeks lamented the passing of the city and the death and martyrdom of Constantine XI Paleologos. The legacy of Constantine lives on in music, poems, children’s tales. The best known tale is that of the “Marble “emperor”. The children were taught that the Emperor had not died. An angel had taken him in the moments before the final battle and that Constantine sleeps awaiting the moment when the angel will return to bring him his golden sword so that he can liberate his city.
Constantine XI Paleologos and the angel (war museum of Athens)
There is another tale that is told of the mysterious priest in Hagia Sophia. The story is told that when the liturgy was interrupted by the Turks, the walls of the Church opened and the priest was taken inside only to return on the day when Hagia Sophia serves as a Church again.
The priest of Hagia Sophia protecting the holy gifts
In 1589, Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II made a visit to Russia and recognized both the autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church (originally proclaimed in 1448 after the council of Florence) and the upgrading of the status of the Metropolitan of Moscow to Patriarch. Russia emerged as the successor to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
In the centuries to come, there were plans for the liberation of Constantinople. Russian ruler Catherine the Great (1762-1796) espoused the idea of a “Greek project” in which an independent Greece would be formed with Constantinople as its capital. Although nothing came of this idea, the Russians intervened on behalf of the Christians of the Ottoman Empire. In 1774, Catherine’s armies smashed the Ottoman Empire and forced the Turks to sign the “Treaty of Kachuk Kanarji” which required equal treatment of Christians with Muslims.
In 1853, the Russian Empire declared war on the Ottoman Empire over the status of the holy places in Palestine. The Roman Catholics were challenging Greek Orthodox control of the shrines. Great Britain and France intervened on behalf of the Turks. Were if not for western treachery, Constantinople might have been liberated.
In 1919 after the victories of Greece in the Balkan Wars and the first world war, Athens was supported in her claims to Smyrna and other territories in Asia Minor. The downfall of Greek Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos and the restoration of the Danish-German monarchy in Athens complicated Greek relations with the west. The western powers armed and supported the Turks. The Turks regained Constantinople and Asia Minor.
Since that time, the Greek population in Constantinople has been the victim of ethnic cleansing. The last heirs of Constantine XI Paleologos are almost gone. After the 1955 pogroms in Constantinople and the ethnic cleansing campaign of 1964 and after the Greek Orthodox of Constantinople were reduced to a mere two thousand.
The city left behind an immense spiritual legacy. Its spiritual influence can be seen on today’s Russia which displays the double headed eagle and champions Orthodoxy.
In our own day, Hagia Sophia is under threat. The government of Turkey wishes to turn the Church (currently a museum) into a Mosque. There are those of us who have fought, and will continue to fight to ensure this does not happen.
The passing of Constantinople continues to be mourned by Greeks. While we lament the passing of the city and the heroic martyrdom of Constantine and the defenders and the people of the city, we Greeks must reflect on the lessons not yet learned. We have failed to learn from the treachery of the Fourth Crusade and the Council of Florence, and very unpleasant events are taking place as a result of recent initiatives of the Church of Constantinople whose position in his city remains as precarious as ever.
In any case, some of us have looked upon prophecies attributed to Saint Cosmas of Aetolia and Saint Paisios of Mount Athos with great interest. These two saints lived in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries respectively. They are known for their love of Christ and their enormous piety. It is said that they have predicted things that have already come to pass.
They have also predicted that Constantinople will be liberated.
Saint Cosmas of aetolia martyred in 1779 is said to have predicted many things that have come to pass. He has also predicted the liberation of Constantinople. Saint Paisios of Mount Athos is one of the most beloved Saints in the Orthodox world. Churches have been built honoring him in Greece, Russia, and Syria. His tomb outside Thessaloniki is a place of pilgrimage. The Saint predicted the liberation of Constantinople.
