Church History in Constantinople

Wednesday's excursions included a trip to the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Orthodox Church in Constantinople, The Church of St. George.  Considered the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church (this includes the Orthodox Churches in the US) we were excited to get an audience with him...only to get there and realize he was unavailable.  But his representative explained the significance of the church building.

The relics (bones) of a former patriarch

Audience with the Patriarch's representative

 

Next we headed to the land wall designed to defend Constantinople from invasion by land from Eastern Europe.  The Turks added onto the original wall built by Emperor Theodosius and archway (1st picture) by adding a surrounding wall, which served as a station for the Janissaries.  Yes, that is me on the tippy top of the wall. 

I liked how this image shows the mix of ancient and modern structures.  One of our professor's commented that Constantinople is a civil engineer's nightmare...if they start digging and uncover antiquity the project is done. 

 

Our group of 25

I'm not modeling...it was just windy on top!

Quote from our director, Matthew Herbst, "There are no guardrails, safety harnesses, nets, signage on the top of the wall.  The only thing keeping you from falling to your death is common sense."