The Byzantine Empire

From Bizas to Byzantium

Have you ever wondered about the glorious history of the Byzantine Empire and the transformation of the ancient city of Bizas into the magnificent Byzantine Empire? Join us on a captivating journey through time as we unravel the mysteries and splendor of Byzantium.

Byzas, the King Nisos of Megara son founded Byzantion. Greek city-states were expanding and forming new colonies in the seventh century BC. Megara, being a Dorian city-state close to Athens, was also looking for places to establish an additional colony.

According to Greek legend, Byzas was a Greek colonist from Megara son of King Nisou who consulted Apollo’s oracle at Delphi. He was told by the oracle to establish a settlement where he could view everything in order to prevent blindness. Byzas lead the group of Megarians to a great place that was located just across from Chalcedon, a place he chose as he found it strategically well placed on the end part of Constantinople today known as the Seraglio Point where is also located the southern entrance into the Bosphorus Strait. In 667 BC, he founded a city called Bosphorium on this area which was an ancient colony near Bosphorus strait and Golden horn where both sea ways join before emptying into sea of Marmara Ocean.

He could not understand how those from Chalcedon who lived on the Asiatic coast could not see the superiority of the European side of the Bosporus. In 667 B.C., Byzas decided to put an end to the oracle’s wanderings by establishing the city of Byzantium on one of the European shores. Almost a thousand years after that, in 330 A.D., somebody from the time of Emperor Constantine of Rome called it Κωνσταντινούπολις rather than Βυζάντιον (Byzantion). In Thracian it meant king and was a common appellation for Thracians.” Coinage, the coins bearing the head of founder of Byzantium-Byzas, perfectly idealized, were made sometime during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD). (Istanbul Archeology Museum).

The man who founded Byzantium (the predecessor of Byzantium, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople itself) is known as Byzas. Byzas sailed from what is now the town of Megara (his own city-state) in 658 B.C., accompanied by colonists from Corinth, Argos, and other cities of Boeotia, to Hellespont, was shown the place for the new city, called blind men’s country by Pythia from Delphi.…The swearing was ambiguous then, because its import was still a riddle.

Because its location was less advantageous than the future Byzantium on the Asiatic coast, the Asiatic city of Chalcedon was visited by the first colonisers who had come all the way from the city of Chalcedon where it was found. The locality is at the very entrance of the Gulf of Hellespod.In other words it happened to be located at the point where the Straits of Bosporus opened into the Sea of Marmora. The city was known as Byzantium in those days! During their voyage, as we mentioned before since this was before GPS era, voyagers used the landmark called Argonautica on their way towards Hellespont strait from Dardanella, which separates Europe from Asia Minor.

Mythology

According to Greek legends Byzas was Poseidon’s son by Keroessa; whereas Zeus loved daughter Inachus’ King Argos who was also river-god. He had to make the woman he loved look like an animal to save her from other angering his own wife while being aware that she loved someone else than him. On her travels, Io crossed the Bosphorus which she named Bosphorus Greek for cow-ford, regained her original shape and bore then daughter Keroessa who later bore a son sired by Poseidon, a grand-child of Gaea and Uranus, a son of Cronus, the elder brother of Zeus – the sovereign deity over all the waters from the pillars of Hercules and Hellespont.

Eventually, the son of Keroessa, Byzas from the Magerian clan, would found Byzantium and name it after his mother’s Golden Horn (Greek Χρυσοκερας Khrysokeras or Chrysoceras ). Some accounts claim that he was raised by the naiad Byzia while he married Phidaleia a daughter of king Barbyzos.

The Glory of the Byzantine Empire

Under the rule of the Byzantine emperors, Constantinople blossomed into a grand metropolis, adorned with magnificent palaces, churches, and monuments. The Byzantine Empire became a beacon of civilization, art, and learning, preserving and advancing the legacy of the ancient world.

“Byzantium” or “Byzantine Empire” was called in more recent times, in the 16th century, the Roman Empire from the year 330 onwards. This multi-ethnic and primarily multi-religious state, from the 4th century until the moment of its destruction by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, decisively influenced the destinies of the ancient and medieval world. The empire from the 3rd century but mainly from the moment its capital moved from Rome to Constantinople, in 330, began to change territorially and administratively and to evolve. The new capital, billed as New Rome, the “king of cities,” was actually the city of Byzantium, the ancient Greek colony of the Megarians on the shores of the Bosphorus. This city was renovated, beautified and renamed by Constantine the Great. It was she who was to become the center of culture for the entire medieval world.

The empire by the 5th century spanned the three continents around the Mediterranean, Europe, Asia and Africa. At the end of the 5th century, however, when Rome and its western part were occupied by German tribes, it was limited to the eastern lands of its old territory. Since then, its borders have been constantly changing. In the 6th century it was a vast, multi-ethnic and even multi-religious state. In the 11th and 12th, it extended, always multinational, to the Greek, Aegean and wider Asia Minor area. In the 13th century, in 1204, it ceased to exist, after it was overthrown by the crusaders of the 4th Crusade and replaced by states, in Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond. After its reconstitution, in August 1261, and especially during the 14th and 15th centuries, it possessed only the Greek lands around Vasilevousa. The Byzantine state was not static at any level, it is characterized by constant changes in its structure, function, and character. The raids (2nd-6th c.), the expansion of the Arabs (7th c.), plagues, changes in the climate and other factors left their traces on his subjects, on his administration, on the culture.

From the 4th to the 6th century Byzantium was Roman, mainly pagan, with a Latin language. The gradual change after the establishment of Christianity (381), the loss of territories (5th-7th c.), the Iconoclasm (8th-9th c.), resulted in the 9th c. the state to retain few Roman characteristics. It was now territorially limited, multinational, but Christian, with a Greek language, and with its own original culture. The administrative structure and the economy changed. The vast provinces of the 4th century were gone, the urban fabric collapsed and gave way to fortified settlements. Byzantium evolved into an agricultural state and remained so during its heyday (10th, 12th centuries) and until 1204. Only the imperial institution, which was formed early by integrating the spirit of Christianity into the Hellenistic and Roman ideas of kingship, remained unchanged over time. The emperor, surrounded by a strictly structured state and ecclesiastical hierarchy, acted as the universal leader of the only earthly kingdom, the representative of God on earth, who protects and leads to the true faith the citizens of the whole world.

The transition from the ancient world to the Byzantine world happened gradually. The structures of the ancient world “political, economic, religious” began to shake from the end of the 2nd century, a time when Christianity had begun to gain ground and the first examples of Christian art had already appeared. A stop for the transition from the world of antiquity to the world of Byzantium was the legalization of the Christian religion in 313 by Constantine the Great. Christian art henceforth acquired a public character and was placed at the service of spreading the new religion. At the same time, the transfer of the seat of the Roman Empire from Pome to Constantinople in 330 was decisive for the shift of the center of gravity from the Latin West to the Hellenized East. The division of the Roman state into eastern and western in 395 and the destruction of the western part in 476 were equally important milestones for the end of the ancient world, which was finally brought about by the closing of the philosophical schools of classical education in 529, the beginning of the barbarian raids and the decline of large urban centers after the 6th century.

Old forms-new symbols

Christian art was born in the period of late antiquity (2nd-4th century AD) in the bosom of the Roman Empire, and to express itself it used the visual language of the time. The Christians borrowed forms familiar to the Greco-Roman world, to which they gave new content. The figure of the shepherd with the lamb on his shoulders, which derives its origin from the Greek statues of the calf-bearer or ram-bearer, was used to convey the idea of ​​Christ as the Good Shepherd who, according to the Gospel passages, “put his soul in favor of of the sheep” (John, 10, 11). Orpheus, the mythical guitar player from Thrace, who bewitched the animals around him with his lyre in the works of late antiquity, was considered by Christians to be able to allegorically represent Christ who with his words softens the hearts of even the hardest people. Also, the philosopher, one of the most popular figures in the art of late antiquity, was one of the models for depicting the young Christ.

The mundane

Public and private life during the early Byzantine period preserved almost unchanged the characteristics of the Greco-Roman tradition. Many ancient cities continued to exist, while new urban centers were created at the same time. However, the largest part of the population lived and worked in the countryside, as the state economy was still based on agricultural production.

Craftsmanship and trade continued to be the main activities, while the form and organization of houses followed older patterns. However, the spread of Christianity gradually caused significant changes in people’s daily lives. The influence of the new religion was reflected both in the precious products of artistic creation (jewelry) and in the humbler objects of general use (ceramic vessels, metal objects).

The temples of the new religion

After the official recognition of Christianity, the need arose for an architectural and artistic expression that would project the triumph of the new religion, to the glory of God and to the honor of the martyrs and confessors of the faith. From the first half of the 4th century, the construction of magnificent churches began, which were often imperial institutions. The type of building that prevailed is known as “basilica”, modeled after the corresponding Roman assembly building. It was as a rule a rectangular hall, usually with a wooden roof, which was divided lengthwise by colonnades into three or more parts, the aisles, and had rich sculpture and painting decoration. The entrance was to the west, where there was an elongated space, the narthex. The alcove of the sacred step opened to the east. A courtyard with covered arcades, the atrium, as well as additions that served special functional needs completed this central core. The basilica responded to the worship needs of the new religion and at the same time was suitable for the gathering of a large number of believers.

The Christianization of the ancient sanctuaries

The legalization of the Christian religion (AD 313) and its consequent predominance in all the provinces of the state took place at a time when the ancient world and the pagan religious edifice had already begun to shake. This phenomenon was also strengthened by the state measures against idolatry, which began to be implemented from the middle of the 4th century and did not allow manifestations foreign to the concepts of Christianity. During the process of sanctifying the places of worship of the idols, many ancient temples and monuments were converted into Christian churches. The change of use of the ancient buildings was a phenomenon that appeared in all the provinces of the empire around the 6th century, when most of them had already been abandoned by the nationals. However, there were also cases of destruction of pagan monuments and works of art by Christians.

Christian Egypt. Coptic art

The Christians of Egypt are called Copts, a term derived from a corruption of the Greek word “Egyptios” in the Arabic language.

Coptic art, which appeared in the first Christian centuries, continued even after the Islamic conquest of Egypt (642). In Coptic art, two artistic traditions are combined: a) the ancient Greek, which faithfully reproduces the human form and the environment, and b) the eastern, which, together with the pharaonic artistic origins, insists on the rigid and priestly form, the linear and decorative tendency.

“Refreshment place”. Christians in the face of death

Death, according to the teaching of Christianity, is a transition from the perishable material world to eternal life, “in a bright place, in a green place, in a refreshing place”, as mentioned in the funeral service. It is a long sleep in anticipation of the resurrection at the Second Coming (“Before the presence of Christ, death was called death… because Christ did not come, therefore death is called but sleep and sleep”, Chrysostomos, Patrologia Graeca, 49, 393 -394).

In the first centuries (1st-3rd), Christians usually buried their dead in the existing open-air cemeteries, where ethnics were also buried, while the first cemeteries exclusively for Christians appeared towards the end of the 2nd century.

The types of Christian tombs, vaulted, box-shaped or simple pit-shaped, did not differ from the earlier Hellenistic or Roman ones. But also many funeral customs, such as the offerings that accompanied the dead, the ceremonies in their memory, the depositing of offerings on the graves, were a continuation of similar pagan customs.

The end of the dynasty of the emperor Justinian (6th AD century) marks the essential end of antiquity and means the development of all the medieval characteristics of Byzantine society. The invasions of the Slavs and the Arabs as well as the Iconoclasm caused the shrinking of the empire, which now mainly included Greek-speaking populations, which contributed to its homogenization.

The structure of Byzantine society was based on three main axes: the flexible but powerful administration, headed by the emperor, the Christian religion, headed by the patriarch of the Church, and the Greco-Roman tradition and the Greek language. All this marked not only everyday life but also the general manifestations of culture and art.

The capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the Franks and the Latin crusaders dealt a major blow to the empire, but it was also the cause of new relations and contacts. The restoration of the Palaiologan emperors to the Byzantine throne was no longer able to stop the political decline, despite persistent efforts. However, the “Palaeologian Renaissance” in art and culture was a leading cultural event that fruitfully influenced the West and the East.

Authority and management

In Byzantium, corresponding to monotheism, there was the supreme power in the land of a single emperor. The crowned emperor was God’s chosen one, his representative on earth. He embodied all the virtues and the law. All powers emanated from him and he appointed the officials in the political, administrative and military hierarchy. The status of emperor also required extraordinary bravery. A supreme commander of the army, he often led the military forces during wars and ensured the security of the borders. In the area of ​​the Church, of which the patriarch of Constantinople was the head, the emperor exercised supervision and enjoyed special privileges. Church and state jointly sought to bring all peoples under the auspices of Christ, and therefore also of the Byzantine emperor who was his representative on earth.

The critical turning point

The great prosperity experienced by Byzantium in the 6th century with the expansive and ambitious policy of Justinian was succeeded by a difficult period. In the 7th and 8th centuries the empire was strained by successive attacks by enemy forces, while due to the expansion of the Arabs it definitively lost a large part of its eastern territories. The population was decimated, economic activities declined, major urban centers shrank. Artistic production was also hit hard, especially in the countryside. The administrative and military reform, which had begun to be implemented in the 7th century, contributed decisively to the survival and gradual recovery of the state.

The written sources and material remain that have reached us from this turbulent period are currently fragmentary. For this reason, the 7th and 8th centuries are also called “dark times”. During their time, the so-called era of late antiquity finally ended, and the Roman Empire of the East was gradually transformed into the medieval state that is now called Byzantium.

Worship and art

The center of public worship in Byzantium was the temple. The faithful gathered there to celebrate the most important events from the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary, to honor the memory of the saints, to listen to the holy sermon, to pray. Church services were held there, with the main one being the Divine Liturgy.

For the Byzantines, the temple was a miniature of the abode of God and “of the universe”. This perception influenced the architecture and decoration of the temple: art served worship.

The frescoes of a Byzantine church: Episcopate of Evrytania

The Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, also known as Episkopi, was located on the west bank of the river Megdova. In the 1960s, the construction of the hydroelectric dam of Achelou and the creation of the artificial lake of Kremasto forced the submergence of the temple and the wider area. Before the building was flooded, and during the excavation work, two even older ones dating back to the 9th century were identified and removed under the newer 13th century painting layer. and the middle in the 11th century. Much later, and perhaps after an extended period of desolation of the temple, the built iconostasis was constructed, which can be dated to the 17th century.

Attica: A Byzantine province

Attica was an important province of the Byzantine Empire with agricultural and craft production, while the city of Athens, inextricably intertwined with its classical past, remained a center of education. After the closure of the philosophical schools in 529 by Justinian, the city fell into decline, while in the Middle Byzantine years it experienced a new boom. It is indicative that Basil II visited it in 1018 to worship the Virgin Athiniotissa in the Parthenon and to offer valuable offerings after his victory against the Bulgarians.

The dozens of new temples that were built at this time in the extensive urban fabric of Athens reflect the accumulated architectural tradition and the constant searches, which lead to the creation of a new type of temple, also known as Athenian. Its main characteristics are the small dimensions, the harmonious proportions, the elegant octagonal domes and the elaborate masonry with elaborate ceramic decoration. Humbler in their design and materials, the churches in the countryside met the worship needs of rural settlements.

Franks and Latins in Byzantium

From the end of the 11th to the beginning of the 13th century, four crusades were proclaimed by the Christians of the West, which aimed to liberate the Holy Land, and especially Jerusalem, from the Muslims. The Fourth Crusade, however, deviated from its original purpose, resulting in the capture of Constantinople (1204) and the creation of states by Franks and Latins in areas of the Byzantine Empire. Paintings and sculptures by Western artists have been preserved from this era, as well as monuments following Western architecture, such as fortifications, public and private buildings, temples and monasteries founded by Western monastic orders. At the same time, as Byzantine art came into contact with the art of the West, it was influenced by it and incorporated elements into its own works, which are characterized as “Franco-Byzantine”.

Aspects of public and private life

Everyday life is a particularly important area for the study of Byzantine culture, but one that has been under-researched because scholarly interest is more often directed towards the brilliant works of religious art. The objects that served man in his daily needs are mainly made of “humble” materials, such as clay, glass or copper, but they are valuable testimonies of the daily life of the Byzantines, many aspects of which survive in modern Greek society.

The vast majority of the population in Byzantium lived in the countryside, which was the basis of the economy and social organization, while the urban economy developed in cities, some of which stood out as administrative, military, transportation or commercial centers. At the same time, trade, sea or land, as well as crafts and the arts, such as weaving, pottery, sculpture, metalwork, developed.

The Palaeologian period: the last glimpse of Byzantium

The liberation of the Latin-occupied Constantinople in 1261 by Michael VIII led to the throne of the already fragmented empire the Palaiologos dynasty. The longest-lived of all, she remained in power until the final dissolution of the Byzantine state in 1453, with the capture of the city by the Ottomans. Despite politico-religious upheavals and constant external threats, the Palaeologists’ love for classical education gave new impetus to the development of philosophy, sciences, letters and arts. Constantinople regained its leading role as an artistic and intellectual center, while Thessaloniki also played an equally dynamic role with radiation on the Balkan peninsula. From the middle of the 14th century, Mystras, where several scholars gathered, was the last cradle of intellectual and artistic production.

In the late period of the Byzantine Empire, deprived of wealth, glory and power, art, and especially painting, imbued with the classical tradition, reached its peak and formed the basis for the next equally brilliant phase of post-Byzantine painting.

Already in the 14th and especially in the 15th century, and while everything seems to be leading to the definitive collapse of the Byzantine Empire and the conquest of Constantinople, an impressive mobility appears in the intellectual and artistic sphere.

Scholars, clergy and laity, mainly on the occasion of the theological searches of the time, produce a remarkable philosophical and theological work. Many of them are active in the West. They familiarize the Western world with fundamental works of classical and Byzantine literature, thus contributing to the European Renaissance. Equally intense mobility is observed in the artistic field. Byzantine art, and especially painting, developed in former Byzantine provinces such as Serbia and Bulgaria, and in regional centers such as Thessaloniki, Veria, Kastoria, Mystras and Crete.

Gradually, a society is formed which, integrated into the Ottoman empire, assimilates elements from the West and the East. In its context, the “Community of the Roma” will be established, a carrier of Greek Orthodox education and the Byzantine cultural tradition.

The gradual loss of Byzantine territories as early as the 11th century, but mainly from 1204 onwards and culminating in the final fall of Constantinople in 1453, contributed to the creation of a complex social and political system around the Eastern Mediterranean.

The populations, Greek and non-Greek, who lived in the Byzantine lands experienced these gradual but decisive changes in a variety of ways: In the Venetian-occupied areas, coexistence with Westerners leads to the creation of new social and cultural structures ˗the Byzantine tradition, the Greek language meet with brilliant sometimes results of the beginnings of the European Renaissance, which is evident in the urban areas of Crete, the Cyclades, the Ionian Islands, the Peloponnese.

In the Turkish-ruled areas again, these populations are included in the administrative system of another empire. In its context, all Rum (Christians, mainly Orthodox, regardless of origin and language) are subjects of the Sultan with the Ecumenical Patriarch as their religious leader. The Orthodox Church then becomes an institution of the Ottoman administration. At the same time, it is a point of reference for Christians, a pillar of preservation of the Byzantine tradition, Greek Orthodox education and the Greek language, contributing to the subsequent creation of the Greek national identity.

Venetian rule and the Greeks

The gradual conquest of Byzantine territories by the Venetians (13th-16th centuries, Crete, Cyclades, Evia, Cyprus, Peloponnese, Ionian Islands) contributed, among other things, to the formation of a new political reality in the Mediterranean ˗control of the South-Eastern Mediterranean was of great importance for trade and therefore for the international image and prestige of Galinotati.

During the first centuries, the rule of the Venetians was harsh for the orthodox Greeks or Greeks, as they were often called, and that’s why their reactions were intense – in Crete, for example. revolutions were continuous until the 14th century. Gradually, however, the differences softened and from osmosis emerged a mixed administration system and a complex Greco-Venetian culture that moves between Greek Orthodox and Western traditions.

Society and art in Venetian Crete

Around 1453, after the intense conflicts of the 13th and 14th centuries, a compromise had already been reached in Crete between the Venetian conquerors and the local Cretan aristocracy. While over time the position of the lower social strata became rather more unfavorable, the upper, mixed (Creto-Venetian) social stratum that formed maintained direct relations with Venice and produced cultural products of high artistic value from the mid-15th century onwards. During the 16th and 17th centuries, after three centuries of Venetian presence on the island, structures were formed that on the one hand were reminiscent of Western European feudalism or the former Byzantine society, and on the other hand resembled those of modern Italian cities. The art of Venetian Crete adopted Byzantine and Hiero-Gothic forms, often mixed with Renaissance and Baroque elements. A culture with a variety of references is thus clearly reflected, which balances between the Middle Ages and the Modern era.

Art in the Ionian Islands: Mixed genre but legal

The installation of great Cretan hagiographers in the Venetian-occupied Ionian islands and the presence of a large number of portable works brought with them by the refugees from the Turkish-occupied mega-island contributed catalytically to the development and renewal of the painting art of the Ionian Islands in the second half of the 17th century. An artistic tradition is thus created, on the one hand, influenced by the Cretan School of painting, and on the other hand, open to the contemporary artistic currents of the West. The “Eptanisiaki School” of the 18th century was the culmination of a creative process.

After all, the economic prosperity of the Ionians, the shift of Venetian policy towards the local element, especially after the loss of Crete in 1669, and the promotion of a regime of religious freedom aimed at preventing the Turkish danger, led to the peaceful coexistence of Greeks and Venetians and in creating the right conditions for the development of the arts.

From Antivolo to Image

Antibolas belong to the tools of a painter’s work, like paints and brushes, and are intended for the reproduction of pictorial subjects. They are the work designs of the post-Byzantine painters, with a particular spread initially in Crete and in the Venetian-occupied areas. The growing demand for images as well as the spread of paper as a design material gradually forced antiboles in the wider Greek area in almost all the important centers of post-Byzantine art.

They are valuable material that is passed on from painter to painter – through sale, exchange or inheritance – transferring the particular pictorial tradition – pictorial types and characteristics – from one artistic workshop to another.

The use of the term (anthibolo or athibolo) was widely established in the 18th century by Dionysios of Fournas in the “Interpretation of the Art of Painting”, which was the basic guide to the techniques of making and using antibolos.

The Ottoman conquest and Genos

The concept “Genus” is connected to the identity of New Hellenism as it was formed during the years of Ottoman rule. It does not concern all Rum, i.e. all the Christians of the empire, but those who shared the Orthodox faith and the Greek-Byzantine tradition.

It is not a question of one category of population, but of many, spread over all levels of social stratification: Genos are the self-governing communities of the Greek area, and the Phanariotes, and those who produce spiritual and artistic goods in Moldovlachia and Constantinople, Genos are also the Arvanites of Souli. After all, they are all those who, centuries later, embraced the modern ideas of the Friendly Society and the Enlightenment, and claimed their independence with the revolution of 1821. “Genus” carries meanings of a political and cultural nature. It is a way of separating “us” and “others”.

And it is this Genus that, sometimes self-governing and sometimes in conditions of absolute servitude, produces social goods and works of high artistic level, architecture and images, wall paintings and miniature works, textiles and printed matter.

The Roman communities

By the name “Romans” (Rum) were known the Orthodox populations, Greek-speaking, Slavic-speaking, Turkish-speaking, who lived in the lands of the Ottoman Empire which formerly belonged to Byzantium.
The Greek Orthodox populations, who were eventually identified with the name “Romans”, settled in Greece and in other areas of the Balkan peninsula, in Asia Minor and in Constantinople, after the bloodshed they suffered in the first two centuries after the conquest, presented the 17th century demographic growth accompanied by corresponding economic and social development. Organized into communities, whose functioning was favored by the Ottoman administration system, but also by the privileges granted to the Patriarchate, they had managed to secure some form of self-government and autonomy, which allowed for an increase in artistic production, which represented mainly by works of a religious nature. Icons, silver ecclesiastical utensils, often tributes from believers or guilds, gold-embroidered luxurious vestments, printed or handwritten books, testify not only to their cultural but also to their economic development.

Aspects of everyday life

The social organization of the Orthodox who lived in Greece and Asia Minor between 1453 and 1830 was based on the concept of community. Within these small societies the position of people varied according to origin, occupation and economic status. Regardless of whether they were under Latin or Ottoman rule, the Orthodox populations experienced a common tradition of faith and attitudes. The determining factor of their daily life was the Church. From it came the concepts on the basis of which social reality and the world were interpreted, while at the same time other concepts were drawn from an older, pagan past. All together constituted a single framework of thought, which remained in its essential points medieval at least until the 18th century.

Church. Place of faith – Place of social cohesion

During the period of Ottoman rule, the Church as an institution, but also as a place, assumed a dual role. Church attendance and religious life contribute to the mental contact and identification of the Roma and help them maintain their cultural independence. On the other hand, the temple, in addition to being a place of faith and worship, becomes a place of social cohesion – it is where the community gathers and the faithful communicate with each other at the various social events: weddings, baptisms, discussions on economic and political issues. Within the church and the parish, the unity of the Roma is established.

The diversity of the 18th century

In the 18th century the “Roma community” enters a new historical phase. The social groups of the Phanariots, the priesthood of the Patriarchate and the local dignitaries dominate. A new element is the emergence of a powerful merchant class. Its members, along with a small portion of Phanariots, priests and scholars take the lead (circa 1770-1820) in promoting ideas of the European Enlightenment, which meets the reaction of the Church. Ecclesiastical orders still dominate the visual arts. The artistic forms are mainly based on the Byzantine tradition, but also combining various European and Islamic elements. Then a painting with non-religious themes appeared dynamically, which decorated the houses of rich merchants, sometimes even the temples. Sections of the Greek population are, shortly before 1821, in the most dynamic phase of their first urbanization.

The Print and the new Hellenism

Decisive for the formation of the identity of the New Hellenism is the contribution of the Greek and foreign printing houses that have been operating since the 15th century in the dynamic communities of the Greeks in the West and East – in Western Europe, in Russia, in the Danubian hegemonies and in Constantinople. From very early on, the printing presses of the Greeks produced mainly religious and mainly liturgical publications.

At the same time, the impact of the European Enlightenment leads to the emergence of the so-called “religious humanism”, a movement of progressive church scholars that is part of the wider context of the “New Hellenic Enlightenment” (circa 1750-1830). In close collaboration with notable editors-publishers, eminent scholars, through all kinds of publications, introduce ideas and values ​​of enlightened Europe to the Greek area and to the Roma communities everywhere. In this context, the revolutionary ideas of Rigas Feraios find fertile ground.

Religious painting in the Greek state

The revolution of 1821, the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and the interventions of the European states led to the creation of the Greek state in 1830. This new state was placed under European tutelage with the governor of the Bavarian King Otto and the capital initially Nafplio and then Athens. The transfer of the capital harmonizes on the one hand with the Greek national ideology and on the other hand with the archeology and neoclassicism of the Bavarians.

Religious Orthodox painting turned decisively towards Western-oriented, three-dimensional painting, which was finally accepted as the official mode of artistic expression of the Church of Greece. At the same time, however, more traditional painting tendencies survived, which conventionally can be characterized as “folk”.

In this section, the relationship of Byzantine culture with forms of modern art will be presented in periodical exhibitions.

Issues of faith, religiosity, the metaphysical dimension of Byzantine art, the political management of faith in the modern world, the role of Orthodoxy in the balance of the era, the symbolic power of religion, the conflict of religions with the “atheist” 20th century, are only some of the significant issues that preoccupy today’s artist and are fields of artistic reflection.

Spirituality, abstraction and expressive austerity are some general characteristics of Byzantine art that impressed the modern artist and directed him to its study. But also, more specifically technotropic features, color, design, light and inverted perspective influenced the work of the younger artists.

The rich and multifaceted dialogue of contemporary artists with Byzantine art reveals the dynamics of Byzantine culture as a social, philosophical, political and artistic phenomenon with duration and content.

Monasteries and the influence of them!

Monasteries, as early as the Byzantine era, were, apart from spiritual centers, important and profitable production units. After the spread of the Ottomans in the Balkan peninsula, those who retained their lands and property due to privileges and tax exemptions, continued to develop as economic, spiritual and artistic centers. Decisive for the flourishing of the monasteries was the role of the rulers of the Danube regions and later of the Russians, who with their support and financial support contributed to their growth and influence. Educational institutions functioned in some of the monasteries, while artistic workshops developed in and around them. Also noteworthy is the flourishing of fresco painting, mainly in the 16th century, with the greatest representatives being Theofanis and Katelanos.

The final Christian emperor of Constantinople and Byzantium was Constantine XI Palaiologos. His death has been shrouded in myth since he was last observed fighting on the city’s walls when it was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

The Emperor Constantine Palaiologos died during the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Mehmed the Conqueror, whose army captured the city, was the leader of the Ottoman soldiers that carried out the attack that brought Byzantine rule to an end after more than 1000 years. Consequently, historical conceptions of the event in both Greece and Russia have tended towards monumentalizing it so far, considering that such a tragedy necessitated great sacrifice including subsequent economic and social backwardness. The impact of the fall of Constantinople was particularly felt in the Eastern Orthodoxy. After the Turkish invasion, this was the only empire left east of Rome. The West too was influenced by this event as it marked the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of modern European civilization. “Even until now, there are Greeks who still maintain hope/faith that one day Constantinople will be Hellenic again.”

The legend of the “Marble Emperor”

Constantine Palaiologos is not remembered for his achievements but as a figure of legend, “The Marble Emperor”. When the city was captured, the emperor’s remains were not identified, nor was his tomb ever discovered after all these years. However, legend has it that Constantine XI Paleologos did not perish in the hands of the Ottomans; instead, he was said to have transformed into a stone unable to witness the fall of his beloved capital to its enemies.

According to the legend, the Marble Emperor would return to life one day and retake Constantinople. Maybe it was just a way for those who’d been vanquished to console themselves, reassuring them that the conquerors wouldn’t linger in the city.

The life of Constantine XI Palaiologos

Constantine XI Palaiologos was born on February 8, 1405. He was the eighth child of ten children of the emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and his wife Elena Dragases, the daughter of the Serbian ruler Konstantin Dejanovic. Nothing is known of Constantine’s life before he ascended the throne of Byzantium. He was a great general and he and his brothers ruled the Despotate of Moreas located in Mystras in Moreas. Mystras is the ancient name of the modern Peloponnese.

Constantine and his brother Ioannis fought off an invasion on Moreas from Carlo II Tocco, the ruler of Epirus between 1427 and 1428. In 1428, Constantine was hailed as Despot of Moreas who was to govern it together with his elder Theo dor and younger Thomas. For the first time since fourth crusade which happened over two hundred years ago, these three guys extended Byzantine power to almost whole Peloponnesian peninsula.

In an attempt to ensure the Byzantine rule extended further into Greece, person of Constantinople waged wars against Thessaly and Central Greece in 1444-1446 after which they revived the old Hexamilion wall that protected the peninsula from external aggressors. His brother Ioannis died on January 6, 1449, and it is during such times of his life that Constantine was declared the emperor This was happening at a time when the Ottomans were growing stronger by conquering formerly Byzantine territories.

Constantine attempted to bring together the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Catholic Church, hoping for Catholic military intervention against the Ottoman Empire. This was done in vain however. In the fourth year of his rule over the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine Palaiologos found himself obliged to defend Constantinople against a third attack by Turks that commenced on April 15, 1453, and resulted in its final capture on May 29 the selfsame twelvemonth.