City’s tour guides focus on Byzantium
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 16, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Every tour guide should have a background in culture and history because it is impossible to do the job based on hearsay legends and information, said Byzantine art specialist Professor Semavi Eyice.
The conference titled "Istanbul" was held Tuesday and organized by the Chamber of Istanbul Tour Guides. It drew interest from many tour guides working in Istanbul.
The Union of Tour Guides and Chairman of the Chamber of Istanbul Tour Guides Şerif Yenen attended the conference. Eyice, taking the stage at Istanbul’s Pera Museum, was once an Istanbul tour guide for Swiss tourists. "Being a tour guide is important and it’s a gentle issue because they should be the ones who promote and introduce Turkey in an accurate way," said Eyice.
’Istanbul was the center for Christianity’
Sharing information on Byzantium's traces in Istanbul and Anatolia, Eyice said Istanbul was an important place and was the center for Christianity during the Roman and Byzantine times. Eyice said many churches have been built in the city and in other parts of Anatolia and said some of them, such as Hagia Sophia, survived through time and are still standing.
Istanbul still has ruins of the city walls and sanitary waterworks belonging to Roman time. According to Eyice the city walls, which consist of dikes, frontier walls and main walls, are considered the period’s most important martial fortification.
Eyice said that the widely known misconception that the dikes were once filled with water is wrong. He said the 15-meter deep dikes were constructed and left empty to block enemy soldiers.
Eyice said among the Romans' most important contributions were the water systems they built in the cities. The Romans established civilizations near water wherever they went. Through channels and paths, they succeeded in carrying water into a main fountain in Istanbul’s Beyazıt district.
Istanbul’s water cisterns
"People of Byzantium built many cisterns at various places in the city. These cisterns were built to trim the rugged terrain of Istanbul to make it suitable for construction and give the buildings a more glorious look besides store water," Eyice said.
Eyice said the legend that one of Istanbul’s many underground cisterns forms a path that ends at Hagia Sophia in the Sultanahmet district is not true.
Sharing some history, Eyice said, "The Fener İsa Mosque on today’s Vatan Avenue used to be a monastery and the last imperial family of Byzantium is buried under the former monastery."
Istanbul has faced destruction in the last century and during that time Byzantium remnants and precious works have disappeared.
The Union of Tour Guides and Chairman of the Chamber of Istanbul Tour Guides Şerif Yenen attended the conference. Eyice, taking the stage at Istanbul’s Pera Museum, was once an Istanbul tour guide for Swiss tourists. "Being a tour guide is important and it’s a gentle issue because they should be the ones who promote and introduce Turkey in an accurate way," said Eyice.
’Istanbul was the center for Christianity’
Sharing information on Byzantium's traces in Istanbul and Anatolia, Eyice said Istanbul was an important place and was the center for Christianity during the Roman and Byzantine times. Eyice said many churches have been built in the city and in other parts of Anatolia and said some of them, such as Hagia Sophia, survived through time and are still standing.
Istanbul still has ruins of the city walls and sanitary waterworks belonging to Roman time. According to Eyice the city walls, which consist of dikes, frontier walls and main walls, are considered the period’s most important martial fortification.
Eyice said that the widely known misconception that the dikes were once filled with water is wrong. He said the 15-meter deep dikes were constructed and left empty to block enemy soldiers.
Eyice said among the Romans' most important contributions were the water systems they built in the cities. The Romans established civilizations near water wherever they went. Through channels and paths, they succeeded in carrying water into a main fountain in Istanbul’s Beyazıt district.
Istanbul’s water cisterns
"People of Byzantium built many cisterns at various places in the city. These cisterns were built to trim the rugged terrain of Istanbul to make it suitable for construction and give the buildings a more glorious look besides store water," Eyice said.
Eyice said the legend that one of Istanbul’s many underground cisterns forms a path that ends at Hagia Sophia in the Sultanahmet district is not true.
Sharing some history, Eyice said, "The Fener İsa Mosque on today’s Vatan Avenue used to be a monastery and the last imperial family of Byzantium is buried under the former monastery."
Istanbul has faced destruction in the last century and during that time Byzantium remnants and precious works have disappeared.