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32 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 2009 Turkey: Exploring and Enjoying History by Orysia Nazar Zinycz Hagia Sophia Working for an airline, I have traveled the world — walking through ancient ruins in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Israel, and other exotic locations. History, however, first came alive for me on the day I set foot in Turkey. From the start, I was intrigued by this land of contradictions, where modern meets ancient, and religions and cultures exist side - by - side in sometimes startling ways. Such contrasts and contradictions are pervasive in Istanbul — the gateway between Orient and Occident, the Isla mic and the Christian worlds, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Founded by the Greeks more than 2,500 years ago, the city was first called Byzantium. It was renamed Constan t - inople by Emperor Constantine and renamed Istan - bul by its Ottoman conquerors in the 15th century. We arrived in Turkey on a Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter, and celebrated Easter Sunday by visiting Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom. Built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, the church has endured numerous poli tical and cultural transformations, alternately serving Christians and Muslims as a place of worship. For Ukrainians, it remains a symbol of our religion, and being there on Easter Sunday was a moving ex - perience. Just next door is Sultan Ahmet’s Blue Mos que, named for the blue tiles adorning its walls. The mosque, like Hagia Sophia , has become one of the greatest tourist attractions of Istanbul — two magnificent monuments to two competing world religions, each with its own distinct architecture and aura. A stone’s throw from these two sites is the Great Mosque of Suleiman, also of special interest to Ukrainians. Just behind the mosque one finds two mausoleums — the tombs of Sultan Suleiman I and his wife, Haseki Hürrem (or Roxolana as she is known in the Western world). Suleiman, sometimes called Suleiman the Magnificent or Suleiman the Lawgiver, was an astute and powerf ul ruler. Under his reign, the Ottoman Empire expanded to the western Carpathians and the Persian Gulf. A builder and innovator, Suleiman built schools, encouraged municipal improvements, and enforced respect for law and order. Roxolana (c. 1510 - 1558) was the only legal wife of Suleiman and the mother of his heir. She is well - known, both in modern Turkey and in the West, and is the subject of many artistic works. She inspired paintings, musical works (including Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 63), an opera, a b allet, plays and several novels, most written in Ukrainian but also in English, French, and German. In 2007, Muslims in Mariupol, Ukraine, opened a mosque honoring her. Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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