Today is about Fener and Balat area in Istanbul. Here the Phanariots lived and studied, starting from the sixteenth century, from here they went further and ended up controlling us as well. From the accumulated wealth, they built villas and palaces, few of which survive to this day. In any case, apart from the former Orthodox churches or the school where many voivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia learned, our walk was accompanied by familiar names such as Cantacuzino, Cantemir, Mavrocordat or Ypsilanti. In an inner courtyard that is sure to be filled with happy voices and clinking glasses in the summer, chairs and pillows in the colors of the Romanian flag were piled up under a brick dome and a plaque that marked, in Romanian, the former residence of Dimitrie Cantemir. I would be lying if I said that I was moved, but I felt closer to home and realized that there are countries whose destinies are difficult to deal with and understand only within the limits of some predetermined borders. Istanbul is fascinating perhaps because it has such a mixed history, both inside and in the way it has left its influences outside. It is part of us and, through it, we are also a little European, a little Asian.
top of page
bottom of page
Comments