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A Byzantine Journey
A high point of civilization and artistic accomplishment, the Byzantine Empire has also been the object of great misunderstanding and prejudice. This is a portrayal of its cultural history, focusing on its surreal landscapes and fantastic monuments. The book starts in Istanbul and crosses the Sea of Marmara to travel through Anatolia, the region of Asiatic Turkey which was the source of the Empire's wealth and manpower. John Ash finds his way through a country of anachronisms and contrasts, of bloody feuds and frescoed cave-churches, of saints and sinners, of emperors and sultans. The book introduces the reader to an exotic cast of characters, including the impassioned aesthete Theophilus, the great mystical poet Rumi, the bishop and necromancer Theodore Santabarenos and the Empress Theophano.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionTravel
Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 2, 2023
Based on his opening, I hoped for a better travel account. He finds the contemptuous coverage in the West of all things Byzantine to be at odds with an empire that survived 1100 years.
Although in certain respects they (Byzantines) are very remote from us, their contribution to the character and destiny of European civilization is immense: without them the West might never have existed. Consider that of the 55,000 ancient Greek texts that have come down to us, we owe fully 40,000 to the repetitive labors of Byzantine scholars and scribes. Their empire provides an unbroken link between the culture of late antiquity and the beginnings of the modern age. And it was they who defended Europe’s eastern approaches against Islam—from the seventh to the eleventh centuries against the Arabs, and from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries against the Turks. One does not have to be hostile to Islam to appreciate the magnitude of this achievement.
Unfortunately his description of the various sites he visited is not at all appealing. I'm afraid much of the historical sites are just piles of stones. It was sad to hear of archeological sites destroyed as a result of the 1923 war. However, his descriptions and accounts of the people living in Eastern Turkey are fetching. I would travel there to meet and talk with the natives more than walking around old sites.
3 Stars
Although in certain respects they (Byzantines) are very remote from us, their contribution to the character and destiny of European civilization is immense: without them the West might never have existed. Consider that of the 55,000 ancient Greek texts that have come down to us, we owe fully 40,000 to the repetitive labors of Byzantine scholars and scribes. Their empire provides an unbroken link between the culture of late antiquity and the beginnings of the modern age. And it was they who defended Europe’s eastern approaches against Islam—from the seventh to the eleventh centuries against the Arabs, and from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries against the Turks. One does not have to be hostile to Islam to appreciate the magnitude of this achievement.
Unfortunately his description of the various sites he visited is not at all appealing. I'm afraid much of the historical sites are just piles of stones. It was sad to hear of archeological sites destroyed as a result of the 1923 war. However, his descriptions and accounts of the people living in Eastern Turkey are fetching. I would travel there to meet and talk with the natives more than walking around old sites.
3 Stars
December 5, 2008
John Ash undertakes a quest to traverse Anatolia (Modern day Turkey) the former heart of the much neglected and misrepresented Byzantine Empire. He goes to villages, to churches, to caves, all in an effort to prove that Byzantium was not a degenerate, backwards nation as it is often made out to be, but deserves our full respect as one of the most important Empires in history. Byzantium's roll in holding back the Muslim's from overrunning Europe and holding dear the classical artwork, literature and traditions of Hellenism that would eventually spark the Italian Renaissance was of colossal importance to world history and is sadly overlooked by our modern societies and sometimes even held in scorn. By the end of this book one can't help but feeling a longing to go to Istanbul and wander the Turkish countryside in search of old Byzantine ruins.
April 16, 2014
Starting from Istanbul, John Ash follows the remnants of Byzantium across Anatolian Turkey. Churches, palaces and lesser buildings or what remain of them draw him and his photographer companion into Cappadocia,
While describing the ruins and their significance in the history of the former empire, Ash gives fascinating insight into the true nature of Rome in the East, which outshone and outlived its western counterpart centered on Rome.
Ash challenges the view that Byzantium is synonymous with decadence and decay. It was certainly an empire that reached an apogee and then suffered a sad decline, until it was totally snuffed out by the conquering Ottomans.
But there are certainly traces of it left, and Ash’s journey took him to some seldom visited out of the way places to which only local knowledge could lead him.
The only thing that lets his narrative down is the lack of accompanying illustrations – more maps specific to each section of his journey (there is a large one at the start of the book, showing the route of his travels) and more photographs – MANY more photographs, showing each of the buildings and the notable details he describes.
Of course, if all that were provided, A Byzantine Journey would be a large pictorial volume, not a compact 300-page paperback. But what a glorious book it would have been in that expanded version! Of course, there is the opportunity these days to search out images and maps on the internet – but given that I read the book in flight, by hotel pools and in the back garden at home, that wasn’t always possible or convenient.
Otherwise, it’s a wonderful journey.
Review by Kerry Hennigan
April 16, 2014
While describing the ruins and their significance in the history of the former empire, Ash gives fascinating insight into the true nature of Rome in the East, which outshone and outlived its western counterpart centered on Rome.
Ash challenges the view that Byzantium is synonymous with decadence and decay. It was certainly an empire that reached an apogee and then suffered a sad decline, until it was totally snuffed out by the conquering Ottomans.
But there are certainly traces of it left, and Ash’s journey took him to some seldom visited out of the way places to which only local knowledge could lead him.
The only thing that lets his narrative down is the lack of accompanying illustrations – more maps specific to each section of his journey (there is a large one at the start of the book, showing the route of his travels) and more photographs – MANY more photographs, showing each of the buildings and the notable details he describes.
Of course, if all that were provided, A Byzantine Journey would be a large pictorial volume, not a compact 300-page paperback. But what a glorious book it would have been in that expanded version! Of course, there is the opportunity these days to search out images and maps on the internet – but given that I read the book in flight, by hotel pools and in the back garden at home, that wasn’t always possible or convenient.
Otherwise, it’s a wonderful journey.
Review by Kerry Hennigan
April 16, 2014
October 22, 2014
I am distressed that eighteen years have elapsed since this book was published and the time I finally obtained and read it: it is a contemporary classic blending a polymath's knowledge of history and architecture with the pulsating pen of a fine poet: John Ash has re-kindled the glint of ancient mosaics in his prose. The more I read his account of the travel from Istanbul across the Bosphorus to Nicaea, then over the rocky escarpment to the Anatolian plain, the more I realize that I must one day follow this itinerary and seek out the amazing structures and walls and vanished cities that he describes so poignantly. He is obviously taken by the contemporary Turkish occupants of this land and their own rich culture, which feature repeatedly throughout the text.
But it is Byzantium herself who is gradually limned: the vast settlements in Cappadocia--beyond the touristed sites of Goreme--and their complex endemic Hellenic culture that endured down to the last century. These bear testament to the extent and complexity of the vast empire that spanned more than a Millenium. Ash makes one practically feel the echoing sadness of what has been lost to war and cupidity, and what continues to vanish with contemporary neglect and indifference.
I don't think I shall take the bus, as Ash did--but his mode of transportation leads to many of the entertaining digressions throughout that show the richness of contemporary Turkey--a wealth that builds on solid Byzantine foundations. The final chapters on the bits of Constantinople that persist are especially haunting to me: he practically reconstructs the entire incomprehensibly lavish Great Palace before your eyes, and you strain as he does to find the last few fragments that persist of the Boukoleon.
The elegaic passages describing the Hagia Sophia, Saints Sergios and Bacchus and especially the St. Savior in the Chora celebrate the glory of Byzantine achievement in a style worthy of their subject: I was surprised he didn't mention Fethiye Camii(Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos)surely a gem comparable to these in polished artistry. One vainly hopes that some more comparable monuments might one day be found to justify a second Journey on his part. Surely there must be some more remnants further eastward in Anatolia--perhaps near Trebizond or Iskenderun?
It is obvious, reading the final, italicized chapter describing Mrs. Davis from Columbus' obsession with Istanbul that John Ash fully shares her passion. And I can't imagine that any educated reader (particularly those of Greek extraction) can't fully agree. This is a book that joins Robert Byron, the Durrells and Patrick Leigh Fermor as a contemporary classic giving testament and musical voice to the eastern Mediterranean Romiote stones.
But it is Byzantium herself who is gradually limned: the vast settlements in Cappadocia--beyond the touristed sites of Goreme--and their complex endemic Hellenic culture that endured down to the last century. These bear testament to the extent and complexity of the vast empire that spanned more than a Millenium. Ash makes one practically feel the echoing sadness of what has been lost to war and cupidity, and what continues to vanish with contemporary neglect and indifference.
I don't think I shall take the bus, as Ash did--but his mode of transportation leads to many of the entertaining digressions throughout that show the richness of contemporary Turkey--a wealth that builds on solid Byzantine foundations. The final chapters on the bits of Constantinople that persist are especially haunting to me: he practically reconstructs the entire incomprehensibly lavish Great Palace before your eyes, and you strain as he does to find the last few fragments that persist of the Boukoleon.
The elegaic passages describing the Hagia Sophia, Saints Sergios and Bacchus and especially the St. Savior in the Chora celebrate the glory of Byzantine achievement in a style worthy of their subject: I was surprised he didn't mention Fethiye Camii(Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos)surely a gem comparable to these in polished artistry. One vainly hopes that some more comparable monuments might one day be found to justify a second Journey on his part. Surely there must be some more remnants further eastward in Anatolia--perhaps near Trebizond or Iskenderun?
It is obvious, reading the final, italicized chapter describing Mrs. Davis from Columbus' obsession with Istanbul that John Ash fully shares her passion. And I can't imagine that any educated reader (particularly those of Greek extraction) can't fully agree. This is a book that joins Robert Byron, the Durrells and Patrick Leigh Fermor as a contemporary classic giving testament and musical voice to the eastern Mediterranean Romiote stones.
April 4, 2021
This travelogue diverts from the typical form by describing the history of the places in eastern Anatolia more than the culture. It’s written in 1995, but isn’t that dated other than some references to the gulf war and what I would guess is the ease of travel 1990s Turkey compared to today. I picked it up because it is well reviewed and an area of the world I know little about but find fascinating.
It became obvious I’ve missed a lot of “Western Civ.” as I read. The book is written from a western point of view that tends to cherish the “lost” Greek artifacts of Byzantium. For example, the expanse of the Byzantine empire and the fact it was an essentially Greek empire were new to me. I probably wouldn’t have known anything about the importance of the empire to Christianity if I had it recently read a lot of Russian and WWI where Constantinople is this idyllic place to conquer.
The book intends to go on a search for Byzantine’s importance and it largely achieves that by showing how much Byzantine and pre-Byzantine culture heavily influenced “western” culture. It often does this well.
For example, the digression on Cybele and Phrygia (this is where Midas and the Gordian Knot parables come to us) predate Greek culture and how their principal female deity, Cybele, led to Artemis as a Greek Goddess and influenced early Christianity’s embrace of a holy mother in Mary to help prevent backsliding into the pagan religions of Greece and Rome (the book points out the principle shrine to Artemis and Mary’s apocryphal birthplace are both Ephesus and the contemporaneousness of the Christian and Islamic initial iconoclast movements). Obviously, reading all this led to me journeying through a lot of Wikipedia pages.
The book highlighted the western influence, impact, and extensive existence of Greek culture in Anatolia until the First World War when the allies encouraged a failed Greek invasion of Turkey under the Ottoman Empire in 1914 and the subsequent genocide of Armenian and (as presented in the book) Greek populations.
I would recommend the book to someone traveling the area, and the historical places explored briefly touched on a lot of Byzantine and pre-Byzantine history that I found interesting enough to look into further.
It became obvious I’ve missed a lot of “Western Civ.” as I read. The book is written from a western point of view that tends to cherish the “lost” Greek artifacts of Byzantium. For example, the expanse of the Byzantine empire and the fact it was an essentially Greek empire were new to me. I probably wouldn’t have known anything about the importance of the empire to Christianity if I had it recently read a lot of Russian and WWI where Constantinople is this idyllic place to conquer.
The book intends to go on a search for Byzantine’s importance and it largely achieves that by showing how much Byzantine and pre-Byzantine culture heavily influenced “western” culture. It often does this well.
For example, the digression on Cybele and Phrygia (this is where Midas and the Gordian Knot parables come to us) predate Greek culture and how their principal female deity, Cybele, led to Artemis as a Greek Goddess and influenced early Christianity’s embrace of a holy mother in Mary to help prevent backsliding into the pagan religions of Greece and Rome (the book points out the principle shrine to Artemis and Mary’s apocryphal birthplace are both Ephesus and the contemporaneousness of the Christian and Islamic initial iconoclast movements). Obviously, reading all this led to me journeying through a lot of Wikipedia pages.
The book highlighted the western influence, impact, and extensive existence of Greek culture in Anatolia until the First World War when the allies encouraged a failed Greek invasion of Turkey under the Ottoman Empire in 1914 and the subsequent genocide of Armenian and (as presented in the book) Greek populations.
I would recommend the book to someone traveling the area, and the historical places explored briefly touched on a lot of Byzantine and pre-Byzantine history that I found interesting enough to look into further.
March 19, 2012
A wonderful tale of a man tracking down some of the far-flung ruins of Byzantium still visible in Turkey. And when they're no longer visible, John Ash fills in the missing history admirably, choosing his sources well. I am interested in Byzantine art, history, architecture - everything: I lived in Istanbul for 2 years in the 90s - and so one thing that pleased me about this book was that JA covered a lot of new ground for me, got to places I never got to, (and regretted not doing so) and tells of his travels engagingly, sparing the poetry and the history expertly.
July 11, 2014
Highly idiosyncratic travelogue that bored me with too much detail and too many names. If you have not trekked exactly Ash's path, it will be a confusing read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews