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Posted on 06/26/2016 6:02:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A monastery hewn from the rock has been found during excavations and cleaning works in an underground city that was discovered in 2014 in the Central Anatolian province of Nevsehir...
Excavation and cleaning works have been continuing on an area of 400,000 square meters that includes 11 neighborhoods around Nevsehir Castle, which is situated in the city center and has been declared a third-degree archaeological area.
At the beginning of the year, a historic church was discovered in the underground city. The church features frescoes depicting the ascension of Jesus to heaven as well as other important objects for the Orthodox community. There are also frescoes showing the apostles, the saints and prophets Moses and Elijah.
The latest discovery is a monastery carved from the rock that may date back to the fifth or sixth centuries.
Nevsehir Mayor Hasan Unver said the discovery of new places in the underground city had provided great excitement to academics and archaeologists...
The excavations have so far revealed oil factories, water ways, common areas, an underground church and horse stables used by old armies, Unver said...
Archaeologist Semih Istanbulluoglu, who is closely following the works in the underground city, said they were very excited at the discoveries of the rock-hewn church and the monastery.
Istanbulluoglu said the newly discovered complex likely dated from the fifth century. "We will see what we find in the next stages. The history of this place is very old. If we can find evidence from the Hittite era, we will make a great contribution to Nevsehir’s history."
(Excerpt) Read more at hurriyetdailynews.com ...
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With bunkers like that, they never should’ve lost Anatolia to the Turks.
Anyhow, this is a good article. Sleep soundly!!
Once the secret of the location is known, finding the air supply and cutting it off makes these places indefensible. The Turks were just way better fighters, period. They mopped the floor with everyone they met until the sea Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the siege (1529) and land Battle of Vienna (1683).
I think the Eastern Roman Empire could've held them off though, but for the neglect of the frontier defenses and the army in general in the 11th century.
In the 12th century, the Comneni emperors recovered a lot of Anatolia, and maybe could've gotten back to the old Taurus/Anti-Taurus defense line if Manuel had concentrated there instead of Europe.
I guess that depends on whether you classify Tamerlane as a Turk. He gave the Ottomans a terrifc beating around 1400.
And what is not given much credit, the Persians tied down the Ottomans in a series of costly wars in the 16th and 17th centuries, which took pressure off Europe.
The Byzantines might have been better off coming to terms with and allying with the incoming Turks, who had picked up on classical Greek and Roman learning while they were still wandering around Central Asia and Iran. They might have made good allies, certainly better allies than enemies. Ah well.
He was part Turkish, but good point nonetheless. He styled himself a revival of Genghis Khan, and made a run at killing as many people as GK had. Kit Marlowe described him as a Scythian shepherd who somehow fell ass backwards into the whole world conquest game. :’)
The Eastern Romans had well-developed towns and cities in Anatolia, while the Turks were mainly nomadic and pastoral, so that after the Turks took over Anatolia, the towns and cities in the interior declined severely, and central Anatolia become kind of an Asian wasteland. At least that's how I read it.
(Note that I've sworn off the term "Byzantine"!)
I’ve never been fond of it, never made a lot of sense, actually, but since they were good at business, the “byz’ part is easy to remember. ;’)
Their last really kick-ass ruler was Boris the Bulgar-slayer; this page about him damn near mede me wet my pants when I read it.
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/basil.html
He rocked!
I shake my head at how his successors blew it.
Not true. The emperor who lost at Manzikert to the Seljuk Turks had defeated them in combat twice before. The difference is in cost of soldiers. It cost a fortune for the empire and a loss was not easily recoverable especially for a diminished population of people living in cities ravaged by the plague.
So, he and his wife read up on Catholicism for a YEAR. At the end of the year he and his wife were WEEPING on the living room floor: "Oh no! We're Catholics!" They both converted and there is NO fervor like that of a convert.
He wrote a book called Crossing The Tiber, the story of their conversion.
His tours are FABULOUS.
I remember weeping at His tomb and still get all snerfy remembering when my friend and I entered Jesus' tomb. We were allowed to stay two minutes. I laid my rosary down on His tomb.
Since the Romans took down the hill of Calvary, (because too many pilgrims were going and staying there) it's all flat now and the site of His Cross is only several yards from His Tomb. It's just TOO much to think about and realize.
I think that every Christian ought to save his pennies and try to visit the Holy Land.
How could the Byzantines make allies with people like that?
True, it would have been nicer if instead of fighting they had organized seminars to discuss Homer, Plato, Sophocles, and Vergil.
Archaeologist Semih Istanbulluoglu,
*****
Istanbulluoglu, not Constantinopolluoglu.
Heh... I’ll let you say it...
The Turks also knocked hell out of a bunch of other muzzie states and empires, building a good-sized caliphate in the process; and the Byz had that cultural legacy they sought. Lepanto was the last sea battle (large one anyway) to use ancient-style galleys, the ancient ways were still vital. And the Turks could have used an alliance with somebody, kinda like now, they piss off everyone they meet. :’)
At Manzikert the Turks made an impact, so much so that the 10s of 1000s of mercenaries in the Emperor’s employ deserted the field when they saw (or feared) the destruction of the Varangians at the core of the Byzantine army.
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