With funding from TÜBİTAK and Bahçeşehir University, Dr. Suna Çağaptay (Dept of Architecture) and Dr. Aslıhan Akışık are organizing a workshop that aims to bring together distinguished scholars to discuss their recent work on late Byzantine cities.
20-23 August 2019
D-Conference Hall, Bahçeşehir University, Beşiktaş Campus
International Workshop on Late Byzantine Cities (1204-1461)
The late Byzantine world (1204-1461) was distinguished by the existence of multiple, competing, and interconnected cities in contrast to the centrality of Constantinople in previous periods. Late Byzantine cities, in fact, constituted centers, rather than marginal lands, as they are often portrayed in historical studies. While this period was marked by gradual political and military decline, the late Byzantine cities were economically integrated into trading networks that spanned the Mediterranean and functioned as nodes in that system. Further, whereas the political history speaks of military campaigns, another view holds that diplomacy, itinerant masons and artists, intermarriage, intellectual networks, and trade helped establish a rich milieu of cultural interchange reflected in the urban character of these cities. This workshop is aimed at discussing the nature of the region’s territorial fragmentation as well as the partial reconstruction that resulted in the emergence of multiple autonomous centers. Drawing upon individual case studies, in particular, those of Trebizond, Constantinople, Nicaea, Nymphaion, Thessaloniki, and Mistra this workshop will cover the archival, literary, economic, archaeological, and artistic evidence toward bringing forth a wider perspective on these urban centers in late Byzantium.
Click for program flow.
For program and more information: https://latebyzantinecities.com/
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