I can't even imagine how many discoveries like this are buried in Turkey, having been the center of the east Roman empire for a thousand years.
I wish Turkey would allow archeological digs.
I wish Turkey would allow archeological digs.
To this day, many Greeks, Russians, etc. (mainly Eastern Orthodox Christians) still refer to Istanbul as Constantinople, as though it is under some form of illegitimate occupation. The West also still seems to view the fall of Constantinople as the fault of the Turkish people. Is it hard to blame the average Turkish citizen for being less then enthusiastic about exploring the history of what everyone around them views as somebody else's historical legacy?
This all ignores the fact that the Eastern Empire declined steadily for centuries and lost territory to many other peoples besides the Turks, including both Greeks and Europeans. While we may view the conquest of Constantinople as the tragic end of the Roman empire, the fact is that the empire lived on in the institutions of the Ottoman empire and in its people. The Ottoman empire absorbed populations that were once Roman and, although their descendants today may adhere to a different religion, their culturual inheritance is still, in large part, Roman.
This alienation of Turkish citizens from their heritage is now causing serious problems. Erdoğan's regime holds commercial interests to be supreme and has not hesitated to throw important sites under the bulldozer over minor delays. Roman ruins are widely viewed, not as the people's heritage, but as a foreign nuisance that is best swept away to make room for the new. This must change.
Somewhat OT, I wonder if there’s a way to teach history that wouldn’t make people’s dislike it just because of perceptions like this. The Roman and Ottoman empires don’t exist anymore, what do people get my being angry at states that are gone?
Despite the spin from post-enlightement historians recasting everything between ~600-1600 into the 'dark ages', 'rome' as in 'the roman empire' didn't end in the east until 1453 (or possibly 1917, depending on how Romanov you go), and didn't end in the west until 1806 (or possibly 1914, depending on how Hapsburg you go).
Not 'ancient rome', but still self-styled as 'rome' with a direct lineage in some form or fashion.
Polemic aside, certainly cappadocian caves would fall under the 'eastern roman empire' category, albeit post-pagan as you point out.
As Voltaire quipped: "The Holy Roman Empire was neither Holy nor Roman, nor an Empire"
Just assuming the title of the Roman emperor is not really a direct lineage.
It's not any more or any less the end of the Western Roman Empire than the political troubles that occurred in the earlier and later centuries. The Gothic, Frankish or Vandalic kingdoms very much thought of themselves as belonging to a Roman world.
But in those 324 years a lot happened that make the case of a direct lineage questionable. The Gothic wars destroyed a lot of remaining infrastructure and Roman culture, the Roman senate was no more after 600 CE, the long term population loss, and the Christian Pope was the defacto ruler of the city (if you could still call that what was left a city).
The coronation of Charlemagne was also considered illegitimate by the Eastern Roman emperor at first, until they couldn't ignore Charlemagne's military power anymore.
Perhaps I'm biased (certainly) but Turkey often seems to be in the news for spectacular finds from archaeological digs across the country (focused mostly in the west though). I worked on a site in the SE for seven years, and there was a ton of activity every year many foreign but also Turkish digs working in every province.
I say that in a complete vacuum with respect to Turkey. I'm guessing disallowing archaeological digs is has less to do with conservation & preservation and more to do with not getting in the way of real estate developers. I live in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, not Alaşehir), where it's not that archaeological digs aren't allowed, but the trouble is that such digs are not mandated in the historical sections of the city, and as a result, so much history gets carted away in dump trucks.
In Turkey, building stops if any archaeological finding is found in the process, until they come in and resolve the situation of the ruin. This may even lead to cancellation of the building project.