On the ruins: Christmas in Istanbul

In the brain neurons of our compatriots the word "Istanbul" ("Konstantinopol", "Tsargrad", "Second Rome", "Istanbushka") It is inevitable either with cheap dubble articles from the skin of Anatoly Baranov, or with a needless desire to replace the crescent on the Makushka Ayia Sofia to the Orthodox Cross and turn the pathways through the straits. Sheepskins and jackets – the thing that do not speak, useful in our cold climate. Even if that product is that we are damped from the shores of Bosphorus, and leaves much to be desired – he still saves from Russian frosts.

As for the obsessive desire "Write a shield" To the goal of the Tsargrad, then it is more complicated. For some reason, the gate of this city is attracted to themselves the attention of Russians, not Paris or Berlin. There were also nailed and hoisted, but somehow in one-time order. Hoisted and calmed down. But the Golden Horn manites us since more times, when we and the Orthodox are not yet. Already half an end to the prince of Oleg, hetrumally taking advantage of some "Tours on wheels", pinned your shield to the Kinggrad Gate and forced Basiles to pay an impressive tribute. Proud Romesey decided that it was better to pay off, if only dyed aliens from the north were removed.

What happened next is known. According to God’s providence or by virtue of the historical need, Constantinople fell, the Omman Turks watershed on the dome of Ayia Sofia Crescent. The Russians in response to it were assured, with the filing of the arrival of the Greek monk Philof, which is now the forever and forever, before the arrangement of Heavenly Jerusalem, the last, the third Rome will be Moscow, the only repository of the true piety and the geopolitical Vizantine wisdom.

Ommans, in the meantime, built an empire, in their best times, located in the tremendous territory – from Ethiopia to Hungary and from Morocco to Armenia. Such a disgrace of the Third Romans naturally could not come to the soul. They stubbornly copied forces, the lust of to nail their shield to the shields of the brilliant ports and stir up hated crescents from the majestic dome. Dream was cherished by the highest statesmen. For example, the Great Poet Fyodor Tutechev, in any adviser to the Russian Embassy in Turin, managed to lose his briefcase with the Embassy ciphers and diplomatic mail. Was for it expelled from service and devoid of ranks. He was rehabilitated by writing a brochure that he finally needed to finally win the straits and hoisting an Orthodox Cross over Istanbul, and the city himself will make the third capital of the Russian Empire. For what a consideration was completely forbidden by Nikolai I. He was returned to the chamber of chin and issued an impressive cash benefit.

And, I must say, we were quite close to the realization of the dream several times. And under Catherine Great, and with her grandson Nicolae I Palkin, and even at the height of the First World War, when the Imperial Black Sea Fleet almost made landing on the shores of the Bosphorus. A little more, just a little, but. Not even the Turks who have lost their power prevented, and the evil western Europeans, with the help of wisdom political games all the time upset plans of the heirs of Prince Oleg.

There was some strange love-hatred between Russia and Turkey, mutual attraction and repulsion. In general, no wonder. Both countries, both cultures were the bold of Byzantium with its unlimited despotism, insulatingism and historosophical self-confidence. Even in the field of art, Osmans and Russians developed the achievements of Byzantines in their own way. Russian churches – the long descendants of the creations of Greek architects, and the Great Turkish architect Sinan in his masterpieces, for example, in the Sulimia mosque, pushing out from Ayia Sofia, in essence, changed a little. He simply brought the cross-domed structure to complete perfection. And if somewhere "Dome of flying", so not in Ayia Sofia, namely in Suleyman. And when you walk along the halls of the Sultansky Palace Top Caps, then you understand that, with all the differences, the concept of luxury among the Ottoman Vladyk and the Russian kings had one root – excessive, extensible luxury of the yard of Basilevs. Kremlin Chambers and Istanbul Palace "kiosks" closer to each other than to the masterpieces of Western European architecture.

All this perfectly felt one of the most brilliant Russian thinkers of the last century, Konstantin Leontyev, the extreme Esteret and at the same time the radical imperialist and the conservative, deeply hated Western democracy and Western Christianity. Leontyev traveled a lot on the Balkans and Asia and knew the Ottoman Turkey did not first. In its main work, "Byzantism and Slavs", He repeatedly insists on the similarity of state reign in the port and in the Russian Empire, says that the Turks and Russian are close in their rejection of Western owners of life, about the fact that the collective, not implying the protection of the rights of the personality. Public device is not better than the Turkish and Russian National character. He likes that the Turks with contempt refer to all sorts of Bulgarians and Serbs, but the Russians respect the Russians. He quotes some Turkish sander: ". And the Greeks and the Bulgarians only one is political, constitution and T. NS. nonsense. Believe me – Russia will be strong until you have the Constitution. I am afraid of Russia, I will not hide it from you and, from the point of view of my Turkish patriotism, I would have walked from the bottom of my heart to make a constitution. But I am afraid that you always have state people somehow very smart. Perhaps there will never be a constitution, and it is for us, the Turks, quite scared!"

Turkish Pasha was mistaken in high assessment of intellectual abilities of Russian state husbands: in Russia the Constitution still turned out. How, however, in Turkey itself. Yes, if yes kaba. You look, maybe we would drop a cross over Ayia Sofia. And it came out all the same. Muzzyov’s prayers continue to be heard over the Tsargrad, and instead of Ayia Sophia, we have the Church of Christ the Savior, which has yet been known to Nikolai I, destroyed by the Bolsheviks and the newly disposed of Constitutional Luzhkov. With the help of basher working hands – what, however, later.

After the revolution about Istanbul in Russia somehow subsided – to relatively recent times. With the new Turkey, a Kamalim Ata Türk, the Bolsheviks first were friends, then, as we know, the relationship was broken – Germans were hijacked in Ankara. And after the second world southern neighbor, officially was considered mainly as a potential enemy: NATO bases were located on its territory. In Istanbul from Soviet few people got, except for rare diplomats, external Russians, journalists, spies – yes of our sailors who soldered in the Istanbul market cheap carpets and transistor tape recorders.

But there was also Russian, white Istanbul. After the civil war in the city, more than 300.000 refugees of all varieties and masters. Even when many of them were able to get further to the West, more than 150 left in curves and dark streets.000 immigrants from Russia. What was this life – remember, reread "Run" Mikhail Bulgakov. The writer himself never happened in the gloomy alleys of Karakea, but this life of Tarakanyih runs described great. Even now, when you wander around these places, you see the shadows of Charnot, Khludov and Seraphim.

Now "White Russians" from the strength of twenty thousand, almost alone old men, and soon they will go. Once in Istanbul – look into the senile shelter on the street Humhan Juddessy to Cracka, where the walls on the stairs are painted, as once in Moscow, dim green and brown paint with a blue border, from the rooms it smells like a table potato soup, and on the roof there is a small Church of St. Andrei. Inhabitants rejoice: church "Close to sky". They remember a lot, but Russia for them is a stranger country, they say with the forgotten "StarRightened" Prone, their homeland – Orthodoxy.

Sometime Istanbul was a multinational city. Now almost all Armenians left, like Poles and French. Once numerous Jews who spoke in an old-spanish language, also almost left. And for Christmas in Constantinople Patriarchate in the area of ​​Fenner, where since the XV century traditionally settled the Greeks, in the temple – semi empty. The descendants of the Byzantine patrician, distant heirs of Cantacuses and Having, Paleologists and Ipsilanti, chinno, hit the chorus "Bless, Vladyko" At the foot of the Patriarchal Throne.

But a few years ago, the Russians returned. Other Russians whom the banging of the shields and stamping crescents do not interest completely. However, before these Russians began to float benches selling cheap consumer goods, the Turks appeared in Moscow. They are the first of the foreigners who began after restructuring to attack the Russian market opened. Who built half of the new capitalist Moscow? They. Russians so lazy and lost the skill that even the temple declared as the most important in Russia began to build Muslims. Who opened the first foreign pharmacy in Moscow? Turks. Who first realized that the skins of Anatolian Baranov would become a real golden license, if you touches cheap clothes? Turks. Who crashed our streets fake adidas tearing? They are.

For Turkish good, and millions of our compatriots and former fellow citizens in the USSR rushed to Istanbul to the Byzantine majesty. The area of ​​Lales, who is half off the walk from Ayia Sofia, turned into a monstrous Cloaca, where the inhabitants of the CIS merged, from which the nauseas, who do not want to feel the parties, and those turks who are also clearly not a better part of the Turkish nation. Here at every step they are enough for the sleeve: "Skin want? Dublenka want?" Here, almost all the inscriptions in Russian with the wildest mistakes – but it doesn’t matter, the Turks somehow speak Russian, our shunks, for years now, arriving here for the junk, do not bother to learn at least ten Turkish words. But they hit the imagination with the ability to carry bales, Packaged in immense polyethylene packages for urban garbage. Konstantin Leontheva would now in Lales, what would he say about the Russian-Turkish character and harm of the Constitution?

And in places for which in Istanbul and it is worth going, the Russian speech is not heard. In Ayia Sofia, on the verification of something like the Giant Station, which seems to"at 12.00 From the 1st way, the train goes to paradise" – But the trains are no longer walking, the rails rusted, the schedule board is disabled, they did not pay for electricity), heard speech in any languages ​​except our native. The same – in the top kapa, in the Church of the Saints, Sergius and Vakha, in the wonderful Mosaica chore, near the magnificent mosques. Russian almost no. Not to the relics of Orthodoxy them and not to monuments of Byzanthism. Even in the big market they will not hear them – why do they, although almost always fake, but still very beautiful carpets and jewelry? As there are no compatriots and in magnificent restaurants – compatriots on the ambulance hand checkers are checked in "Kebap-salons" Lales with native names "friendship", "A meeting" and "Black Sea".

Looks like Istanbul in the foreseeable future Russian shields on the gate and crosses on mosques are not threatened. However, the Crescent Turks will not hoist on the XCS. Other is possible: the closure of the oblique Byzantine traditions, deeply rooted in Russian, and in the Turkish consciousness.

For many years, Turkey has been trying to join the United Europe. Some right of her may have – both geographical and political. After all, Cyprus is going to accept, on the approach quite recently become the democratic Central European countries. Yes, and in general, NATO holds his troops in Turkey. But Turkey will not be accepted in Europe, probably never. Why there is a pretty poor Muslim country with a multimillion population and not very stable democracy? And if Turkey suddenly gets rich to the level of any Kuwait, then she needs europe itself.

Russia in Europe is also waiting for less. And God forbid, if we come to power "Holders" With the Byzantine subcorter, such as those that all be felt about Sevastopol, the only understandable function of which was supporting in a lively form of mythology about the straits, – then we will not wait for us in Europe. And here then "Byzantism" (and third-party, and Ottoman modifications) can be the basis of geopolitical convergence, extremely dangerous in the long term for both peoples. Cancel the Constitution and there and here and we will live on "Otchen covenants", So cute insightful Konstantin Leontiev.

Well, that, they say, rubbed as a crows, clouds flying up at sunset over the golden dome of Ayia Sofia? What, like "Picakery vest", Sitting on the terrace of the seaside restaurant, chewing to nonsense "Big politicians"? So Chernomyrdin is with its gas idea "Blue Path" Directly from Russia to Turkey.

Geopolitics and really not my business. But hitting the Christmas to Istanbul, and when the Muslims of Ramadan begins for the same week, the sacred month of Ramadan begins, all his nature you feel that this schizophrenic city, spreading on two continents, is an eternal symbol of cultural generation. And by the Byzantines, and the Turks, and we have borrowed an eagle with a split consciousness with the Vladyk Bosphorus. This is also a cork city, a stupor city, plugging the strategic marine straits and the flow of universal history. The city, the main attractions of which are the temple-railway station (and I risking to be incorrectly understood, I am glad that now in Ayia Sophia does not serve as a liturgy and do not pray, turning the face to Mecca that now there is a museum) and a colossal bazaar.

City of Ruin, Muravian City. Here is this bazaar-station and allows you to look at the addiction: who we are? What do we want and what are capable?

With the past christmas, Orthodox! However, Jesus is known to be born every day. Think about tomorrow, looking at the slapped coffins and marked ruins.