When was Istanbul settled

August 30, 2017 by Mustler Posted in TM9 Tagged istanbul daily tours

Istanbul daily tours – The earliest-known settlement in the area now known as Istanbul, was probably founded around 1000 BC. It`s name was Semistra. It was followed by a small fishing village, called Lygos. Lygos was settled on the European side. Then, around 700 BC colonists from Megara in Greece, founded the city of Chalcedon on the European shore of the Bosphorus.

Istanbul Daily Tours – Byzantium, comes after a Megarean colonist

The next name of the settlement – Byzantium, comes after a Megarean colonist, Byzas established his new colony. There is a legend that says that Byzas was the son of Poseidon and a nymph, daughter of Zeus and Io. Before he was leaving Greece, he asked the oracle at Delphi where he should establish his new colony. The answer he got was enigmatic – `Opposite the blind`.

While he was sailing up the Bosphorus, he remembered the words of the oracle as he noticed the colony on the Asian shore at Chalcedon. Then on the European shore he saw the small fishing village of Lygos. It was built on a magnificent and easily fortified natural harbour of the Golden Horn. Thinking, as legend has it, that the settlers of Chalcedon must have been blind to disregard such a good and strategic position, Byzas and his fellows settled their new town there and named it after its founder Byzas, Byzantium.

The article above has been taken from http://istanbulday.com. To read more, please click on the following link Istanbul daily tours.

Central Market Hall Sofia Walking Tour

August 29, 2017 by Mustler Posted in TM9 Tagged Sofia Walking Tour

These market places were called “charshiya”. The land on which Sofia Market Hall is located today was the charshiya of the monastery of St. John of Rila. For this reason, the terrain where today the Central Market Hall, also known as Tsentarlni Sofiyski Hali, is situated had been a trading venue for centuries to the monastery of St. John of Rila.

Visiting unique architecture, a symbol of old Sofia in Sofia Walking Tour

Beginning of the 20th century, to put it more in order, the Sofia Market Hall was built. It was built to sell dairy products, fish etc.

Still it is one of the main tourist places that we will visit in Sofia walking tour. You can enjoy an old shopping complex which was originally built with four entrances. But now only three are being used by the public.

While entering the mall from the main entrance one can see the relief of the coat of arms of Sofia above. It designed by the artist Haralampi Tachev. Over that famous small clock tower with three dials can been seen.

The Market Hall was closed for restoration in 1988. Due to the political changes and also changes in the country`s system, it carried on and off for some time. Eventually, an Israeli company invested $ 7 million. Being next to the Central Synagogue the Market got their attention. Now the company have 75 % of the Market Hall. And also on the ground floor of the Market Hall we can see a fountain shaped like the Star of David. Since the Easter in the year 2000, It was open again.

The article above has been taken from http://sofia.privatetours.info. To read more, please click on the following link Sofia Walking Tour.

Byzantine calendar

August 26, 2017 by Mustler Posted in TM9 Tagged Byzantine calendar

After the adoption of Christianity, the Byzantine calendar “since the creation of the world” was implemented. As is known, that calendar sets the Beginning – the creation of the world, and the Ending – the Second Coming, which are the terminus post quem and the terminus ante quern of human history.

The implementation of the Byzantine Christian calendar of the Constantinople era before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar after 1700 was obligatory not only for ideological reasons, but also because of the religious cycle, without which the newly created Bulgarian church would not have been able to perform its cult- and customs- related practice. In Bulgaria, as generally in the East, the system of counting the years I “since Christmas” or “since the Incarnation of Our God Jesus Christ” is a very rare phenomenon. There is only one inscription, which indicates for sure this kind of calendar. It belongs to Omurtag and states:

“And the name of the ruler is Omurtag, Kan Syubigi. The year since the appearance of the true God is 820 and since the Creation of the world, 6328”

Since the inscription is in Greek, it was most probably made in the style of the usual imitation of the Byzantine practice. The separation of the Byzantine-Slavonic Orthodox community from the Western European Latin language group is also evident in the use of the calendar. The different “calendar language” used in the East and the West is another factor of their distancing and self-isolation.

Volga Bulgaria

The calendar is an important factor of the cultural memory of the nation which uses it. Volga Bulgaria is an excellent example of this well-known claim. The orientation according to the stars, the situation of the planets, the Sun and the Moon, belong also to the set of knowledge of the Bulgarians in the region of Middle Volga. This is proved by the detailed system of names of planets, separate stars and constellations, which is later kept by the so-called Kazan Tatars. The stars determine meteorological time during the year and control agricultural activities. The Turkish explorer of the 17th century, Hadzhi Caliph, using sources which have not been preserved, describes a Volga Bulgarian who makes astronomical observations far north of Bolgar.

It is believed that the most widely used calendar in the region of Middle Volga was the 12-year sun cyclical calendar, in which the months have names of animals. This calendar was in use until the time of the Kazan Khanate. Many late manuscripts give evidence of the fact that the ancient Bulgarian calendar continued to be used in Kazan during the Late Medieval Period. That shows the important role of Volga Bulgarians in the formation of the culture of the Khanate.

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