This is very sad, as well as earlier vandalism that I didn't know about reported in the article. I first visited there in the late 70s and most recently I took my wife there in 2012. Such an incredible place. When the controversial announcement that it was being converted back into a mosque, I actually thought that was OK. It
had been a mosque before and time moves on. It was horrible what happened to the art when
Islamic rule came in in the Middle Ages, but I also understand it. I saw so much defaced
Christian art in
Turkey and that was sad. As a modern person interested in
history, I hated seeing this stuff, but how can we really judge. In today's world, I think we perhaps can judge more as everyone should have an appreciation of
history one would
hope. But, I remember back in the 70s seeing
poor people living in the walls of
Constantinople and we all know that ancient sites provided building
supplies for much more recent people. Not to mention the European and US museums literally stealing things from
Turkey and other countries. I recall going to Pergamom and thinking I really wish the
altar of
Zeus was
still there instead of in the museum in
Berlin. I never made it to
Berlin because my
security clearance back then did not allow me to travel by train across East
Germany. Anyway, I hate seeing senseless stuff like this. Thanks for posting.
Virgil
