The Land Walls of Constantinople, built by emperor Theodosius II at the beginning of the fifth century, are – with the Aurelian Walls of Rome – the largest preserved city walls of antiquity. For centuries they protected the capital of the Byzantine, and then the Ottoman Empire, from external attacks.

The interdisciplinary workshop approaches the monument from different perspectives and addresses its shape, use and perception by locals and strangers in different epochs. It precedes the opening of the exhibition of photographs by Roman photographer Domenico Ventura, who shows the monument in the context of today's urban changes and focuses in particular on the transitions between the urban space and rural areas.

Program
Wednesday, March 25

14:00: Tanja Michalsky (BHMPI) — Welcome
14:05: Tatjana Bartsch (BHMPI) — Introduzione
14:15: Neslihan Asutay-Effenberger (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)  — The Land Walls of Constantinople – Architecture, Topography and History
15:00: Silvia Pedone (Roma, Gallerie Nazionali Barberini e Corsini) — Cingere la città. Le mura e la loro immagine nei disegni dei viaggiatori e artisti dell’età moderna
16:10: Silvia Ronchey (Università Roma Tre) — Le Mura di Terra nelle memorie degli scrittori ottocenteschi
16:50: Aleksandar Shopov (Berlin, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) — From Elite Residences to Agricultural Space. Land Use around Istanbul’s Theodosian Walls

Scientific organization: Tatjana Bartsch, Johannes Röll