Archimandrite Gabriel "Ottoman Art",
1930 // 34 p.

Archimandrite Gabriel "Ottoman Art". Commercial printing house, Plovdiv: 1930 // 34 p.

The book, in essence, is a short guide to the largest mosques and the Topkapı Palace, created in Constantinople after its capture by the Ottoman army on May 29, 1453, with a short introduction dedicated to Ottoman architecture in general. It is a continuation of another, significantly more serious work by the same author, dedicated to the history, monuments of Byzantine architecture and Byzantine art in the city {1}. The booklet is in very good condition, with slightly yellowed pages and soft covers of coarser blue paper.

At first glance, it is indeed difficult to expect that a high Christian priest would deal with the monuments of a foreign religion, thereby popularizing them. However, if we look carefully at our thousand-year history, we will definitely find that our astonishment was in vain - tolerance towards other people's opinion, character, religion is a characteristic feature of Bulgarians. So where else can you see a Christian church, a Muslim mosque and a Jewish synagogue next to each other - as it is in the center of Sofia... And it is especially important that our city is not some cosmopolitan metropolis in which world religions are represented approximately equal, but relatively homogenous ethnically and religiously. The overwhelming majority of Sofians – probably around 99% – are Christians or atheists. However, after the Liberation, Banya Bashi Mosque was not destroyed. As for the Bulgarian Jews, there is hardly a Bulgarian who does not know about their rescue during the Second World War.

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However, if we turn our attention to the time of the Bulgarian Middle Ages, we will certainly find that the tolerance of the Bulgarian people towards foreign fate, towards foreign opinion, towards foreign religion has its roots already at the time of its formation. It would be good to point out at least a few historical examples - probably no more are needed here - of the tolerance, the magnanimity, the understanding, the integrity of our people. Everyone knows from the history textbooks about the magnanimity of Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-1241), who after the victorious battle for Bulgaria at Klokotnitsa (March 9, 1230) "treated the captured multitude with humaneness, freed most of the soldiers, and above all the simpler ones and the assembly and sent them to their villages and cities..."{2}. The Byzantine statesman, diplomat and rhetorician George Acropolitus (1217-1282), whose "History" has preserved to this day the information about the Battle of Klokotnis, obviously could not believe himself that such magnanimity, tolerance and understanding of the fate of the little man, a foreigner at that, dragged into major world events against his will undoubtedly, then adds: "With this, he [Tsar Ivan Asen II] perhaps showed [(?)] philanthropy, and perhaps sought to derive benefit..." {3}. This addition of the prominent Byzantine, which is mentioned not too often, in fact more than anything characterizes the exceptionality of the action of the great Bulgarian king.

We would like to add just one more example - a remarkable and absolutely outstanding example of tolerance and integrity, but this time in interpersonal relations. After the death of Tsar Peter (927-970) and his son Tsar Boris (970-971) and the relocation of the political and military center of the Bulgarian state to the western ends of the Bulgarian land, the Bulgarian throne was occupied by the legal heir Tsar Simeon Roman (977- 991) – second (or third) son of Tsar Peter. The stingy ruler hardly left his capital Skopje and was even suspected of handing it, and himself, over to the Byzantines in 991. Although the king was again in captivity for another six years – until his death in 997 – his first the warlord Samuel did not even consider taking the throne until the death of the rightful ruler. Only after the death of the impersonal and unworthy Simeon Roman, the undisputed leader of the Bulgarians - Samuil occupied the throne of the Bulgarian kings for 17 years, until the fall of 1014. In the European Middle Ages, filled with all kinds of crimes, such an example of exceptional integrity is absent; the opposite is common - in order to get to power, the future rulers even walk on a carpet made of the corpses of their closest relatives.

The examples of tolerance, magnanimity and integrity of our people sound even more impressive against the background of the abundance of "reverse" examples in the neighboring nations. In an apocryphal text from the time of Byzantine rule - the so-called Thessalonica legend - a curious but very revealing story is told. Metropolitan John of Thessaloniki tried to prevent the departure of the younger of our holy brothers - Cyril the Philosopher - to the Bulgarian lands with the words: "Oh, crazy old man, he told him, the Bulgarians are man-eaters and they will eat you." {4}

By the way, this theme was spread among our southern neighbors and later - a propaganda poster "Ο Βουλγαροφάγος" ("The Bulgarian Eater"){5}, on which it is clearly visible how a Greek soldier is biting the throat (or ear) of a soldier in a Bulgarian uniform, was widely distributed in Greece during the War of the Allies (1913).

When even today we are surrounded by countries that, even at the highest level, are possessed by rabid nationalism, it is difficult to judge whether our tolerance is an advantage or more of a disadvantage. Who knows…

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"Ottoman Art" by Archimandrite Gavriil is not available in most major Bulgarian libraries and rarely appears in antiquarian bookstores. Our copy is from the home library of one of the most prominent Bulgarian archaeologists and was purchased for the specialized scientific library of the National History Museum in 1980 by his heirs.

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{1} Archimandrite Gabriel "Tsarigrad. Historical and archaeological information. With many historical notes relating to the Slavs, chiefly the Bulgarians'. Printing house "Enlightenment" of P. Zenginov, Varna: 1928 // 138 pp. and 1 map.
{2} George Acropolis "History". In: GIBI VIII // p. 161 (translation by Mikhail Voinov)
{3} Ibid // pp. 161-162
{4} Yordan Ivanov "Bulgarian Antiquities around Macedonia". Bulgarian Literary Society/Science and Art, Sofia: 1908/1970 // p. 282
{5} Artist S. Christidis; permanent exhibition of the Military Museum-Athens, 2-4 Rizari St. (on the corner with Kralitsa Sofia Blvd.); seen in 2013

Text: Ivan Petrinsky