評(píng)論
打印
Religion in Turkey
土耳其的宗教
Erasing the Christian past
抹煞基督教的歷史
A fine Byzantine church in Turkey has been converted into a mosque
土耳其一座精致的拜占庭教堂成了清真寺
Jul 27th 2013 | TRABZON |From the print edition
Sinful paintings on the ceiling?
天花板上的水彩畫有罪嗎？
ON JULY 5th the mufti of Trabzon gathered with other citizens for the first Friday prayers of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, not at a mosque but at an ancient Byzantine church. The gathering was a symbolic re-enactment of the conquest in 1462 of this ancient Greek Black Sea port by Mehmet II, the Ottoman sultan who had wrested Constantinople from the Byzantines in 1453. He marked his victory by converting the Haghia Sophia cathedral of today’s Istanbul into a mosque.
7月5日特拉布宗的穆夫提和其他居民一道參加齋月的一個(gè)星期五禮拜，他們聚會(huì)的地方不是清真寺而是一座古老的拜占庭教堂。這次集會(huì)象征性地重演了1462年奧斯曼蘇丹穆罕默德二世攻占這個(gè)古老的希臘黑海港口。穆罕默德二世于1453年奪取了拜占庭的君士坦丁堡。為了紀(jì)念勝利，他把今天伊斯坦布爾的圣索菲亞大教堂變成一座清真寺。
Haghia Sophia’s sister of the same name in Trabzon is less grand. Yet with its dazzling frescoes and magnificent setting overlooking the sea, the 13th-century building is regarded as one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture. As with other Christian monuments, the Haghia Sophia in Trabzon has become a symbol in the battle between secularists and Islamists. It was converted into a mosque around the 16th century and, after other incarnations, became a museum in 1964. But the Islamists won the last round in 2012 when a local court accepted the claim by the General Directorate of the Pious Foundations, the government body responsible for Turkey’s historic mosques, that the Haghia Sophia belonged to the foundation of Mehmet II and was being “illegally occupied” by the culture ministry.
特拉布宗也有圣索菲亞大教堂，其規(guī)模不如伊斯坦布爾的那座恢宏。它有精美的壁畫，從這座教堂可以俯瞰大海。這座建于13世紀(jì)的教堂堪稱拜占庭建筑的典范。特拉布宗的圣索菲亞大教堂還有其他的基督教遺跡成了世俗主義者和伊斯蘭教徒?jīng)_突的象征。16世紀(jì)左右，這座教堂成了清真寺，1964年又變成了博物館。最后還是伊斯蘭教徒贏了，2012年當(dāng)?shù)胤ㄍソ邮芰蓑呕饡?huì)總局提出（負(fù)責(zé)土耳其歷史上有名的清真寺的政府機(jī)關(guān)）的訴求：圣索菲亞大教堂是穆罕默德二世創(chuàng)建的，正遭受文化部的“非法侵占”。
The decision provoked surprising anger in a city notorious for its ultra-nationalist views. “It’s about erasing the Christian past, reviving Ottomanism,” says a local historian. “There are enough mosques in Trabzon, half of them empty, what was the need?” chimes in Zeki Bakar, a neighborhood councillor. A lawsuit has been brought to undo the conversion.
這座城市因?yàn)闃O端民族主義觀點(diǎn)而聲名狼藉，這個(gè)決定叫人光火。當(dāng)?shù)氐囊晃粴v史學(xué)家說：這是抹煞基督教的歷史，復(fù)辟奧斯曼主義。Zeki Bakar的社區(qū)委員附和說：“特拉布宗的清真寺夠用了，半數(shù)清真寺是空著的，還差這一個(gè)嗎？”已經(jīng)有人提出訴訟，要法庭改變這個(gè)決定。
Even so, the mildly Islamist Justice and Development (AK) government carried out the conversion in time for Ramadan. A red carpet now obscures exquisite floor mosaics. Shutters and tents beneath the central dome shield Muslim worshippers from “sinful” paintings of the Holy Trinity. Shiny steel taps with plastic stools for ablutions clutter a once-verdant garden filled with ancient sculptures.
即便如此，為了過齋月，溫和的伊斯蘭教正義和發(fā)展黨掌權(quán)的政府還是把教堂變成了清真寺。現(xiàn)在紅地毯蓋上了地板上精致的圖案。中央穹頂下面的百葉窗和帷幕把做禮拜的穆斯林和 “罪惡的”三位一體水彩畫隔離開來。從前翠綠的花園里有古老的雕塑，現(xiàn)在為了齋戒沐浴，裝了帶著閃亮水龍頭的塑料凳。
Mazhar Yildirimhan of the Pious Foundations Directorate’s office in Trabzon shrugs off complaints as propaganda. But for experts the conversion is tragic, and will inevitably lead to damaging the building. “It seems to follow closely that of Haghia Sophia in Iznik,” warns Antony Eastmond of the Courtauld Institute of Art, referring to another conversion.
虔信基金會(huì)總局駐特拉布宗辦公室的Mazhar Yildirimhan對(duì)抗議不屑一顧，認(rèn)為這種抗議在蠱惑人心。在專家看來，教堂變清真寺是個(gè)悲劇，必然會(huì)給這座建筑造成破壞。考特奧德藝術(shù)學(xué)院的Antony Eastmond警告說：“伊茲尼克的圣索菲亞教堂成為清真寺的日子可能不遠(yuǎn)了。”
All this is prompting anxiety that the Haghia Sophia in Istanbul “will be next”. These fears are overdone. Restoration work on the famous basilica has continued under a decade of AK rule and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, has dismissed worries about its fate. Yet Mr Yildirimhan makes no secret of his desire for a conversion, which he says is shared by fellow Muslims. “It was ordained by the sultan,” he says. “We have all the records.”
這些都讓人們?cè)桨l(fā)擔(dān)憂伊斯坦布爾的圣索菲亞教堂“將成為下一個(gè)”。這些擔(dān)心有點(diǎn)過頭了。在伊斯蘭教正義和發(fā)展黨和總理雷杰普•塔伊普•埃爾多安十年執(zhí)政期間，對(duì)著名大教堂的修復(fù)工作一直在持續(xù)。然而Yildirimhan先生沒有掩飾把教堂變成清真寺的愿望，他說這也是穆斯林教胞的心愿：“這是蘇丹下令建造的建筑，所有的記錄我們都有。”
