That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees -
Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

 William Butler Yeats

The fall of Constantinople, 1453

Kritouboulos, Greek chronicler of the Sultan 

	Byzantium 1200 features incredible computer reconstructions of Constantinople as it must have appeared to its citizens.
	Link to Byzantine Studies - a comprehensive web site dealing with Byzantium.
	Byzantine music   Listen to hyms from the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Christian Church as chanted by various Byzantine music choirs.
	Link to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople  Interesting site with a nice collection of icons.
	Panoramas of Serjilla, Syria.  Ironically, much of ancient Byzantine architecture has been destroyed in the great cities such as Constantinople.  However, astounding remains are found in far-flung rural areas. The most-stunning are those in the 'dead cities' of Syria, Serjilla.  It is amazing to imagine the former wealth and vitality of Serjilla, and compare it with the present-day scene of bleak desolation. William Dalrymple describes his visit to Serjilla (see reading list below).  The link here is to a series of panoramic views at the Australian National University site