Tokali Kilise (Buckle Church) was the principal sanctuary of a large monastic center in Byzantine Cappadocia, now central Turkey. This cave church was carved into the soft volcanic stone of the region and decorated with frescoes in several stages between the mid-ninth and mid-tenth centuries, and is one of the richest ensembles of painting to survive from the early Middle Ages.

This fully revised and thoroughly updated sixth edition of the Rough Guide to Turkey is your ultimate handbook to this fascinating country.A full section introduces Turkey's highlights, from the markets of Istanbul to the rock churches of Cappadocia. There are informed accounts of the country's wide-ranging sights and incisive reviews of the best places to eat, sleep and drink in every price range. Throughout the guide there is practical advice on everything from bazaar shopping to chartering a yacht. The authors also provide expert background on Turkish history, literature, music and film and the guide comes complete with easy-to-read maps for every region. The Rough Guide to Turkey is your ultimate handbook to this fascinating country.

The focus of the book is a particular region of the Byzantine Empire, Cappadocia, within Anatolia, in the centre of what is now Turkey. Its history as a part of this confederation of territories coincides with the medieval period in Europe. This monograph deals with various aspects of the province; it begins with its environment and climate, goes to some of its institutions and buildings, and ends with the paintings which the art-ists employed to decorate the latter, as well as with a particular type of inscriptions (those along the frontiers). It also considers education in Cappadocia during the Byzantines. The study is a scholarly/professional work that draws on the author's current research as well as on the material which the author developed in the last four years while teaching for the University of Ox-ford.

Two Amazon customers pointed out that this guide did not have an active (hyperlinked) table of contents. That problem has now been corrected. The active table of contents has been placed at the end of the book. Click on any item in the table of contents and it will take you to that reference in the text. Another customer noted that there were not pictures in the book. That was true in an early version but the current edition has many, many color images throughout. "If, like me, you are a bit tired of the ethnocentric social commentary that seems to come with certain well known guidebooks then you could do worse than try this one. Simple to use, well written and accurate, I found it invaluable and couldn't fault any of its recommendations nor descriptions." -- Yurt (Amazon reviewer). Turkey is so diverse it could almost be described as a continent rather than a country. The Aegean coastal area is one of the most beautiful anywhere. This is the main focus of this guide, though it also contains an extensive introduction to the country as a whole, including history, cultural information and abundant practical details about traveling in Turkey. Driving down the coast from north to south, travelers first encounter Pergamon, one of the greatest cities in the Hellenistic world and a center of culture, medicine and commerce. At Sardis, the ancient capital of the Lydians, you can hunt for traces of the gold that was reputed to flow down the Pactalos River. South of Izmiris, Ephesus, one of the world’s most lauded historical treasures.The vast Roman city captured the imagination of many an ancient woman. No doubt she would have dreamed of visiting the city where the men were powerful and the stores were lavish. The magnetism of Ephesus still attracts a huge crowd. Farther along the coast are the ancient cities of Priene, Miletos and Didyma, and inland are the milky terraces of Pamukkale. Turkey's location straddles Asia and Europe. The three great Empires that ruled the country for thousands of years left a legacy of enchanting cultures and more ancient sites than even Italy or Greece can boast. Covered in detail are where to stay, where to eat, shopping, sightseeing and adventures, both cultural and physical from walking in the footsteps of St. Paul to joining in the local festivals, from yoga and Turkish baths to art classes and cooking courses. This guide combines in-depth text information with color maps & photos on almost every page. Existing guides are largely text-only or mostly graphics and lacking the practical details travelers need. The guide totals 163 pages.

The text explores the iconographic and stylistic sources of the Greek mosaicists, as well as the departures from Byzantine norms, and the relationship of the decoration to contemporary work in the royal foundations. Also included is a chapter on the architecture of the church by Slobodan Çurciç.

The articles republished in this volume are ground-breaking studies that employ a large body of religious figural imagery of Byzantine lead seals ranging from the 6th to the 15th century. A number of the studies present tables, charts and graphs in their analysis of iconographic trends and changing popularity of saintly figures over time. And since many of the seals bear inscriptions that include the names, titles or offices of their owners, information often not given for the patrons of sacred images in other media, these diminutive objects permit an investigation into the social use of sacred imagery through the various sectors of Byzantine culture: the civil, ecclesiastical and military administrations. The religious figural imagery of the lead seals, accompanied by their owners’ identifying inscriptions, offers a means of investigating both the broader visual piety of the Byzantine world and the intimate realm of their owners’ personal devotions. Other studies in the volume are devoted to rare or previously unknown sacred images that demonstrate the value of the iconography of Byzantine lead seals for Byzantine studies in general. This volume includes various articles focusing on sphragistic images of saints and on the religious imagery of Byzantine seals as a means of investigating the personal piety of seal owners, as well as the wider realm of the visual piety and religious devotions of Byzantine culture at all levels. A companion volume includes studies dedicated to the image of Christ, primarily found on imperial seals, various images of the Virgin, and narrative or Christological scenes. (CS1086).

Throughout the course of Byzantine history, Christian doctrine taught that angels have a powerful place in cosmology. It also taught that angels were immaterial, bodiless, invisible beings. But if that were the case, how could they be visualized and depicted in icons and other works of art? This book describes the strategies used by Byzantine artists to represent the incorporeal forms of angels and the rationalizations in defense of their representations mustered by theologians in the face of iconoclastic opposition. Glenn Peers demonstrates that these problems of representation provide a unique window on Late Antique thought in general.