Uğur Zekeriya Peçe

@ugurpece.bsky.social

Historian @LehighU | author of Island & Empire | previously @BardCollege & @Harvard | PhD @Stanford | BA Economics @UniBogazici | https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/island-and-empire

In many Ottoman mosques one sees the following part of the 37th verse of the sura Al-i İmran written on the top part of the mihrab: "Whenever Zachariah visited her (Mary) in the sanctuary (mihrab)." The photo here is from the famous mihrab of Hagia Sophia. And there are many other similar examples.

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In August 1906, the French consul, together with the commander of the French forces in Crete, visited the tiny island of Spinalonga, 750 metres away from the coast of Crete (photo on the left is from chapter 3 of Island & Empire). Today it was I who was on a boat.

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Spinalonga is a tiny island off the coast of Crete. It's known for its impressive Venetian fortress but also for being turned into a leper colony in 1903 which remained open till the 1950s. I'm going there tomorrow for the first time. Curious & excited. Will keep you posted.

I'm very excited that I'll be talking about my book on the island where it was conceived years ago! Tonight at 8:30pm. We are on a Mediterranean time, so we better call this book premiere instead of book talk :)

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