Su suggerimento di Marie Daubrun

Ciò che identifica l’Europa dell’Est in sé per sé, e non come periferia di qualcos’altro, è il suo essere crocevia di mondi e culture diversi. Sufi, bizantini, ebrei, cristiani cattolici ed ortodossi si sono combattuti e mescolati per secoli. Jacob Mikanowski ne parla distesamente in questo articolo.

Once, this plurality would have been obvious. A visitor to Vilnius in the 17th century would have heard six languages spoken in the streets; they could have heard prayers conducted in at least five more. The city had churches belonging to five denominations, as well as a synagogue and a mosque. Some examples of “Lithuanian” mosques still exist in Poland and Belarus. Wooden and square, they look just like parish churches, with the minor exception of the ornament at the top: a slim silver crescent instead of a cross.

Immagine: dallo Skylitzes Matritensis, la vittoria dei bizantini sui bulgari