Hagia قصص

This is a short story about refugees flooding the city of Istanbul. Kyle Dorsey runs a photojournalism blog and travels to Istanbul to witness the destruction of the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is being destroyed as a final effort to cleanse Istanbul of the refugees and the problems they bring.

Europe is in political turmoil as the 1930's draw to a close. It seems as if the continent is heading for a second violent clash of ideologies. The debonair archaeologist Rupert Winfield is exploring Istanbul with his friend and secret lover, the war-wounded Doctor Stephen Hopkins. Winfield has been charged by his tour company with opening up the fabulous city of Istanbul to the ever-increasing number of tourists with disposable incomes - something that was not so common when he first started working in Egypt just after the First World War. Whilst being guided around Hagia Sophia, he notices a small mosaic showing the Veil of Veronica, the legendary cloth with which Veronica wiped Christ's face on the way to the Crucifixion. The mosaic is in a poor state of repair, but enough of it remains to enable Winfield to make a quick sketch of the patterning across the bottom of the cloth. This he does in all innocence; he has no idea of the significance of this simple act nor of the consequences that will arise from it in the future. Meanwhile, in Berlin, The Third Reich is tightening its control and preparing to host the 1936 Olympic Games. It occurs to the SS Ahnenerbe that such an important world event wold be a good platform to announce the "recovery" of the Veil of Veronica, thereby proving, with the involvement of the Ministry of Propaganda, that Christ was of Aryan descent. The same thought has occurred to their ally Benito Mussolini, who is growing increasingly irritated by the Vatican's reluctance to endorse his plans for a greater Roman Empire in East Africa. Against sensible advice, Winfield's superiors send him to reconnoiter a tourist trail to the rock-cut churches of Lalibela in Abyssinia. Gerhardt von Neudorf is also in Abyssinia. Tensions mount as Il Duce's expansionist plans are put into action and the Italian invasion forces cross the border from Eritrea.