In this context it is amazing to see how Aya Sophia (aka Hagia Sophia) has been preserved under the Turkish rule (islamic and secular) - to be sure they added islamic symbols to the interior and covered the christian frescos with plaster (now being uncovered) - but the whole thing has been preserved essentially intact. Ditto for other relics of the Roman era in Istanbul aka Constantinople.
Is not that amazing that there are places on earth where people live surrounded by structures created by civilisations that no longer exist? A sharp contrast to the American barbaric capitalism that incessantly levels even its own creations, no matter how magnificent (cf. the Penn Station in Manhattan).
wojtek