Tracing conflict: remembering and forgetting during the pilgrimage to Saint George Koudounas

Abstract

The paper explores a number of sacred practices connected to the celebration of Saint George during the pilgrimage to the Greek-Orthodox Christian monastery of Saint George Koudounas on the island of Prinkipos (Büyükada, Istanbul). The aim is to study the embodied materialisation of memory in conflicting geopolitical landscapes. Before the population exchange of the 1920s and the further displacement of the Greek-Orthodox with the Istanbul pogroms of the 1950s and 1960s, the island was part of the multi-cultural environment of Istanbul, with Greek and Armenian minorities as protagonists in its life. After the twentieth century ‘unmixing’ of populations, this reality has drastically changed, with most of the Christian sacred spaces being destroyed, abandoned, desacralised, or re-sacralised. Yet, the pilgrimage to Saint George Koudounas is still considered one of the most significant religious events of Istanbul, with thousands of pilgrims participating in it. The paper suggests that pilgrimage as a historical and cultural construct allows a space for a performative negotiation of memories from the violent transformation of the country. Remembering and forgetting meet in the activation of practices (walking, weaving, and praying) and objects (small bells, threads, and candles) during the pilgrimage performed by both Muslims and Christians.