History Summarized: The Mitropoli - Cathedral of Marble and Memory

[@debraboutom2060]

When I went to Athens for a study abroad class, my professor spent like a full hour fangirling over the Little Metropolis. He made us look at every single mismatched brick and try to figure out the possibilities behind it being first built, maybe destroyed and rebuilt using newer materials, maybe built using surrounding pretty rubble, etc. But the sad part was this was a class at a very engineering-heavy school, so most of the students were there to take care of their humanities credit requirements while also getting a trip to a warm, cheap Mediterranean country where they could drink legally. Effectively, our professor's enthusiasm was only resonating with a few of us. But the church itself was so unique and so so cool to look at. Because it's basically a Frankenstein of different eras of architecture. So then I heard one of my classmates, who was one of the least invested students, say so genuinely, as if truly listening for the first time, "Dang, the lore goes crazy" The lore does go crazy, Jack. It does indeed.

[@avetleeg3654]

A lovely story, thank you for sharing that.

[@VoidCael]

Y'all are so lucky to have gone; I'm so happy for you, and the lore does indeed, go crazy xD

[@anivijudi]

How nice! I always love catching the moments when a person comes to understand why other people are so deeply interested in a subject.

[@ruminari6730]

Something about the angles of the photos of the Little Mitropoli makes it look child-sized. Even though I can see a very adult man standing next to it

[@larsdewit6521]

Looks like Fisher-Price's My First Bishop set

[@lord_of_crabs]

when i was in athens i came across it by accident and thought "what a cute lil church, though a bit decreped" and moved on clueless. that’s how unassuming it is.

[@AegixDrakan]

I know, right! More than once I found myself asking "What, can they only fit like 4 people in there?!" XD

[@TeutonicEmperor1198]

@@larsdewit6521 my favourite set alongside the Pyramid one!

[@valdonchev7296]

No offense, but something about it makes it look like a shed. Maybe the mismatched construction, maybe the looming buildings in the backgrounds.

[@FuzzyStripetail]

Spolia alert: Blue actually constructed Little Mitropoli last year after he had the dome idea to build one dome in every country each few years of his life.

[@dogomage9003]

the mitropoli is the power house of the cell

[@Bluerockpie]

No no, that's domes. Domes are the power house of the Cell

[@jonothanthrace1530]

@@Bluerockpie Those are only the power house of Blue cells.

[@ecurewitz]

@@Bluerockpiethey are the most essential part of the cell

[@KHTimeProtecter]

I already wanted to go to Greece to do a tour of as many Pagan sites as I humanly (and financially) can, but Blue here just ups my wanderlust by a factor of 100 with his infectious passion for its history.

[@eshelsh1905]

Dome appreciation, taking almost half the video to get on point, and the looming menace of the Athenian Ego (TM)? truly the Bluest of Blue's videos

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

Deep blue

[@Rutgerman95]

Nature is healing

[@ecurewitz]

A deep, royal blue

[@viscera_atrocity]

Last time I was this early, they still haven't figured out how to stack stones in a pyramid-y shape.

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

The church is actually an Eldritch being that subsists by consuming structures around it. That's why they built the big church right there, so it has food and stays passive.

[@runningthemeta5570]

I love that the whole period between Michael Choniates and Ottoman Era Maybe is just Crusaders. But I also want to include that that period should be “whatever the heck the crusaders were doing.” Because my Crusades class has reinforced my idea that I don’t think the crusaders knew what they were doing half the time.

[@anezay4987]

That take is extraordinarily generous to the crusaders.

[@runningthemeta5570]

@ yeah, I mean the whole 4th Crusade failed because the crusaders decided they wanted to play Kingmaker and stayed because they were mad that the Byzantines couldn’t pay their full debt.

[@FinrodFelagundTheFair]

It's just a case of Oooops, All Crusaders!

[@Nasser851000]

0:00 "What does a Culture owe to it's past?" Domes! Lots and Lots of Domes!

[@sjargo11]

i see you called the end XD

[@sassenspeyghel4155]

We should devote a holiday to them! How do you feel about 'Domesday'?

[@FinrodFelagundTheFair]

Domesgiving. Sponsored by Doug Dimidome, owner of the Dimsdale Dimidome.

[@nickz1259]

As an Athenian this makes me quite proud. Thank you.

[@hiukas.]

I love being Greek precisely because of shit like this, i'm out for a stroll in August and go under some shadow to catch my breath only to find that it is in fact a millennia old church. Now this is epic.

[@TheThOdOr1s]

Fun fact: We were REAL close to loosing the big building. The Building was known to have structural problems, and even an entire metro line was redirected to not drill underneath it. But even then, the Cathedral was damaged in the 1999 Athens earthquake and at some point in the 2000s there was a real fear of collapse. But it was gradually reinforced and earthquake-proofed. Works completed in 2016. During the restoration, the Church of Greece didn't have an official seat. 2 Archbishops refused to move their seat from this Church, to another.

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

Ooh a Blue Friday

[@cianabun]

It’s a Blue Day

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

Blue Monday would be new wave-er

[@fayplayz7127]

Sometimes it feels like these videos were made specifically to cater to my interest istg, I love this sm

[@jackwright7879]

Just yesterday finished the first research paper of my PhD program, and part of it necessitated learning about the dam at Marathon. The absolute drama of this dam, I swear. If you haven't looked into it, you definitely should.

[@jackwright7879]

"Dams as Symbols of Modernization: The Urbanization of Nature Between Geographical Imagination and Materiality," by Maria Kaika, just go read that. It's like 20 pages, it's free. They built a replica of the Athenian Treasury in the spillway!

[@ΣτελιοςΠεππας]

To throw in an extra incentive. It is the only dam in the world (that I know of) that's covered in marble.

[@58LewisK]

Dang. That's awesome. I remember walking past this after admiring the Aeropagus and all the stray cats and being awestruck by it but had no idea what it was. It's nice to see it finally brought to light.

[@FanOfMostEverything]

The video title almost feels like boss subtitles. In any case, fascinating look at a pair of cathedrals I genuinely hadn't heard of until now. Thank you for this.

[@annekeener4119]

I wonder if we now have an explanation for why Blue missed a taping of the Overly Sarcastic Podcast (he was in Athens filming on location) and Magenta joined instead. Great episode, I love talking about the architecture and what it says about the culture and how the culture views its history.

[@Hawktalon07]

Would you ever do an episode on displaying human remains? I learned about it in a grad school archaeology class, and it’s fascinating since there’s so much controversy around it- when is it grave robbing and when is it archaeology? Should peoples’ ancestors be in museums? It’s a bit more of a different topic than you’d normally do, but perhaps it’d be interesting!

[@Artista_Frustrado]

also fleshy Blue looks like a Doctor Who character & i find that so on point, i can't help but celebrate the fact

[@annekeener4119]

I do really like this way of looking at architecture and history, because it helps add a ton of context and why something was built a certain way. I have a suspicion that the bell-towers were built the way they were on the big Mitropoli because that was the standard for many European cathedrals and Athens was trying to emphasize how European they are as it feels like something you’d see in gothic architecture, but it screwed up the proportions of the building and hid the dome as Greek orthodox architecture tended to not have such prominent bell towers. It’s trying to say “we are connected to the glories of Ancient Greece and the Byzantine empire and we are fully a part of the rest of Europe, kin to France, Italy, Germany, etc.” I love this sort of video.

[@nikolaosboukouvalas449]

Always lovely to see videos that touch on Byzantine and Modern Greek history.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

not a masterpiece in the current sense of the work, but considering how much of the Athenian imagery they manage to cram into each church, this fits absolutely with the classic definition of a Master Piece: It's the whole portfolio condensed into a single work

[@kelseycarroll9090]

I remember I went to Athens a few years ago, we left early in the morning to go to Delphi, but I went out early to get coffee for me and my friends and I walked past the tiny one. I remember wanting to stop by and take a look cuz I've never seen a church that small before, but it was locked and I was going to be late and miss my bus

[@whodoc226]

Another great temple build during a time of transition would be the Aphaia temple on Aegina, ca. 20 miles out from Athens it was build around the time of the persian invasion and distinctly highlights the change in architecture and sculpture from the archaic to the classic era, as it displays both.

[@petrusspinelli6661]

4:53 "i'm not furry! i just like the art!"

[@samfisher6606]

1:19 IRL Blue jump scare

[@forgedfight5158]

Thanks for the modern athens video, definetely need more of these.

[@sjargo11]

The little Mitropoli is really fekkin cute

[@IAmTheAce5]

What does a culture owe to its past?- An appreciation for the follies of pursuing 'glory'

[@thomassaxon8254]

I saw these on my week trip to Athens. They're really beautiful.

[@ironvader502]

Its not quite the same as deliberately choosing parts of History to emphasize, but the Cathedral in Trier, Germany, has a broadly similar thing going on by simply being so darn old. In the middle of the building is the core of the original-built Roman church from the 4th Century, with a with a romanesque section slapped on the front in the early medieval era, a baroque part on the other end from the 17th century, and a gothic Chapel slapped on the side in-between

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

"Babe, wake up -- Blue just uploaded an architecture video!"

[@jordanlincoln2649]

Glad to see this Blue. My wife and I will be traveling there this summer and we can put this on the list of things to see that aren’t the acropolis 👍🏻

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

This video dropped right while I was looking for something to watch while crocheting tiny chickens for Christmas presents so hell yeah OSP

[@mesektet5776]

Blue is the sort of anthropologist who sees an Athenian Double-D Dome, and swipes left.

[@richardc.7310]

I wonder what a modern link to culture would look like? Perhaps a glass dome showcasing the various transitions that have occurred?

[@lbrett7054]

Could you do a video on "The One Before" Trope? It's a trope where a character (usually an antagonist) is connected to another character by being some sort of predecessor; such as a parent or parental figure, an older sibling, or former student of the same teacher. They often oppose the character their connected with in some way, and often had something happen to them in the past, such as turning evil, dying, or leaving for another reason such as a disagreement. Examples include Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda, Morro from Lego Ninjago, and Dabi from My Hero Academia.

[@someguy6651]

Gotta love this video coming out right when I'm craming for my test on Athenian history. OSP, coming in clutch since HS and still into college

[@whitenoise319]

Oh, now he cares about lore. Where's the vibes, man? Who cares about lore when you have vibes? Where is your blessed mind too small for doubt?

[@cormacbyrne2210]

Ah, Blue and his dome addiction. I'd call for an intervention, but it's too amusing. 😁

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Maybe he needs an Arch nemesis, emphasis on the Arches!😉

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

My inner Catholic school girl awoke as soon as I saw the title. I love historical cathedrals. Please do Notre Dame next!

[@sodabread5]

Adding this to the travel plan, can’t wait to see it!

[@mariaannakarga1564]

awesome video as always ❤

[@abthedragon4921]

Whoa, didn't expect the sudden appearance of irl Blue at the end there!

[@gottro_]

Never been this early, this is very cool

[@RiptidePen]

1:19 I forget how much Blue looks like Jerma

[@Heothbremel]

love the outro XD

[@allthelanguages7945]

I was inside there this past spring with my wife. Nice to see it covered on the channel

[@fr4rq236]

Its so funny seeing a video, where the buildings talked about are the most boring part of the video XD

[@YoukaiSlayer12]

That was truly a great one ☝🏾.

[@Gidonamor]

"Don’t worry, it's not heresy, we just like the art!" Love it 😂

[@drusya5998]

Another great video 👏

[@parkerlagman4417]

I actually visited those recently, so learning about their history was pretty cool! (I also did a point at the screen thing like “WAIT I KNOW THAT PLACE”)

[@wyrmwoad]

Woo Hoo! New OSP vid!

[@AbishaHealfdene]

HOLY SHIT!! HE HAS A BEARD NOW!?

[@OverlySarcasticProductions]

Just a bit of travel scruff. Half the time I go anywhere forget to pack a razor to shave with, and then I've sealed my fate so I never go buy one wherever I'm staying. -B

[@odinfromcentr2]

​@@OverlySarcasticProductionsIf I'm not being too... out there, it _works_ for you. 😳

[@tomdunn1512]

Age of mythology music in background

[@nebulan]

It always makes me wanna play

[@russergee49]

What a wonderful video, showing how we can glean a wider story of past people through the things they create and leave for us in the future. Your comment about owing memory - that got to me more than I thought it would. ~~Just Greek Diaspora Things~~ I suppose. I will definitely have to go there the next time I’m in Athens, so thanks Blue in advance! Also, hope your trip to Greece went well and the citizenship stuff didn’t get mired in bureaucratic nonsense.

[@VeritasQuasitor]

What im hearing is the Little Metropoli is perfect for a wedding. Old, new, borrowed, and blue ( 5:18 )

[@theromanorder]

Please do a video on the vernesan republics government...

[@TheGameRonin0619]

2:27 was that the appearance of Azul!? We get to see Blue's face and an Azul appearance? I swear if we see any time machines we're having an Across the Blue-verse event!

[@joltsreviews]

If you dont mind me taking a guess: I wonder if maybe the symmetry of the smaller building was a framing device? Either to help draw the eye in and not distract with plain or uneven stone lines. Or maybe help measure the building? To make sure everything is even and balanced

[@connormarchand6302]

I like ya think Little Mitropolt just notecliped into existence one day, and everyone just went about there day😅

[@EndisNi]

I have a theory that whenever Blue is a particularly good boy, Cyan feeds him a postcard of a dome as a treat.

[@Cancoillotteman]

Also let's mention this first church just stands in the middle of modern streets and buildings, and one litterally stumbles upon it (at least I did). I think it increases its charm.

[@thomastroop2180]

Not even bringing up using the Annunciation as the centerpiece over the doors, very traditional, but also drawing a direct connexion between that tradition and Greek Independence, claiming the tradition into their modern era.

[@elpaya7775]

Amazing buildings

[@Potato-pn8sg]

I love this :)

[@kuPIクピ]

I learned history in 29 seconds thanks

[@devinsweeting4978]

So in the words of Delta. "Memory is the key."

[@danielcoffey4972]

There's a very dramatic shift in art style at the end of the video that I was not expecting.

[@AeciusthePhilosopher]

Now I'm really curious what you think of the Mariakerk/Speelhuis in Helmond, the Netherlands. It's not architecturally or historically significant, but I think you'll get a kick out of it as a certified dome lover. Also, why haven't you covered the Dutch republic yet? It feels like the perfect blend of "Oh they did some interesting stuff first" and "Yikes!" for your style of talking about history.

[@ramork1]

good domes

[@DeerBonesBaby]

I had to rewatch the opening, I was too busy trying to figure out which AoE2 song was playing

[@thomasrogers8239]

What do we owe history? Nothing but our ears and our eyes that we could possibly see the light they casted into their future. Dont live for the dead, live the life they wanted for us.

[@killgarraghforever]

Ah, if only you'd posted this video in January when I was in Athens then I would have known these buildings existed and visited them! Dang it.

[@TechBearSeattle]

The smaller church looks so small in comparison to the newer one. Both were/are the seat of the Metropolitan of Athens? I honestly would have expected a late medieval cathedral to be larger.

[@thkarape]

Two factors come to mind. Athens was a minor city during the Byzantine period and also the Ottomans enforced a policy where Christian churches had to be less prominent than the mosques so even though this church is pre-Ottoman they couldn't build anything larger for 400 years.

[@adeptusvoxradio]

I like imagining that this was built by a dedicated stoneworker who saw the old stones lying around and went "Neat".

[@sarahhowell6781]

Blue architecture thoughts!!!

[@faolitaruna]

Church of Saint George in Sofia is similar to Little Mtropoli, although more modest.

[@PyrotechNick77]

I wonder if the title is a dig to Notre Dame de Paris reopening hahah

[@9sven6]

1:44 Where is that painting from?

[@bernard0_cf]

As far as I could find, the image is from a 2021 game called "Old World."

[@heaththeemissary3824]

A live Blue sighting. You always want to see what the voice actors look like.

[@ReesezCups]

Me when I find this video before it’s possible that anyone has finished watching it

[@ICosplayInsanity]

The Age of Mythology soundtrack really threw me. I had to check that my game wasn't open by mistake.

[@Redrally]

Blue looks really similar to Mark Jackson.

[@whitewyvernX]

My biggest complaint about my nation is we DON'T BUILD ENOUGH BIG DOMES. Canada has truly failed as a people!

[@171QA]

Neat.

[@ilovemesomme]

I choose to believe that Zoe Makedon built the Little Mitropoli.

[@vrixphillips]

wild seeing Blue in the flesh lolol

[@guilhermegarnier2131]

He looks the same in The two pictures, bet he just photoshoped 😂

[@librarianseth5572]

It’s always fun to realize so much stuff was going on while the USA was still slap-fighting over whether or not owning literal people was a no-no. World history doesn’t take turns to make everything fit on a timeline.

[@AbishaHealfdene]

Blue is the bestest boy!

[@AlixRoth77]

This looks like a goody🎉

[@eustacia03]

Someday Blue will achiee his hearts desire and become a dome.

[@simonsnowlock5937]

being back domes

[@kibecawest9867]

Still waiting for OSP to try and summarize the HRE. (Why? Chaos.)

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Well there is overlaps with his other love, pope fights

[@dondizzzzzle]

1:44 I think this image of the Hagia Sophia is AI-generated.

[@bernard0_cf]

As far as I could find, the image is from a 2021 game called "Old World." The "AI-generated" claim will depend on how the game artists created their artwork.

[@Valkanna.Nublet]

I am also someone who appreciates nice domes. Wait.. we're on about architecture? ;)