Churches/Mosques

[Subhash.Jaireth at GA.GOV.AU]

                Dear Friends,

                Thanks a lot for your response on the origin of the name
Volga. I have however another question for which the list members may have
an answer.

                It si well known that the St Sophia in
Constantinopole/Byzantium/Istambul was rebuilt and minarets were added to
it. Such re-building and metamorphoses of 'sacred' spaces is quite common in
history. For instance the list members might be aware of the controversy
around the Babri Masjid (Mosque) in India. Explaining the concept of
heterotopia, Foucault notes that the spaces in which we live are not
homogenous or empty. Henri Lefebvre likens these spaces  to the structure of
flaky mille-feuille pastry.

                I was wondering in this regard if in Russia, in cities such
as Kazan or Astrakhan, mosques were displaced or replaced by churches? I'll
also be interested to know if the reverse was also true (Mosques replacing
Churches).

                Thanks and best wishes


                Subhash

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