Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in Greek musical terminology the lay music of the Ottoman court or the secular art music which prevailed in the urban space of the Ottoman Empire was designated as the “external” music (exoteriki mousiki). As religion was one of the most crucial categories of belonging, the secular music was defined as opposed to the ecclesiastical music, which was conceptualized as “internal” music.

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The "System of the Greek Grand-merchants" in Constantinople-Istanbul (Σύστημα των εν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ελλήνων Μεγαλεμπόρων) was the guild of the Greek grand-merchants of Constantinople. Within the framework of the System, the important work of Nikolaos Papadopoulos Commercial Encyclopedia was published.

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After the Fall of Constantinople, there is a significant presence of either Greek-Orthodox or Islamized Greek architects, such as Sinan. From the mid-16th century the activity of Greek-Orthodox architects significantly intensified, while it is noted that over 40% of the architects in the empire were Christians.

The orthodox churches of Constantinople have a long and turbulent history, as is recorded in sources since the 16th century. They have suffered multiple natural disasters such as earthquakes and fires, while they have also paid a bitter price in all purges of the Greek-orthodox population in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The cemeteries of the Greek-Orthodox population in Constantinople, monuments of the robustness of the Greek Orthodox population at the end of the Ottoman era, are today threatened with extinction. Their preservation is urgently needed, as they constitute quite important monuments of the collective memory of the minority.

The Byzantine music history demonstrates the development of ecclesiastical music into a complete musical system, with its own rules and style. After the Fall of Constantinople and the seize of the Byzantine Empire, ecclesiastical music survived as the music of the Orthodox Church; it kept its high art status in either a creative or static way, always following tradition, often including new pursuits and conceptions adapted to the needs of each period; all of these intrinsic characteristics...