In February of 1451 sultan Murad died and he was succeeded by his son Muhammad, who was barely twenty years old. Constantine Palaeologos seemed to be happy when the young sultan promised to maintain the peaceful coexistence of Greeks and Turks in Byzantium, and continuing his father's policy.

The Greek hospital Baloukli in Constantinople was founded in 1753 and has 800 beds distributed in 17 buildings spread over 42,000 square metres. Its financial resources come from the exploitation of real estate and Greek family's manors, and from patients' medical expenses. The indigent Greek patients are treated free of charge and the hospital is reasonably priced for the rest of Turkish and Greek patients.

Baloukli's Greek nursing home is situated beside the Greek hospital of Constantinople. Its financial resources come from the exploitation of real estate and Greek family's manors while it only houses Orthodox Greeks, free of charge. Today more than 110 elderly live there.

Vasilis Lamprianides is lives at the Baloukli Greek nursing home in Constantinople. His room is clean as a whistle and filled with books and Greek dictionaries. He went to Greece in 1977 and returned to Constantinople in 2005 to spend the rest of his life there. He is not abandoned in the nursing home, on the contrary; he lives in a decent, well-staffed environment with the Greek hospital's doctors just a door away in case of emergency.

"We can see that Hellenism is fading out but we won't leave. It's hard to leave behind something that works for you and rebuild your life from scratch. Besides, even though we were spoilt as children, we are also taught how to stand on our feet during hardships. We are not only 'fair weather' children".

“The old stories, the ones about past glories and Emperor Constantine Paleologos, we’ve heard them all being narrated in conferences in Greece and we’ve understood them well. The issue is what we are going to do from now on in order not to become extinct. The Greeks of Constantinople who permanently returned to Greece ask us why we haven’t left too. We don’t like this question. Did we ever ask them why they left? We justified them, we understood them, we felt their pain, but let us not be judged in the end”.

"I was born the year the Turks invaded Cyprus. It was all black back then. I grew up in my father's grocery store on Imvros, among spices, dried red peppers and okras threaded on small ropes. I kept my Greek nationality". Musician Stelios Berberis came to Greece in order to study economics and learn traditional music under Domna Samiou. When he finished his studies he came back to Constantinople.

"I don't go round, the world revolves around me. I feel ecstasy; I don't care about anything, like there is no one around. This activity helps me become more ethical. Just like the old dervish song says, the world is a sea of fire. And love is to fall in it".

"From the first time we met they were very friendly to me, as if they had known me for years. Zorsare and Mirali study computer science at the University of Constantinople and Kismet studies economics. The latter impressed me with his kindness. We had an appointment yesterday morning outside Dolma Bahce, but I was about half an hour late and he was still waiting patiently for me under the heavy snowfall. We then went to his place, where he played the guitar and sang for me. He has his own rock band and they play many gigs. He lives alone, away from his parents, because he wants to be independent. The decoration in his house is very simple and his interests are not much different from mine".