Aesthetics (Civ4)/Civilopedia

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of art and beauty. Every culture in the world has its own Aesthetics, the study of art being nearly as old as art itself. Modern Aesthetics delves into all forms of art - theater, poetry, literature, film, etc. - but in its earliest form, aesthetics dealt largely with the visual arts.
While clashing senses of Aesthetics have caused many squabbles in their times, one city has been the center of some of the most violent artistic struggles throughout history - Istanbul. During the ninth century, Christian killed Christian in the city then known as Constantinople as the followers of Christ attempted to decide whether religious icons should be considered blasphemous. With the conquest of the city by the Ottomans, previous artistic works deemed offensive were removed or vandalized. Inside the Hagia Sophia, mosaics of Christian religious figures were covered with plaster, that only now, several hundred years later, are finally being revealed.