Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul, these names are addressed to the
same place which now we call it as Istanbul. According to the latest excavation
during the building of the Marmaray Tunnel in 2008, the history of Istanbul has
begun from 6700 BC, that’s where they found numerous the remains of sinking
ships belong to the earliest human settlement of the metropolis. In 700 BC,
when the Greek Colonists led by King Byzas arrived in the city, they nailed
down there because of the strategic location along the Bosphorus Strait, and
late King Byzas named the city as Byzantium.
Succeeding its progression
by the Greeks, Byzantium became an important part of the Roman Empire in the
300s, Inevitably makes the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great attempted the
construction project to reconstruct the entire city. His aspiration was to
create and fill the city of Byzantium with monuments, grand buildings and
palaces as same as exists in Rome, which was recognized with its extraordinary
luxurious buildings at that time. Eventually, in 330s the Great Constantine
declared the city of Byzantium as the Capital city of the entire Eastern Roman
Empire and renamed it Constantinople.
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| Map of Constantinople in Byzantine Period |
The History of
Palaces in Constantinople begins with the Great Palace in the year of 330, it
was built by the Emperor Constantine I following the annunciation of the
Capital City of the Eastern Roman Empire. Furthermore, the palace is located in
the region of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia according to nowadays’
condition. The utilization of the palace was as Imperial Administration and has
been engaged for over 800 years, unfortunately only a few remnants and shards
of the palace have survived until today.
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| The view of The Great Palace where the Sultan Ahmet Mosque and Ayasofya (Mosque) stand now |
Another important
palace is the Palace of Blakhernai, in spite of not being the biggest palace in
the city, Blakhernai Palace was preferred and thus transformed into the
official palace because of the location was near to the hunting grounds (which
was one of the most popular entertainment of that time) also it was safer than
the Great Palace. Additionally, Blakhernai Palace, located beside the Golden
Horn in the western north of Constantinople as well as being adjacent to the
city walls. Therefore, it is more protected than the Great Palace. During the
First Crusade the Emperor of Byzantine between 1081 - 1118 Alexios I Komnenos
received the commanders in this palace and he also added many buildings and
expand the castle in order to fit the amount of the invitee.
Blakhernai Palace divided into a few
parts; church, prison and palace itself, and one of them is the Anemas Dungeons.
Anemas Dungeons are a prison. On the other hand, this is not an ordinary
prison, merely it is a sort of high ranking state prison in the metropolis. The
name of Anemas is taken from the first person to be imprisoned there, he was a Byzantine general who rose against Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos. In the Byzantine period and after the Latin occupation
Anemas Prison was used as a prison, but there is no information how it was used
after the Ottoman conquest in 1453. The other one is Tekfur Palace, Tekfur
Palace is the sole part of Blakhernai Palace which still survive today (not
including the prison). The name of Tekfur derived from Arabic, the term tekfur
was used in the early Ottoman period for the Byzantine Emperors and feudal
lords.
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| Bakırköy |
The last palace
will be mentioned is; Palace of Hebdomon, located in Bakırköy. Which was the
most important settlement outside the City of Constantinople. Hebdomon is
Byzantines, which means ‘’seventh’’, and in Latin it was called Septimum which
also means ‘’seventh’’. The factor why they put the name is because the location
of the Hebdomon Palace is in the seventh mile leading the way to Rome from
Milion column, which was recognized for being the starting point of all
imperial routes. According to Asuman Denker and the other writers in their book
Byzantine Palace in Istanbul ‘’In the beginning Hebdomon was a simple fishing
village, but it later gained in importance with the development of the
Byzantine Empire and became a popular resort for the nobility’’. Hebdomon
Palace is not a single place, it has two other different palaces the first one
is Magnura or Eudomon Palace and the other one is Jukundianae or Secundianae
Palace.
The Palace of
Magnura or Eudomon Palace, has no certain data about who was arranged to built
up the palace, ‘’either by Emperor Constantine I or by his son Constantine II’’
(2011). Moreover, the design of the palace was to accommodate ambassadors and
other important customers and guests visiting the town as well as for being
used as a summertime home.
The Palace of
Jukundianae or Secundianae is the second palace complex situated in Hebdomon.
Unlike the Magnura Palace the founder of Jukundianae Palace is recognizable, he
is Theodosius II. It said that it is more accurate to call it Jukundianae than
Secundianae, as it means ‘’entertainment’’ or ‘’pleasure’’. Unfortunately, in
the 6th century as a result of an earthquake, it was demolished, following the
demolition, the Emperor Justinian beside restoring the palace, also built some
churches, public baths and other public buildings in the vicinity of the palace
(2011). And today, owing to the fact that it's impossible to see the original
location of the palace, a few architrave blocks, the columns and the column
capitals belong to the palace are available for public at the Istanbul
Archeological Museum.
Muhammad Haykal
Bibliography:
1. Denker, Asuman,
Gülbahar Baran Çelik, and Gülcan Kongaz. İstanbul’daki Bizans Saraylar
Byzantine Palaces in Istanbul. Istanbul: Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri, 2011.
Print.
2. http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/istanbul.htm Web.
21/May.2014.
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