Great Palace of Constantinople

Istanbul Archaeological Museums

The Great Palace of Constantinople (

until 1081 and was the centre of imperial administration for over 690 years. Only a few remnants and fragments of its foundations have survived into the present day.

History

When

.

The complex of palaces was rebuilt and expanded several times during its history. Much of the complex was destroyed during the

Baldwin II

, went as far as removing the lead roofs of the palace and selling them.

One of the biggest halls of the Great Palace known as the "Trullo hall" hosted Third Council of Constantinople, recognized as the ecumenical council by both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and Quinisext Council or "Council in Trullo".

Consequently, when the city was retaken by the forces of

The spider is curtain-bearer in the palace of Chosroes ,
The owl sounds the relief in the castle of Afrasiyab.

Much of the palace was demolished in the general rebuilding of Constantinople in the early years of the

and its adjoining buildings. The site of the Great Palace began to be investigated in the late 19th century and an early 20th-century fire uncovered a section of the Great Palace. On this site prison cells, many large rooms, and possibly tombs were found.

Excavations

Initial excavations were carried out by French archaeologists at the Palace of Manganae between 1921 and 1923. A much larger excavation was carried out by the University of St Andrews in 1935 to 1938. Further excavations took place under the directorship of David Talbot Rice from 1952 to 1954, which uncovered a section of one of the south-western buildings at the Arasta Bazaar. The archaeologists discovered a spectacular series of wall and floor mosaics which have been conserved in the Great Palace Mosaic Museum.^[2]

Excavations are continuing elsewhere, but so far, less than one quarter of the total area covered by the palace has been excavated; total excavation is not presently feasible as most of the palace currently lies underneath the

and other Ottoman-era buildings.

Description

The palace was located in the southeastern corner of the peninsula where Constantinople is situated, behind the Hippodrome and the Hagia Sophia. The palace is considered by scholars to have been a series of pavilions, much like the Ottoman-era Topkapı Palace that succeeded it. The total surface area of the Great Palace exceeded 200,000 square feet (19,000 m²). It stood on a steeply sloping hillside that descends nearly 33 metres (108 ft) from the Hippodrome to the shoreline, which necessitated the construction of large substructures and vaults. The palace complex occupied six distinct terraces descending to the shore.

The main entrance to the palace quarter was the Chalke (Bronze) gate at the Augustaion. The Augustaion was located on the south side of the Hagia Sophia, and it was there that the city's main street, the Mese ("Middle Street"), began. To the east of the square lay the Senate house or Palace of Magnaura, where the University was later housed, and to the west the Milion (the mile marker, from which all distances were measured), and the old Baths of Zeuxippus.

Immediately behind the Chalke Gate, facing southwards, were the barracks of the palace guards, the

.

Further to the south, detached from the main complex lay the seaside

favoured the seaside palace. A seaward gate gave direct access to the imperial harbour of Bucoleon.

See also

• Great Palace Mosaic Museum
• Magnaura
• Hippodrome of Constantinople
• Palace of Blachernae
• Palace of the Porphyrogenitus
• Old Darülfünun building

References

Citations

Other sources

• Jonathan Bardill, The Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors and the Walker Trust Excavations, In: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 12 (1999), pp. 216–230.
• Featherstone, Jeffrey (2008). "Emperor and court". In Shepard, Jonathan (ed.). The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500–1492. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 505–517.
  ISBN 978-0-521-83231-1
  .
• ISBN 978-0-521-77257-0
  .
• Harris, Jonathan (2007). Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium. Hambledon Continuum, pp. 59-83.
  ISBN 978-1-84725-179-4
  .
• ISBN 0-19-504652-8
  .
• Maguire, Henry (2004). Byzantine court culture from 829 to 1204. Dumbarton Oaks.
  ISBN 978-0-88402-308-1
  .
• Cyril Mango: The Brazen house: a study of the vestibule of the Imperial Palace of Constantinople (Kopenhagen 1959).
• Cyril Mango: The Palace of Marina, the Poet Palladas and the Bath of Leo VI. In: E. Kypraiou (Hrsg.), Eufrosynon: Afieroma ston Manoli Hatzidaki (Athens 1991), pp. 321–330
• Cyril Mango: Ancient Spolia in the Great Palace of Constantinople. In: Byzantine East, Latin West: Art-Historical Studies in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann (Princeton 1995), pp. 645–649.
• Paspates, A. G. (2004) [1893]. The Great Palace of Constantinople. Kessinger Publishing.
  ISBN 0-7661-9617-8
  .
  • Tozer, H. F. (30 September 1893). "Review of The Great Palace of Constantinople by the late Dr. A. G. Paspates, translated from the Greek by William Metcalfe". The Academy. 44 (1117): 277–278.
• Westbrook, Nigel (2007-12-21). "Great Palace in Constantinople". Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Constantinople. Archived from the original on 2015-05-10. Retrieved 2009-09-26.

Films

• Romer, John (1997), Byzantium: The Lost Empire; ABTV/Ibis Films/The Learning Channel; 4 episodes; 209 minutes. (In Episode 3 ["Envy of the World"], presenter Romer strolls through Old Istanbul pointing out the few surviving fragments of the Great Palace and evoking its former glory.)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Great Palace of Constantinople.

• Byzantium 1200 | Great Palace Computer reconstruction
• Byzantium 1200 | Chalke Gate of the Great Palace

41°0′21″N 28°58′38″E / 41.00583°N 28.97722°E / 41.00583; 28.97722