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No.52 - July 2002 | Contex HOME

RESCUE ARCHAEOLOGY IN ISTANBUL

Rose Baillie

When people think of the end of the Roman Empire it is generally the fall of Rome in the 5th Century AD that we focus on, Dr Ken Dark told us at our February lecture. However the Empire was divided and the eastern state continued until the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. But whereas Roman archaeology in the west is very advanced, that of the east is in a far less highly developed state than in Britain, with a great deal of basic research still to be done. Even the Imperial capital has been relatively neglected.

Constantinople was built on the site of the old Greek city of Byzantium by Constantine the Great (324-37AD) to be a ‘New Rome’, having all the buildings and public amenities of a magnificent capital. However, due to conquest and the ravages of time, many of Constantinople’s most important buildings are now better known from literary sources than from present day remains. Outstanding among its surviving Byzantine monuments is the church of Hagia Sophia, built by Justinian I (527-65AD), that still survives in its basic 6th Century form as a museum. To his reign also are dated a number of mosaics from the Great Palace now in a museum, but almost nothing remains above ground of this vast complex, except some walls of the Bucoleon Palace near the Marmara shore. The Hippodrome was adjacent to the Great Palace and had a leading rôle in Constantinople’s life. It was the location of Imperial triumphs, executions, and popular entertainments, most notably the chariot racing whose teams were supported by disorderly popular and political factions. Today its site is marked by walls at its southern end and some monuments that stood along the central spina. These include a obelisk of Thutmose III (1549-1503BC) from Karnak, that now stands on a marble base decorated with relief sculptures of Theodosius I (379-95AD) and his family watching events in the Hippodrome from the Imperial box.

Constantinople owed its long survival to its magnificent city walls that can still to be seen running for over 4 miles. Water was supplied by long range aqueducts, that have recently been recorded and it was stored in cisterns, some of which have also survived. The oldest original feature to be seen in situ is the Column of Constantine that once stood at the centre of a great oval forum, commemorating the refounding of the city in 330AD. Otherwise surviving Byzantine buildings are rare. Of the city’s hundreds of churches, about 25 survive, including Hagia Eirene built in the 6th Century AD, St Saviour Pantocrator (Zeyrek Camii) and St Mary of the Mongols. Others, such as the famous Church of the Holy Apostles, that contained many Imperial tombs and whose cruciform layout was copied by St Mark’s in Venice, have disappeared from sight.

Istanbul today is a rapidly changing and developing city. In the last 20 years many open spaces have disappeared under concrete and high rise buildings at an alarming rate, with no organised archaeological monitoring. There are few archaeologists in Istanbul, fewer of them are Byzantine specialists, with little in the way of resources and up to 200 major developments happening at any time. Nor has there been much interest by foreign scholars, their efforts have largely concentrated on recording and restoring standing monuments.

In 1997 Ken Dark, who is Director of Reading University’s Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, conceived the idea of a limited ‘rescue archaeology’ project for Istanbul, then sought the collaboration of Turkish colleagues. In 1998 he obtained permission and work began. The Turkish authorities were not unhelpful, but there were formidable practical difficulties. Obtaining a permit for archaeology is a lengthy process, so that it is impossible to respond rapidly to on-site discoveries, indeed many building developments are going ahead without official knowledge. It was however possible to get a permit for recording and surveying, with a Turkish inspector in attendance. Lack of funds is another problem; there was no such thing as ‘developer funding’, and the project was supported by the Late Antiquity Research Group and latterly by the British Museum and British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.

The rescue project has several aims. Chiefly to record archaeological features that were in danger or previously unknown, or if known, poorly published. Secondly to train Turkish archaeologists to carry on the work. The team therefore has a Turkish Co-Director, Ferudun Özgümüs and is mainly staffed with students from Istanbul University, with the British supplying specialist skills. So far three recording campaigns have produced impressive results. The project has focused on parts of the city within the ancient walls that are subject to the most rapid redevelopment. Over 200 previously unpublished Byzantine sculptural or architectural fragments have been recorded, many incorporated into later buildings. One example being a statue base literally about to fall out of the freshly exposed core of the city walls near the Golden Gate. While over at the site of the important monastery of St John of Studion, a small fire in the ruined church aisle had destroyed undergrowth and revealed a pile of over 75 pieces of carved stonework. Parts of the white marble pulpit were also found in the church.

Sometimes the team turned their attention to more complete structures, such as a previously unknown guard chamber in the city wall, exposed by treasurer hunters. And they had some unexpected adventures, such as at the church of St Demetrios Kanabou, whose present structure is 18th Century, but where a helpful little girl said ‘Have you seen the old chapel under the slab in the floor?’ Indeed descending into the dark, armed only with torches, they saw a mid-Byzantine apsidal burial chapel, that conceivably could have made for Nichola Kanabou, who was Emperor just prior to Constantinople’s sack by the 4th Crusade in 1204.

Other notable structures recorded included a brick built room and hypocaust, probably part of the Blachernae Palace and some arches belonging to the important 11th Century church of St Mary Peribleptos, previously thought to be completely destroyed. However the most potentially important discovery was at the Fatih Camii, the mosque of Mehmet the Conqueror (1451-81), one of the glories of Ottoman architecture. It was known that this was built on the approximate site of the Church of the Holy Apostles but to date scholars had identified only reused building materials. In 2001 however the mosque courtyard was being repaired and more column pieces were seen. More significantly, a careful photographic record of the mosque walls revealed that the stone blocks of the foundations were of a different type and of an earlier building phase than those above, and similar to Byzantine walls elsewhere. A tracing of these earlier foundations suggests a cruciform shape. Therefore there is a possibility that some in situ remains of the church that was the burial place of all the Byzantine Emperors to 1028 do indeed survive. Interestingly, mosque authorities say that the real burial place of Mehmet Fatih is not his tomb outside, but in a chamber beneath the east end of the mosque. If this chamber exists and is of Byzantine origin, it would be precisely in the spot where Constantine the Great would have had his mausoleum. We may never know whether this deduction is correct, but it is indicative of the important discoveries to be made in this ancient and complex city. It is very much to be hoped that this vital rescue archaeology continues to expand and prosper in the future.

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