An illustrated description of Late Byzantine churches in Istanbul aka Constantinople (original) (raw)

You may wish to see an introductory page to this section first.

During the XIIth century the emperors of the Comnenus dynasty revived the strength of the Byzantine Empire. After the death of Manuel I in 1180, a series of dynastic quarrels weakened it and led to its temporary end in 1204, when the Crusaders captured Constantinople and established what later on historians called the Latin Empire. This empire was partitioned between the leaders of the crusade and Venice which was rewarded with three eighths of its territory. As a matter of fact some Byzantine families retained control of key towns and provinces such as Trebizond and Nicaea. Venice was not interested in acquiring large land properties and chose to be given islands such as Candia and Negroponte which allowed control of maritime routes; Marco Sanudo, a Venetian adventurer, founded a duchy at Nasso.
Constantinople retains very little evidence of the short-lived Latin Empire which fell in 1261. We know that a bell tower was built next to Hagia Sophia and a cycle of frescoes portraying the life of St. Francis was painted at Kalenderhane Camii.

Arap Camii (St. Dominic's - XIVth century)

The Genoese reacted to the growing influence of Venice over Constantinople, by strengthening their trading post at Galata on the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The only historical Gothic church of Istanbul can be found here. It was part of a Dominican monastery built in 1323-1337 and it was also known as St. Paul's owing to a chapel dedicated to that saint. A tall belfry stood next to the church and gave the complex a very western appearance.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul: gravestones of Genoese families from Arap Camii

In 1261 the territory of the Latin Empire was reduced to just Constantinople, a small part of Thrace and a few fiefdoms in Greece. A small army sent by Michael VIII Palaeologus, the Byzantine ruler of Nicaea, profited from a temporary absence of the troops of Baldwin II, the Latin Emperor, and easily managed to enter Constantinople with the help of its Greek population.

(left) St. Mary of the Mongols; (right) relief on its gate showing the heraldic symbol of the Palaeologus

The enemy of my enemy is my friend this saying was adopted as a key policy by the new rulers of Constantinople: in order to contain the growing pressure of the Seljuks on their eastern border, they sought an alliance with the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia, which controlled also parts of Syria and Eastern Anatolia. In 1265 Emperor Michael VIII betrothed Maria, one of his daughters, to Abaqa Khan. She lived at the Mongol court for fifteen years until the death of her husband. Upon her return to Constantinople she was asked by her father to marry yet another Mongol khan; she preferred to become a nun and retired to a monastery which she renovated; its church was not turned into a mosque by the Ottomans, but the current building bears little resemblance to the original Byzantine church. Its interest lies in its historical background.

Fethiye Camii (Theotokos Pammakaristos); a detail is shown in the image used as background for this page

The Palaeologus dynasty ruled over a much diminished empire, especially after the loss of Bursa (1326) and Nicaea (1331) to Orhan Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire which is named after his father Osman.
Without an army and a fleet the Palaeologus emperors relied only on the walls of Constantinople and diplomacy to keep at bay Bulgarians and Ottomans, Venetians and Genoese.
The best known monument of this period is St. Saviour in Chora, but probably at that time the complex of Theotokos Pammakaristos was regarded as a greater artistic achievement.

Fethiye Camii: (above) domes; (below) brick inscription

Theotokos Pammakaristos is a reference to the Joyous Mother of God; the church was built before the Latin conquest of Constantinople, but the Parecclesion, a funerary chapel decorated with mosaics and paintings, was added in 1310; this was dedicated to Christos ho Logos (Christ the Word) and a dedicatory inscription runs along its exterior walls.
The complex remained a Christian building for more than a century after the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople: it was converted into a mosque only in 1591 by Sultan Murad III who called it Fethiye Camii (Mosque of the Victory) to celebrate his campaigns in the Caucasus. Until then it served as the church of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch.

Fethiye Camii - Parecclesion: (left) dome: Christ Pantocrator (Almighty) surrounded by twelve prophets; (right) apse; Christ Hyperagathos (good beyond measure)

Another church converted into a mosque, is on the north brow of the fourth hill; it was dedicated to the Almighty, the whole is adorned with the figure of the apostles, and of the history of our Saviour in mosaic work, and the subject of each compartment is described in Greek; the Turks have disfigured the faces of all them.
Richard Pococke - A Description of the East and Some Other Countries - 1745

Fethiye Camii - Parecclesion: side nave: (left) mosaics portraying the Baptism of Christ and several saints; (centre) St. Gregory of Nasanzius; (right) St. Gregory from Armenia

The subject of the decoration is consistent with the Parecclesion dedication to Christ. We know that there were mosaics depicting episodes of his life in addition to portraits in the dome and in the apse: of these only the Baptism of Christ survived. While the main building is still used as a mosque, the Parecclesion is now a museum.

(left) Walls of the Palace of Antiochos which included the Church of St. Euphemia (near the Hippodrome); (right) Archaeological Museum of Istanbul: fragments of reliefs which decorated the church

Euphemia was a young Christian girl of Chalcedon (a town opposite Constantinople on the Asian shore) who was martyred at the time of Emperor Diocletian. She was buried in a chapel in her hometown, but in the early VIIth century, when Chalcedon was threatened by the Persians, her relics were moved to Constantinople to a church built inside a Vth century palace. According to tradition her sarcophagus was thrown into the sea during the Iconoclastic period, but it was eventually recovered and brought back to her church at the end of that period. At Rovigno in Istria however they claim that the sarcophagus washed ashore there. In the late XIIIth century the church of St. Euphemia was embellished with frescoes and reliefs. It was abandoned after the Ottoman conquest and the saint's relics were moved to the Orthodox Patriarchate.

Vefa Kilise Camii (St. Theodore's)

_At the foot of the fifth hill is a part of the city called Phanar, where there is a wall built up the hill; they have a story, that it was erected in one night during a siege by candlelight; and that this gave name to that part of the city. Here the patriarch of Constantinople resides, and also the patriarch of Jerusalem, the place being mostly inhabited by Greeks, and between this place and the fountain before mentioned, there are several Greek churches._Pococke
Fanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople after the Ottoman conquest, is currently the residence of the most religious Muslims of Istanbul; they came from rural regions of central and eastern Anatolia and settled in Fanar in the 1950s when a substantial number of Greeks left the city. They now pray with fervour in mosques which used to be churches. Vefa Kilise Camii shows its origin in the name because kilise means church. It was a church dedicated to St. Theodore and it was built making use of material from an earlier building; the tall fluted minaret recalls that of Antalya.

Koca Mustafa Pacha Camii (St. Andrew's)

In some instances churches were largely modified when turned into mosques; changes were made to orient them towards Mecca. This is the case of a church which was known as St. Andrew in Krisei; parts of the original building can be detected in the interior but overall it has now a typical Ottoman design. He turned into a mosque also another church which was not significantly modified.
Koca Mustafa Pacha was Master of Ceremonies and Grand Vizier of Sultan Beyazit II. He lost his position and his life in 1512 during a short, but very cruel fight among Beyazit's sons, who competed for succession.

(left) Entrance to Ayasma Blachernae; (centre) a modern icon on cloth; (right) Ayasma St. Karalamboy

Another church spoken of by those who describe Constantinople is the church of the Virgin Mary in Blachernae, at a place where there is now a holy water, which is had in great esteem among the Greeks, and there are some remains of very strong walls. Pococke
Ayasma means holy spring and it is not uncommon to find Greek Orthodox churches or other religious establishments near a spring thought to have healing powers. The imperial palace of Blachernae was plundered and almost entirely destroyed after the conquest of Constantinople, but its famous holy spring continues to attract many people and not just Christians. It is not the only holy spring in the city: in addition to that of St. Karalamboy near the Golden Horn, there is another holy spring outside Silivri Kapi.

A Difficult Coexistence

Tekfursaray Panayia Han�erli Rum, a Greek Orthodox church

By wandering through the streets of Constantinople, especially in the neighbourhoods near the city walls, it is easy to come across the tips of small churches. They are hidden behind high walls after some of them were vandalised in 1955. For many centuries after the Ottoman conquest, a large Greek community continued to live in the city, especially in the neighbourhoods along the city walls.

(left) Church near Top Kapi; (right) Armenian church in the same neighbourhood

In the last years of their Empire, the Byzantine emperors sought the help of the western nations. In order to reach their objective they were prepared to accept the supremacy of the Pope. This policy was met with hostility by the Greek Orthodox clergy and by many influential families: according to tradition Loukas Notaras, a close advisor to Constantine XI, the last emperor, said: "I would rather see a Muslim turban in the midst of the City than the Latin mitre".
Sultan Mehmet II, who conquered Constantinople in 1453, understood he could gain, if not the loyalty, at least the obedience of his new subjects by recognizing the role of the Patriarch of Constantinople. During the Ottoman rule the Patriarch was regarded as an officer of the State who directly reported to the Sultan; he was the head of an autonomous judiciary system which dealt with infringement of laws involving members of the Greek community.

Surp Kevork (St. George's) Armenian Church on the Seventh Hill

The Armenian and the Jewish communities were given similar rights of self-government (millet system). Usually they were assigned sections of the town where they could live as happened at Jerusalem. In 1461 Sultan Mehmet II acknowledged the Armenian Patriarchate and assigned to its community the Samatya neighbourhood, the section of the Seventh Hill nearest to the maritime walls. The Armenian Patriarchate was moved in 1641, but Surp Kevork is still an Armenian church and it houses other institutions of the community.

Churches on the Seventh Hill (1)

Many wives and mothers of the sultans were of Greek or Armenian descent and some of them protected their former co-religionists in a discreet way. Over time other Christian communities joined the Armenians at Samatya.

Churches on the Seventh Hill (2)

By and large almost all the churches on the Seventh Hill were redesigned in the XIXth century in various "modern" styles which had little to do with tradition.

Churches on the Seventh Hill (3); the relief portrays St. Paul

Due to the frequent wars with Venice and to the decadence of Genoa, Greek merchants found great opportunities for taking control of trade in the Ottoman Empire. The Phanariots, the inhabitants of Fanar, acquired great wealth and economic power. Some of them were so trusted by the Sultans that they were appointed voivoda (prince/governor) of the Ottoman principalities in Romania.

Orthodox Patriarchate: St. George's and fragments of reliefs

In 1720 Sultan Ahmet III allowed the Greeks to rebuild in a larger size the church which was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarchate since ca. 1600. It is possible that the decision was influenced by the indirect help given to the Ottoman army during the 1714 re-conquest of Morea: the local Greek Orthodox population resented the Venetian attempts to promote Catholicism there and did not hinder the Ottoman return.
The situation changed during the XVIIIth century when the Russian Empire became a great power. Empress Catherine II annexed the Crimean peninsula and made no mystery of her objective to conquer Constantinople; she sent a small fleet to the Aegean Sea to promote an insurrection of the Greeks.
In 1821 the Greeks of Kalamata and Patras started a general rebellion which eventually led to the creation of a small Kingdom of Greece. In retaliation Sultan Mahmud II hanged Gregory V, the Patriarch of Constantinople, on the main gate of the Patriarchate.

Orthodox College at Fanar (Red Castle)

During the second half of the XIXth century the Sultans made an attempt to regain the loyalty of their non-Muslim subjects by giving them new rights and by removing the limits on the size of their churches and institutions. The Phanariots took advantage of this opportunity and built a large and very visible school near Sultan Selim Camii.

Holy Cross Armenian Church at Uskudar

The Armenian community built a large church in neo-Renaissance style at Uskudar, on the Asian side of the Bosporus. Similar to the Phanariots, the Armenians of Constantinople hoped to restore the ancient kingdom their ancestors had established in their homeland.

St. Stephen's of the Bulgarians

Whereas the Greeks were looking at freeing themselves from the Ottoman rule, the Bulgarians wanted to free themselves from the Greek (religious) control. The Patriarch of Constantinople was the head of the "Millet of Rum" the community which included all the Orthodox of the Ottoman Empire. The awakening of the Bulgarian nation started by asking the Sultan to establish a "millet" for them. This actually occurred in 1870, although Sultan Abdulaziz left in place supervision over some canonical matters to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Bulgarians built a cast iron church on the Golden Horn: it was designed in a combination of different styles by an Armenian architect and it was made in Vienna and then shipped to Constantinople, where it was inaugurated in 1898.

(left) Turkish Orthodox Church; (right) entrance to a section of the passenger terminal at Karakoy (Galata) which was built in 1895 by a French company

The last years of the Ottoman Empire saw its economy fall into the hands of foreign companies; a new modern district was developed at Pera, behind Galata. French became the language spoken by the upper class and many French inscriptions can still be seen.
WWI led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire; the Greek Kingdom tried to annex Smyrna and western Anatolia. The failure of this attempt had dramatic effects on the Greeks of Constantinople and caused a split in the religious community with the creation of a small Orthodox Church loyal to the Turkish Republic.
Other periods of crisis for the Greeks of Constantinople occurred in the 1950s and in 1974 when Greece and Turkey were at loggerheads because of Cyprus.