Peribleptos Monastery

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1 Ball Amanda, "", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Περίληψη : The Byzantine church of Theotokos Peribleptos, built by Romanos III Argyros in , was located in the south-west part of the city, at the site of the modern church of Surp Kevork (Sulu Manastır), the armenian church of St. George. The superstructure of the original Byzantine building was either a cross-in-square or a cross-domed core surrounded by ambulatory. In the 19th century, it had been already destroyed by multiple fires; however, the substructure of the building has been surveyed and published (1997-9), allowing a reconstruction of the Byzantine church based on architectural evidence. Χρονολόγηση 11 th -17 th c. Γεωγραφικός εντοπισμός Constantinople, Istanbul Τοπογραφικός εντοπισμός In the Psamathia vicinity near the Marmara shore 1. The historical background The monastic community dedicated to the Theotokos Peribleptos was installed in the Psamathia vicinity near the Marmara shore, in the southwest part of the city. The monastery and its church were commissioned by Romanos III Argyros (r ) who, between 1030 and 1034, erected a church there, aspiring after building a monument rival to the ones of Justinian I. After his death, he was buried in his institution. A few years after him, another imperial benefactor, Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r ), was also buried in the church. 1 At some point during the Latin occupation of Constantinople, probably around 1206, the Peribleptos monastery was given to Latin monks. It was returned to the Greeks after the recapture of Constantinople (1261), by Michael VIII Palaiologos (r ), who also restored the church. 2 After that, the church seems to have played some role during the Palaeologan period and the imperial court visited it on the day of the Hypapante (the feast of the Presentation in the Temple). The church was also well known for the relics it housed, such as the hand of St. John the Baptist and the head of St. Gregory of Nazianzos. 3 Two late 12 th -c. sculptural icons with the Archangel Michael and the Virgin Orans from the monastery of Peribleptos are preserved and they are today in the Museum für Spätantike und Byzantinische Kunst in Berlin. 4 After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, the monastery was soon given to the Armenians as the seat of their patriarchate, probably as early as in The church was rededicated to St. George (Surp Kevork) and remained the Armenian patriarchal church until It is supposed that the church was already dilapidated by then, but it also suffered damages from fire in 1782 and again in The modern Armenian church of Surp Kevork, which have also served as a school, was erected on the ruins of the Byzantine church. It is also known today in Turkish as Sulu Manastır, meaning the watery monastery, because of the "hagiasma" (holy source) in the courtyard of the church Evidence of the existing structure Until the 1990s the church was known only from the description of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who in 1403 passed through Constantinople on an embassy from Henry III of Castile to Tamerlane. It was usually argued that the Byzantine church had been completely destroyed by fires by the 20 th century, although substructures under the existing Armenian church had been noted as early as In the 1940s, a photograph was taken of exposed Byzantine brick and stonework substructures to the south of the modern church, but this was only published in the 1990s. Building works near Sulu Manastır have exposed architectural fragments that Δημιουργήθηκε στις 30/7/2017 Σελίδα 1/6

2 Ball Amanda, "", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια possibly relate to the Byzantine church, but they had not been recorded in a systematic way. 6 However, comparison with Tower B19 of the city walls built under Romanos III, which constitutes a parallel as regards the masonry of the substructure, has allowed the identification of the substructure with that of the Byzantine church. 7 In 1998, an archaeological survey under the auspices of the Istanbul Rescue Archaeological Survey, directed by Ken Dark and Ferudun Özgümüş, shed light on the Byzantine substructure, which had been once again exposed due to building works in and adjacent to Surp Kevork. The principal substructure stands approximately six and a half metres above the modern pavement, and appears to be the same as that in the 1940s photographs. The substructure is constructed of red brick with some uncoursed stone rubble. The southern facade has four high, round-headed niches, and there is another arched niche in a wall immediately to the west continuing until modern houses obstruct the view. The exterior closely compares to the substructure of the Myrelaion church (Bodrum Camii), built AD 920) and the "recessed brickwork" is typical of the Middle Byzantine period. The interior of the substructure contains four or probably five eastern apses connected by what Dark describes as "tunnels"; its arrangement on the whole, which resembles a cross-in-square, renders its interpretation as a space of liturgical function rather likely. The substructure was once again associated with the Byzantine church of the Peribleptos monastery and for the first time a reconstruction of the church would be supported by archaeological evidence Reconstruction of the church of Peribleptos Dark used both the written accounts and the 1998 survey of the substructure, to suggest a tentative reconstruction of the Peribleptos church and monastery. According to him, the church might be either a cross-in-square (which would resemble the Athonite Middleand Late Byzantine katholika) or a cross-domed church with a dome dominating the central crossing and supported by columns of green marble ("jasper," according to Clavijo). Clavijo's description support both suggestions. In any case, the church should also have a U-shaped ambulatory, which Dark thinks would explain some parts of Clavijo's description. Besides, such ambulatories were a common feature of Late Byzantine religious architecture, and could well belong to the phase of Michael VIII's restoration. The church probably had three apses, according to the usual Byzantine scheme, but, since Clavijo speeks of "five altars," Dark suggests the existence of two internal apses at the east end of the lateral parts of the ambulatory. There was a large atrium, probably containing a (perhaps central) fountain, to the west of the main church. Both the church and atrium stood on a large, wide, substructure with arched niches along its sides, analogus to those of the Myrelaion. 9 The church must have been richly decorated. The floor was probably of marble and the walls were also adorned with marble revetment. Mosaics covered the dome and some parts of the walls. Clavijo mentions the portraits of an imperial family, probably the portraits of Michael VIII Palaiologos, his wife and his son Constantine; he also mentions a representation of the Virgin Mary and a Tree of Jesse, a theme that became rather popular in Palaiologan monumental painting. 10 The entrance from the main church may have led to a two-storey refectory on the southeast. 11 The upper story of the refectory contained a dining hall, with a gold mosaic ceiling, a long white marble table, and marble side tables. The substructure may have been used as a crypt to display and veneration of icons and relics, as well as an ossuary for the bones of monks. Such usage of the substructure would not be unparalleled in Constantinople, since it was the same in the case of Gül Camii. Romanos III could have been buried an asymmetrical room in the substructure, but if so, his sarcophage must later have been transferred to the main church along with the burial of Nikephoros III Bontaneiates For the history of the monument, see Janin, R., La geographie ecclésiastique de l'empire byzantin, I: Le siège de Constantinople et le Patriarchat Oeucuménique, iii: Les Églises et les monastères (Paris ), pp Talbot, A.M., The restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 47 (1992), pp Talbot, A.M., and Cutler, A.,, in A. Kazhdan (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium 3 (Oxford - New York 1991), p Δημιουργήθηκε στις 30/7/2017 Σελίδα 2/6

3 Ball Amanda, "", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια 4. Mathews, T.F., Icons with the Archangel Michael and the Virgin Orans, in Evans, H.C., Wixom, W.D., The Glory of Byzantium. Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine era A.D (exh. cat., New York 1997), no. 12, pp Çakmak, A.S. Freely, J., The Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul (Cambridge - New York 2004), p Dark, K., The Byzantine church and monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos in Istanbul, The Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1999), pp Mango, C., The monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos (Sulu Manastır) at Constantinople revisited, Revue d Études Arméniennes 23 (1992), pp. 474, Dark, K., The Byzantine church and monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos in Istanbul, The Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1999), pp Dark, K., The Byzantine church and monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos in Istanbul, The Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1999), pp Talbot, A.M., The restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 47 (1992), pp ; see also Mango, C., The Art of the Byzantine Empire Sources and Documents (London ), pp , esp. n. 164 and n Dark, K., The Byzantine church and monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos in Istanbul, The Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1999), pp. 664, See as parallel the location of refectory in the Monastery of Hosios Loukas in Phokis. 12. Dark, K., The Byzantine church and monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos in Istanbul, The Burlington Magazine (Nov. 1999), pp Βιβλιογραφία : Janin R., La géographie ecclésiastique de l empire byzantin, Ι. Le Siège de Constantinople et le Patriarcat Oecuménique 3: Les églises et les monastères, 2, Paris 1969 Freely J., Cakmak A.S., Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul, Cambridge New York 2004 Talbot A.M., "The Restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 47, 1993, Ousterhout R.G., "Contextualizing the Later Churches of Constantinople; Suggested Methodologies and a Few Examples", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 54, 2000, Mango C., The Art of the Byzantine Empire , 2nd ed., Toronto-London-Buffalo 1986 Dark K.R., "The Byzantine church and monastery of St Mary Peribleptos in Istanbul", The Burlington Magazine, 141.2, Mango C., "The monastery of St. Mary Peribleptos (Sulu Manastır) at Constantinople revisited", Revue d Études Arméniennes, 23, 1992, Mango C., "The Triumphal Way of Constantinople and the Golden Gate", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 54, 2000, Dietrich A. P., "13th-15th Century Russian Accounts of Constantinople and Their Value as Historical Sources", Russian Literature, 60.2, 2006, Δημιουργήθηκε στις 30/7/2017 Σελίδα 3/6

4 Ball Amanda, "", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Talbot A.M., Cutler A., "", Kazhdan A. (ed.), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3, Oxford - New York 1991, 1629 Özgümüș F., "Peribleptos Manastırı (Sulu Manastır)", Sanat Araș timalari Dergisi, [1997/98], publ. 1999, Γλωσσάριo : ambulatory (byz. arch.) A continuous passage that envelops the naos or the centrally planned core of a structure. In a cross-domed church, where the dome is supported on four masonry piers and between each pair of piers two columns are inserted, the ambulatory is formed by the lateral aisles and western part of the church. Later on, an ambulatory could also envelop a cross-in-square core. During the Palaeologan period, ambulatories, usually serving as funerary chambers, were added to many middle-byzantine churches of Constantinople. apse An arched srtucture or a semi circular end of a wall. In byzantine architecture it means the semicircular, usually barrel vaulted, niche at the east end of a basilica. The side aisles of a basilica may also end in an apse, but it is always in the central apse where the altar is placed. It was separated from the main church by a barrier, the templon, or the iconostasis. Its ground plan on the external side could be semicircular, rectangular or polygonal. atrium 1. Antiquity: The large, open space within a building, which is envelopped by colonnades. 2. Βyzantium: The forecourt of a church in early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval arcitecture. It was usually surrounded by four porticoes (quadriporticus). cross-domed basilica Type of domed basilica. A church plan, whose core, enveloped on three sides by aisles and galleries with a transept, forms a cross. The core is surmounted by a dome in the centre. cross-in-square church Type of church in which four barrel-vaulted bays form a greek cross; the central square of their intersection is domed. The cross is inscribed into the square ground plan by means of four corner bays. dome A characteristic element of Byzantine architecture. The dome is a hemispherical vault on a circular wall (drum) usually pierced by windows. The domed church emerges in the Early Byzantine years and its various types gradually prevail, while they are expanded in the Balkans and in Russia. katholikon The main church in a monastic complex, heart of the monastic activity. marble revetment Τhe facing of a wall with slabs of marble orans (lat., mean. praying): An iconographic type which was used mainly for representations of the Virgin in Byzantine art. It depicts a standing, frontal figure with its hands open, lifted to shoulder height to either side.. It was the typical early Christian posture of praying, byt in Middle Byzantine years, when the prayer is depicted with the proskynesis type, the orans type becomes more rare. Tree of Jesse A metaphorical image that was developed in the West and is introduced, from the 13th c. on, in Byzantine painting as well. Inspired from Isaiah (11,1), it depicts the descent of Christ from the biblical king David through his mother, Maria. Jesse, David's father, is the root of the tree (hence the image's name). The theme was used by both Serbian and Byzantine dynasties as visual means for justifying their imperial claims. Πηγές Michael Psellos, Chronographia, , ed. E. Renauld, Michel Psellos. Chronographie ou histoire d'un siècle de Byzance ( ), 1, (Paris 1926), pp Δημιουργήθηκε στις 30/7/2017 Σελίδα 4/6

5 Ball Amanda, "", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Ruy González de Clavijo, Embajada a Tamorlan, ed. F. Lopez (Madrid 1943) Παραθέματα Romanos III founds the church and the monastery of Peribleptos and lavishes money on them Πρῶτος μὲν οὖν αὐτῷ τῆς εὐσεβείας τρόπος ἐπενοήθη ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τῷ Σολομῶντι ἐκείνῳ τῷ πάνυ τῆς τοῦ πολυθρυλλήτου ναοῦ βασκαίνων οἰκοδομῆς, ζηλοτυπῶν δὲ καὶ τὸν αὐτοκράτορα Ἰουστινιανὸν ἐπὶ τῷ μεγάλῳ τεμένει καὶ ἐπωνύμῳ τῆς θείας καὶ ἀρρήτου Σοφίας, ἀντανοικοδομεῖν ὥσπερ καὶ ἀνθιδρύειν ναὸν τῇ Θεομήτορι ἐπεχείρησεν ἐφ ᾧ δὴ τὰ πολλὰ ἐκείνῳ διημαρτήθη, καὶ ὁ τῆς εὐσεβείας αὐτῷ σκοπὸς ἀφορμὴ τοῦ κακῶς ποιεῖν καὶ τῶν πολλῶν ἐκείνων ἀδικημάτων ἐγένετο προσετίθη γὰρ ἀεὶ ταῖς ἐπὶ τοῦτο δαπάναις, καὶ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἑκάστῃ πλέον τι τῶν ἔργων συνηρανίζετο καὶ ὁ μὲν μέτρον ὁρίζων τῷ πράγματι μετὰ τῶν ἐχθίστων ἐτάττετο, ὁ δὲ ὑπερβολὰς ἀνευρίσκων καὶ ποικιλίας σχημάτων ἐν τοῖς φιλτάτοις εὐθὺς ἐτίθετο... Ἀλλὰ δέον, εἴ τι καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἐκτὸς κόσμους παρανομεῖν χρὴ, τῶν τε βασιλείων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι καὶ κατακοσμεῖν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν καὶ τὰ διερρωγότα συνάπτειν, πλήρεις τε τοὺς βασιλείους ποιεῖν θησαυροὺς καὶ στρατιωτικὰ ταῦτα ἡγεῖσθαι τὰ χρήματα, ὁ δὲ τούτου μὲν ἠμέλει, ὅπως δὲ ὁ ναὸς αὐτῷ καλλίων παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους δεικνύοιτο, τἄλλα κατελυμαίνετο. Εἰ δεῖ οὖν καὶ τοῦτ εἰπεῖν, ἐμεμήνει περὶ τὸ ἔργον, καὶ πολλάκις τοῦτο καὶ πολλοῖς ἐβούλετο ὁρᾶν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὅθεν καὶ σχήματα τούτῳ βασιλείων αὐλῶν περιθέμενος, θρόνους τε καθιδρύσας καὶ σκήπτροις κατακοσμήσας καὶ φοινικίδας παραπετάσας, ἐκεῖσε τὸ πολὺ τοῦ ἔτους ἐποίει, τῷ κάλλει τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων καλλυνόμενός τε καὶ φαιδρυνόμενος. Βουλόμενος δὲ καὶ τὴν Θεομήτορα καλλίονι τῶν ἄλλων κατακοσμῆσαι ὀνόματι, ἔλαθεν ἀνθρωπικώτερον ταύτην ἐπονομάσας, εἰ καὶ Περίβλεπτός ἐστι τοὔνομα ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ περίβλεπτος. Ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ προσθήκη τις ἑτέρα προσεγεγόνει, καὶ ὁ ναὸς καταγωγὴ γίνεται μοναστῶν...ἀλλ ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς οἰκοδομαῖς ἄπειρον ἐβούλετο τὸ μέγεθος ἔχειν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐν τοῖς μονασταῖς τὸν ἀριθμὸν παρεξέτεινεν ἐντεῦθεν οὖν τὰ ἀνάλογα ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ τῷ μεγέθει τὰ πλήθη, οὕτως ἐνταῦθα τοῖς πλήθεσιν αἱ συνεισφοραί. Michael Psellos, Chronographia, , ed. E. Renauld, pp Clavijo's description of the church of the Then, the same day, they went to see another church of St. Mary which is called Parabilico [sic], and at the entrance of this church is a great courtyard in which are cypresses, walnut trees, elms and many other trees. And the body of the church is on the outside completely decorated with pictures of different kinds, rich in gold and azure and many other colors. And further, as one enters the body of the church, on the left hand side, are represented many images, among them one of St. Mary, and next to it, on one side, is an image of an emperor, and on the other side the image of an empress, and at the feet of the image of St. Mary are represented thirty castles and towns... And they said that these towns and castles belonged to the domain of this church and had been granted to it by an emperor called Romanus... In the body of the church thera are five altars, and the body itself is a round hall, very big and tall, and it is supported on japsper [columns] of different colors; and the floor and the walls are like wise covered with slabs of jasper. This all is enclosed all round by three aisles which are joined to it, and the ceiling of the hall and the aisles is one and the same, and is completely wrought in mosaic. And at the end of the church, on the left side, was a big tomb of colored jasper wherein lies the said emperor Romanus... And in this church was another big tomb of jasper in which lay another emperor. Also in this church was the other arm of St. Jogn the Baptist... Outside the body of the church there was a cloister beautifully adorned with different pictures, among which was represented the Tree of Jesse, of whose line the Holy Virgn Mary was descended... Ruy Gonzàlez de Clavijo, Embajada a Tamorlan, pp. 37 f., transl. Mango, C., The Art of the Byzantine Empire Sources and Documents (London ), pp Χρονολόγιο : Romanos III Argyros erects the church of St. Mary Peribleptos. He is buried there after his death (1034) 1081: Nikephoros III Botaneiates is buried in the church Δημιουργήθηκε στις 30/7/2017 Σελίδα 5/6

6 Ball Amanda, "", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια after 1261: the church is restored by Michael VIII Palaiologos 1403: the Spanish ambassador Ruy González de Clavijo visits the church c /4: seat of the Armenian Patriarchate, rededicated to St. George (Surp Kevork) 1782: Fire 1872: Fire late 19 th c.: the modern Armenian church of Surp Kevork is erected on the ruins of the Byzantine structure : remaining substructure of the original Byzantine building surveyed and published Δημιουργήθηκε στις 30/7/2017 Σελίδα 6/6