A Guide to Istanbul’s Byzantine Architecture
Venetian doges and Anatolian chieftains began casting covetous eyes on Byzantine wealth as the empire entered its centuries of decline. Generations of treasure-hunters have fantasized about what might have been hidden away when the city was invaded. In fact most items of value were sold off, looted, or destroyed along the way. Some extraordinary buildings deteriorated over time or were renovated beyond recognition.
During its 1100 year reign as capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, Constantinople bridged the ancient world and the modern age. It was a bumpy transition. After the Ottoman conquest of 1453 and the founding of Turkey in 1924, different parties have both celebrated and neglected the city’s Christian Greek heritage. With multiple restorations and closures, tracking down Byzantine monuments can be daunting. We’ve created a guide based on two recent visits to Istanbul, including the recently-reopened Chora Church and upper level of the Hagia Sophia. All sites are marked on our Google map.
Orientation
Where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus and Europe meets Asia lies a triangular, sloping piece of land now known as Sultanahmet. For most of its long history, the area has been synonymous with the city itself – whether it was called Byzantium, Constantinople, or Istanbul. Successive empires attempted to outshine their predecessors here, raiding older monuments for materials and building right over their remains.
Elsewhere in the Old City, conversion from church to mosque ensured the survival of other Byzantine structures. Under the Ottomans, the Greek population was concentrated where the ancient Walls of Theodosius meet the Golden Horn. Today a handful of buildings in the Fener-Balat neighborhood represent the memory of Istanbul’s Eastern Orthodox community.
Byzantine Architecture: An Introduction
The Hippodrome
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Irene
Little Hagia Sophia (Church of Saints Sergius & Bacchus)
Basilica Cistern
Binbirdirek Cistern
Çemberlitaş Square & Column of Constantine
Aqueduct of Valens
Theodosian Walls
Palace of the Porphyrogenitus
Chora Church
Restorations, Conversions, and Closures
Further Reading
Byzantine Architecture: An Introduction
Architecture in Constantinople began as Roman but evolved into something quite new. Early Roman buildings in the new capital still used strictly-proportioned Greek orders. Under Emperor Justinian, masons developed their own forms for the first time in nearly a millennium. Column capitals feature delicate traceries with plant, animal, and abstract elements. Eventually these would inspire Islamic muqarnas (stalactite) versions, as well as Romanesque and Gothic depictions of fantastic creatures or folk tales.
The Byzantines figured out how to incorporate large domes with rectangular buildings, opening them up for widespread use. They shifted Greco-Roman mosaics from floors to walls and ceilings, adding gold backgrounds and Christian themes.
The Hippodrome
It takes some imagination to connect the modern-day site of the old Hippodrome to the raucous chariot races and riots of its Byzantine past. Today only the basic footprint remains, with just three of the monuments which once formed a line down the central spina (spine). Some of these, like the 1490 BCE Obelisk of Thutmose III were already ancient when the Byzantines brought them here. Nearby, the pit surrounding the Serpent Column taken from Delphi shows the ground’s original level.
Large trees and benches have replaced the bleachers lining the stone paving, creating a park with a steady traffic of both residents and tourists. A few blocks beyond the park, the land slopes down to reveal the curving end of the original Hippodrome.
Hagia Sophia
In the sixth century, the Hagia Sophia set a standard of architecture which wouldn’t be surpassed for almost a millennium. Its colossal dome inspired architects across Europe and Asia. Awe-struck travelers described their first sight of it from the water, rising miraculously into the sky. From the street, it’s a mountain-sized pile of blocks whose organization defies easy understanding.
Inside lies an equally wide range of perspectives, although most visitors will not be able to see them all. The church-turned-mosque-turned-museum is now a mosque again, and only Muslims and Turkish citizens are allowed on the ground floor.
There’s no better place to appreciate the Byzantine revolution in domed architecture. Where Romans put large-scale hemispheres on Instead of using a round base (like Rome’s Pantheon), the Byzantines created transitional zones connecting the dome to straight walls. Triangular forms called pendentives smoothed the meeting at corner points, while smaller half-domes spread the load out along the sides.
Newly-restored galleries upstairs provide views of the main space. Here the full scale of the dome and its ornamentation become even more apparent. Strange six-winged seraphim loom from the corners, while an outsize baby Jesus and Mary can be glimpsed behind the white drape screening them from worshippers below.
In the side galleries, historical curiosities mingle with more mosaics. The tomb of Enrico (“Henry”) Dandolo, the blind octogenarian Doge of Venice who led the Fourth Crusade’s sack of Constantinople, lies near a riveting, delicate Deesis (Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist).
Upper gallery tickets currently cost €25 for non-Turkish citizens. See the website for visiting information.
Hagia Irene
Hagia Irene is the only building within Topkapı Palace built before the Ottomans. Some think it was completed before Constantine’s death, making it one of the oldest surviving churches anywhere. Like many early Christian structures, it was not dedicated to a specific saint but a holy attribute: Hagia Eirene means Divine Peace.
Unlike most churches in Istanbul, this one was never used as a mosque. Stripped down to its bones by looters during the Fourth Crusade and later the Ottoman conquest, the structure served as an armory for most of the following centuries. Scaffolding and tarps obscured much of the interior’s main space when we visited, including the unusual elliptical dome.
Topkapı Palace tickets include entry to the Hagia Irene, or one can purchase separate admission to the church.
Little Hagia Sophia (Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Küçük Aya Sofya Mosque)
This little building comes with a lot of confusing names. Justinian commissioned a church dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus almost immediately after becoming Emperor in 527. A few years later, work also began nearby on the domed colossus known as the Hagia Sophia. Their similarities inspired the Ottoman nickname Küçük Aya Sofya (Little Hagia Sophia) – although scholars have largely discredited the notion that the smaller church was a practice run for the larger one. It has more in common with the architecture of Ravenna, which had replaced Rome as the Western Empire’s capital.
Most early Christian churches adopted the elongated form of Roman basilicas. This structure not only introduced a central plan topped by a dome, but it used a form which would continue to inspire architects over a thousand years later. The main space features an octagonal base with alternating flat and rounded sides supporting a 16-sided ribbed dome which also alternates between straight and scalloped profiles. Latin Crusaders looted the marble lining the interior, but the uniquely Byzantine capitals and frieze survived. The Ottomans used a light touch in the conversion to a mosque, echoing the carvings with lace-like lines of blue.
Basilica Cistern
Constantinople once held over 200 cisterns with the oldest and largest clustered in the ancient city center. Closed cisterns provided cleaner water than their open-air counterparts, and Roman engineering expertise allowed the Byzantines to construct vast underground structures. They provided permanent hydration to palaces, as well as water for the public during dry spells.
The Basilica Cistern takes its English name from the Stoa Basilica which once sat over it. Emperor Justinian had the cistern built underneath during an extensive building campaign after riots destroyed much of the city in 532. Many construction projects at the time recycled pieces from other sites; the 336 nine-meter columns here came from all over the empire.
Two giant Medusa heads support a pair of columns nearby. These probably came from the Forum of Constantine, where a third head was found. One head rests sideways, a position which could well have been a way to make everything fit. However, the second head was placed upside-down, for reasons unknown – although tradition says the orientation negates the Gorgon’s petrifying stare.
The Basilica Cistern’s lighting slowly shifts in color and intensity to highlight different elements of the space. Regular visiting hours run from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. To avoid crowds, plan to arrive shortly before the cistern opens. Online reservations are not necessary but can reduce waiting time during peak season. Check at the ticket office for information about “Night Shift” tickets featuring concerts and other special events.
Yerebatan Cd. Alemdar Mah. 1/3. Website: Basilica Cistern.
Binbirdirek Sarnıcı (Cistern of Philoxenos)
This cistern’s Turkish name sometimes leads to confusion: it’s often translated as the Cistern of 1,001 Columns. Technically binbir means 1,001 but it often refers to a number beyond count. Such is the impression given by the 224 columns. For the record, the Binbirdirek held half as much water as the Basilica Cistern – but 40,000 cubic meters is arresting enough.
Scholars continue to debate the cistern’s origins. Many identify it with descriptions of the Cistern of Philoxenos, which was built by a Roman senator who arrived with Constantine in the early 300’s. Originally it provided water for his palace, but renovations during Justinian’s reign expanded its supply to the public. The water came from the Valens Aqueduct (see below), portions of which remain in and around the nearby university.
The Binbirdirek’s most striking feature is its columns. Unusually, each pillar consists of two cylinders stacked on top of one another and held together in the middle by a sleeve. The pieces were quarried from a nearby island, and given unadorned capitals. Most feature a small mason’s mark in Greek lettering.
Tickets to the Binbirdirek cost two-thirds the price of the Basilica Cistern, and it doesn’t get huge crowds. At the time of writing, the site does not have a secure website for us to link to. Standard opening hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.
Note that Google Maps shows two structures labeled Binbirdirek Sarnici. The cistern’s entrance is on Imram Öktem Cd., at the end of Mehmet Akif Ersoy Parki. Nearby, a structure in Binbirdirek Parki has a sign for the cistern but does not provide access.
Çemberlitaş Square and the Column of Constantine
Back when the city of Byzantium was no more than a Roman outpost, Emperor Septimius Severus laid out a road which still exists today. Istanbul’s tram line runs along the old processional route known as the Mese (Middle Way) in Byzantine times and Divan Yolu (Avenue of the Divan) under the Ottomans. A few minutes’ walk from the Hippodrome on this historic thoroughfare leads to a column which once loomed over the Forum of Constantine.
Its Turkish name Çemberlitaş means “hooped stone”, a reference to the iron rings holding it together, while its blackened color bears testament to the numerous fires it survived. The column once supported a massive statue of the Emperor, in the guise of sun god Apollo but incorporating Christian relics. Today it marks the edge of Çemberlitaş Square, presided over by the elegant Baroque Nuruosmaniye Mosque on the far end.
Aqueduct of Valens
Turning into the university, sections of a two-tiered arcade in ancient brick appear between modern buildings. The Aqueduct of Valens is the most purely Roman structure remaining in Istanbul. With a slope of 1:1000, it carried fresh water to dozens of cisterns in the city center for 15 centuries, surviving countless earthquakes and wars. Initially built around 375 CE, it had to be extended in the following century to accommodate the new capital’s increasing population. At over 426 km (265 miles) it remains the longest of its kind in the world. The most striking stretch lies just past the university, behind the Şehzade Mosque and along Saraçhane Parkı.
Theodosian Walls
According to legend, at least one army turned back at the sight of the city’s defensive barrier. The double ramparts built under Theodosius II withstood attack for an entire millennium – only to finally succumb to Mehmed II’s giant cannons in 1453. Most of the outer walls and their 96 towers survive, but some sections are better-preserved than others. Exploring the full length of 5.7 km (3.5 miles) could take hours; we concentrated on the stretch around Edirnekapı (Adrianople Gate) for its historic significance and proximity to other sites.
Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Tekfur Sarayı Müzesi)
Other than a single sign in the courtyard, visitors to the Tekfur Sarayı might never know that it’s the only palace to survive from the Byzantine era. The three-story shell adjacent to the Old City walls has been converted into a museum space focusing somewhat inexplicably on its years as a ceramic factory in the 18th century.
Erected between 1261-91, the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus probably took its name from one of the princes; porphyrogenitus (purple-born) refers to children born to a reigning Byzantine emperor. Situated between the inner and outer defensive walls, it protected imperial inhabitants from urban mobs as well as external threats. Organized vertically, the structure features a large arcade on the lower level to accommodate general traffic and administration. Above this were royal apartments, with a throne room occupying the entire top floor. Exterior materials reflect the layout, with brick and marble set in a variety of unusual patterns capping the base’s hefty stones.
At some point after the Ottoman conquest, the structure became known as Tekfur Sarayı, or Palace of the Sovereign. After two centuries as home to the Sultan’s menagerie and a few decades as a brothel, it was converted into a workshop for pottery and tiles. In the 19th century, it housed poverty-stricken Jews; in the 20th, a bottle factory.
See the website for visiting information.
Chora Church (Kariye Mosque & Museum)
After an extensive restoration, the Kariye (Chora) has recently reopened with part of the building reconsecrated as a mosque. The original church of St Saviour in Chora is said to have been founded in the fourth century, although the earliest physical remains discovered date to the sixth century.
The structure underwent multiple renovations and expansions even before the Ottomans arrived, resulting in an ad-hoc layout. A series of three long spaces wrapping around two sides of the central prayer hall (in the naos, or former nave) were added in the 14th century; their late Byzantine mosaics and frescoes are considered some of the greatest ever produced.
In some places the artwork overwhelms the architecture – an effect amplified by rather clinical new lighting which sacrifices ambiance for clarity. (We would have loved to see the mosaics shimmering by candlelight.) But when art and architecture come together, the effect is staggering. In the ribbed domes, lines of gold glow against the matte darkness like a divine code.
The central space retains most of its marble paneling but little of the mosaics. Although the naos is now reserved for Muslim men, other visitors can peek in outside of prayer times. Entry for Turkish citizens and Muslim foreigners is free; everyone else must pay €20. For more information see the website.
Restorations, Conversions, and Closures
In some languages, the word ‘byzantine’ can mean extremely complicated or outright convoluted. It certainly applies to Istanbul’s constantly-shifting network of openings and closures, entrance regulations, and visiting fees. We recommend checking information online, but also staying flexible since conditions on the ground may not match what you’ve read or heard.
At any given time, you’ll likely encounter at least one site closed for restoration. We weren’t able to see the Mosaic Museum, which occupies fragments of the Great Palace near the Blue Mosque. It showcases early mosaics, including some in the Roman style. We also found the doors shut at the Church of Kyriotissa (now Kalenderhane Mosque). It’s a significant example of the Byzantine centralized plan, with a large dome surrounded by four smaller versions in a square cross shape. In the Fatih neighborhood, we found the Fethiye Mosque all but hidden behind construction barriers. The building was originally known as the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos, seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
Further reading
Jane Taylor’s book Imperial Istanbul goes into more detail about many of the sites listed above. John Julius Norwich provides historical context in A Short History of Byzantium. (We recommend the three-volume original but linked the abridged version.) In From the Holy Mountain, William Dalrymple retraces the journey of a pair of sixth-century monks.
Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land depicts the city just before the Ottoman invasion, as an orphaned girl combs abandoned buildings for ancient manuscripts.
Our related posts include:
A Guide to Istanbul’s Iconic Architecture