Hagia Irene ( el, Αγία Ειρήνη) or Hagia Eirene ( grc-x-byzant, Ἁγία Εἰρήνη , "Holy Peace", tr, Aya İrini), sometimes known also as Saint Irene, is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

church located in the outer courtyard of

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio, is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the compl ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. It is the oldest known church in Istanbul and the only Byzantine church in Istanbul that has not been converted into a mosque, as it was used as an

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

for storing weapons until the 19th century. The Hagia Irene today operates as a museum and concert hall.

Naming

The church was dedicated to the peace of God, and is one of the three shrines which emperors devoted to God's attributes, together with

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

(Wisdom) and Hagia Dynamis.Janin, pg. 106

History

Arsenal

After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by

Mehmed II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...

, the church was enclosed inside the walls of the Topkapi palace. The

Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...

used the church as an

(''Cebehane'') until 1826. It was also used as a warehouse for military equipment and repository for trophies of arms and military regalia taken by the Turks. During the reign of

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

Ahmet III Ahmed III ( ota, احمد ثالث, ''Aḥmed-i sālis'') was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at ...

(1703–1730) it was converted into the National Military Museum in 1726. In 1846,

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

of the Imperial Arsenal, Ahmed Fethi Paşa, made the church a military antiques museum. It was used as the Military Museum from 1908 until 1978 when it was then turned over to the

Turkish Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture and Tourism ( tr, Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı) is a government ministry of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for culture and tourism affairs in Turkey. Revolving fund management of the ministry is carried by DÖSİM ...

Concert hall

Today, the Hagia Irene serves mainly as a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that ma ...

for

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

performances, due to its extraordinary acoustic characteristics and impressive atmosphere. Many of the concerts of the

Istanbul International Music Festival The Istanbul International Music Festival, formerly Istanbul Festival, ( tr, Uluslararası İstanbul Müzik Festivali) is a cultural event held every June and July in Istanbul, Turkey. It offers a selection of European classical music, ballet, opera ...

have been held here every summer since 1980. In 2000, the Turkish

haute couture ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

designer Faruk Saraç produced a special show here. A collection of 700 designed pieces inspired by the Ottoman sultans, including the robes of 36 sultans ranging from

Osman Gazi Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...

, the founder of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

to the last sultan,

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ota, محمد سادس ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; tr, VI. Mehmed or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the 36th and last Sultan of the ...

, were on display. The show was accompanied by music and the story of the sultans' lives and demonstrations of Ottoman-era dancing. For many years, the Hagia Irene was only accessible during events or by special permission, but the museum has been open to the public every day except Tuesday since January 2014.

Structure

Church architecture

The building reputedly stands on the site of a pre-Christian temple. It ranks as the first church completed in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, before Hagia Sophia, during its transformation from a Greek trading colony to the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. According to later tradition, the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

emperor

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

commissioned the first Hagia Irene church in the 4th century, which was completed by the end of his reign (337). It served as the church of the

Patriarchate Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were est ...

before

was completed in 360 under

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...

. During the Nika revolt in 532, Hagia Irene was burned down. Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

had the church rebuilt in 548. It was then damaged again by the 740 Constantinople earthquake on October 20, 740, about six months before the death of Leo III. The Emperor

Constantine V Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...

ordered the restorations and had its interior decorated with

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s and

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

es. Some restorations from this time have survived to the present. Reconstruction during the reign of

shows change in the architecture of the atrium and narthex, which stayed intact after the earthquake. Restoration after the earthquake created a stronger foundation for the church. Before being rebuilt, the foundation had significant structural problems. This restoration established a cross-domed plan on the gallery level while still being able to keep the original basilica plan at the ground level. The narthex can be found to the west, preceded by the atrium, and then the apse on the east side. Hagia Irene still holds its dome and has peaked roofs on the north, west, and south sides of the church. The dome itself is 15m wide and 35m high and has twenty windows. Hagia Irene has the typical form of a Roman

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

, consisting of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

and two

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...

s, which are divided by three pairs of piers. This helps support the galleries above the narthex. Semicircular arches are also attached to the capitals which also helps give support to the galleries above.

Art inside the church

In Byzantine tradition, there is a unique vestige of the

Iconoclastic Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wi ...

art within the church. The apse semidome and the bema arch are covered with mosaics. There are also the frescoes which can be found on the south side aisle. These mosaics date back to about the 8th century. This was during the time of the earthquake which most of the upper parts of the church can date back to. There is also a mosaic of a cross, which is outlined in black with a

gold ground Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxuriou ...

. The ends are flared along with having teardrop shapes at the end. This extends around the base of the semidome. The cross was put in during the reconstruction by Constantine V, which was during the Iconoclastic years. On the bema arch there is an inscription of Psalm 64 verses 4–5 on the inner side, and then on the outer side there is an inscription of Amos 6 verse 6. There is evidence of alterations on these inscriptions as well. The inscriptions detail a praise to the church as it is the house of the lord. The verses, especially the Psalm, were used as inspiration for some of the mosaics in

. Hagia Irene also holds a synthronon. Synthronons are rows of built benches that are arranged in a semicircle in the apse. During Divine Liturgy this is where the clergy would sit. This is the only synthronon that has survived in the city from the Byzantine era. The synthronon in Hagia Irene has six tiers of seats. There are doors at both side that open up into an ambulatory beneath the fourth tier of seats.

Cross on the dome

The cross on top of the dome has been replaced by the conquering

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

with the symbol of Turkish Islam, the crescent moon.

Gallery

Image:Hagia Eirene Constantinople 2007.jpg, The

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

of the church with cross Image:Constantinople Hagia Eirene.png, Ground plan of the church Image:Ottoman helmet made in Saint Irene arsenal Constantinople circa 1520.jpg, Ottoman helmet, with markings of Saint-Irene arsenal,

, circa 1520.

Musée de l'Armée The Musée de l'Armée (; "Army Museum") is a national military museum of France located at Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is served by Paris Métro stations Invalides, Varenne and La Tour-Maubourg The Musée de l'Armée ...

. Image:Hagia Irene with Hagia Sophia at the back, İstanbul.JPG, Hagia Irene with

at the back File:Church of St Irene 9060.jpg, Church of St Irene roof from afar File:Church of St Irene 5762.jpg, Church of St Irene exterior from west File:Church of St Irene 5760.jpg, Church of St Irene exterior File:Church of St Irene 7532.jpg, Church of St Irene exterior File:Church of St Irene 5534.jpg, Church of St Irene exterior File:Church of St Irene 1018.jpg, Church of St Irene interior File:Church of St Irene 0914.jpg, Church of St Irene interior File:Church of St Irene 0990.jpg, Church of St Irene apse File:Church of St Irene 0913.jpg, Church of St Irene interior File:Church of St Irene 0993.jpg, Church of St Irene narthex File:Church of St Irene 1982.jpg, Church of St Irene narthex File:Church of St Irene 1984.jpg, Church of St Irene atrium seen from narthex File:Church of St Irene 0999.jpg, Church of St Irene atrium File:Church of St Irene 1016.jpg, Church of St Irene interior File:Church of St Irene 1004.jpg, Church of St Irene capital

References

Bibliography

* * Bogdanovic Jelena, "Hagia Eirene", 2008, ''Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Constantinople'' * * Freely, John; Cakmak, Ahmet (2004). ''Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 136–143.
"Irene, Church of Saint – Oxford Reference"
doi: 10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-2506. * * * * * Millingen, Alexander Van, Ramsey Traquair, Walter S. George, and Arthur e. Henderson. ''Byzantine churches in Constantinople: their history and architecture.'' London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1912. Print. * Musilek, Josef, Lubos Podolka, and Monika Karkova, "The Unique Construction of the Church of Hagia Irene in Istanbul for The Teaching of Byzantine Architecture." ''Priced Engineering,'' 161 (2016): 1745–750. Web. * Pyhrr, Stuart (1989). "European Armor from the Imperial Ottoman Arsenal". ''Metropolitan Museum Journal''. 24: 85–116

External links

Byzantium 1200 , Hagia Eirene

Over 100 pictures inside and out
{{DEFAULTSORT:Istanbul, Hagia Irene 4th-century churches 540s in the Byzantine Empire 6th-century churches Byzantine sacred architecture Fatih Church buildings with domes Former churches in Turkey

Hagia Irene Hagia Irene ( el, Αγία Ειρήνη) or Hagia Eirene ( grc-x-byzant, Ἁγία Εἰρήνη , "Holy Peace", tr, Aya İrini), sometimes known also as Saint Irene, is an Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palac ...

Topkapı Palace 548