The Palace of Daphne () was one of the major wings of the Great Palace of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, the capital of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

(modern

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). According to

George Codinus George Kodinos (), also Pseudepigrapha, Pseudo-Kodinos or Codinus, is the conventional name of an anonymous late 15th-century author of late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is only traditional, and is based on the fact that all thr ...

, it was named after a statue of the

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

, brought from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The exact layout and appearance of the palace is unclear, since it lies under the

Sultan Ahmed Mosque The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. It al ...

, and the only surviving evidence comes from literary sources.Westbrook (2007) Jonathan Bardill, however, has suggested that the peristyle with mosaics adjoining an apsed hall, excavated by the Walker Trust excavations in 1935-7 and 1952-4, could be the Augusteus of the Daphne Palace.

History and description

The Daphne belonged to the earliest building phase of the palace complex, that of

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

, who rebuilt the city of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

into Constantinople, his new capital, as well as his immediate successors.

Justin II Justin II (; ; died 5 October 578) was Eastern Roman emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the niece of Justinian's wife Theodora. Justin II inherited a greatly enlarged but overextended empir ...

() expanded the original building, which remained the main residential area for the emperors until the 8th century. The palace was formed by an ensemble of ceremonial halls and residential buildings, located in the westernmost part of the imperial palace complex, next to the

Hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...

, and was connected to the imperial box (the ''kathisma'') there by a stairway. This complex included the residential wing of the ''koitōn'' ("bedchamber") of the Daphne proper, the Octagon, and the chapel of

St Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

, built in ca. 421, the '' Augusta''

Pulcheria Aelia Pulcheria (; ; 19 January 398 or 399 – 453) was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother, the emperor Theodosius II, during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to her death in 453. She was th ...

to house the right arm of the saint. The Daphne was connected to the hall (''triklinos'') of the ''Augusteus'' (, not to be confused with the ''

Augustaion The ''Augustaion'' () or, in Latin, ''Augustaeum'', was an important ceremonial square in ancient and medieval Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), roughly corresponding to the modern ''Aya Sofya Meydanı'' ( Turkish, "Hagia Sophia Square"). ...

'' square), also one of the oldest parts of the imperial palace. It was also known under the name ''Stepsimon'' (Στέψιμον, "coronation"), highlighting its function the original coronation hall of the palace, a role it retained (especially for the coronations of empresses and imperial weddings) to a degree into the middle Byzantine period. In turn, the Augusteus was connected to the later Trikonchos palace and the hall of the

Consistorium The ''sacrum consistorium'' or ''sacrum auditorium'' (from , "discuss a topic"; , "sacred assembly") was the highest political council of the Roman Empire from the time of Constantine the Great on. It replaced the '' consilium principis'' that had ...

. Two further chapels, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

, were also located in the southern part of the Daphne complex.Paspates (2004), p. 236–237 In the 9th-10th centuries, the center of court life and ceremonial was moved to the south, towards the

Boukoleon Palace The Palace of Boukoleon () or Bucoleon was one of the Byzantine palaces in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul in Turkey.) The palace is located on the shore of the Sea of Marmara, to the south of the Hippodrome and east of the Little Hagia So ...

and the ceremonial structures around the

Chrysotriklinos The Chrysotriklinos (, "golden reception hall", cf. ''triclinium''), Latinized as Chrysotriclinus or Chrysotriclinium, was the main reception and ceremonial hall of the Great Palace of Constantinople from its construction, in the late 6th century ...

. Although the Daphne continued to feature in imperial ceremonies however, as described in the ''

De Ceremoniis The or (fully ) is the conventional Latin name for a Greek book of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople. Its Greek title is often cited as ("Explanation of the Order of the Palace"), taken from the work' ...

'' by

Constantine Porphyrogennetos Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and ...

, its decline in prestige and use is well illustrated by the fact that the walls by which Emperor

Nikephoros II Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of t ...

() surrounded the palace with new walls, the Daphne complex was not included in them. After the 11th century, the Daphne seems to have fallen into disrepair and gradual ruin, a process exacerbated by the plundering of the remaining structures for metals and architectural elements under the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...

(1204–1261).

References

Sources

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External links

3D reconstruction of the palace at the ''Byzantium 1200'' project
{{coord, 41.006, 28.976, type:landmark_region:TR, display=title Houses completed in the 4th century Great Palace of Constantinople