Hagia Sophia in Context - Ken Dark, Jan Kostenec

Hagia Sophia in Context

An Archaeological Re-examination of the Cathedral of Byzantine Constantinople

, (Autoren)

Buch | Hardcover
152 Seiten
2019
Oxbow Books (Verlag)
978-1-78925-030-5 (ISBN)
68,55 inkl. MwSt
An archaeological re-examination of the cathedral of Byzantine Constantinople, with fresh evidence about the appearance and function of the complex enabling us to reconsider what Hagia Sophia can tell us about the wider Byzantine world.
The Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia has been a source of wonder and fascination since its sixth-century construction. It was the premier monument of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, and remains one of the most recognisable symbols of modern Istanbul. Often seen as encapsulating Byzantine history and culture, the building has been the subject of much scholarly interest since the Renaissance. However, while almost all previous archaeological work has focussed on the church itself, the surrounding complex of ecclesiastical buildings has been largely neglected. The research project presented here (co-directed by the authors) is the first to focus on the archaeology of the immediate environs of the church in order to understand the complex as a whole. Previously unrecorded material includes parts of the Patriarchal complex, from which the Orthodox Church was governed for almost a millennium, what may be the ‘Great Baptistery’ north of the church, and what are perhaps the first fragments of the fourth-century phase of the cathedral yet identified. The discovery of an unrecognised porch, surviving to its full height within the standing building, changes the known plan of the famous sixth-century church. This new information provides fresh evidence about the appearance and function of the complex, illustrating its similarities to, and dissimilarities from, episcopal centres elsewhere in the Byzantine world. Combined with other archaeological sources, these discoveries enable us to place the sixth-century cathedral in its urban context and to reconsider what Hagia Sophia can tell us about the wider Byzantine world.

Ken Dark is Associate Professor in Archaeology and History at the University of Reading, where he was Director of the Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies from 2001 until 2016. Between 1997 and 2004 he co-directed the British Museum-funded rescue archaeology program for Istanbul, published in 2013 by Oxbow as Constantinople: archaeology of a Byzantine Megapolis. Jan Kostenec is a member of the Czech National Committee of Byzantine Studies and the Czech Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology. His main interests are Late Antique and Byzantine archaeology and architecture.

Preface

Terminology and conventions

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction

The Patriarchal complex

The Hagia Sophia Project 2004–2018

Methods and practical constraints

Chapter 2: The undiscovered church: Hagia Sophia before Justinian

Introduction

Fourth-century structures

Fifth-century structures

Features below the sixth-century church identified in other recent work

Conclusion

Chapter 3: New light on Justinian’s Hagia Sophia

Introduction

Buttress piers, their external staircase towers and the corner staircases in the base of the dome

The Vestibules

The access ramps

Newly recorded sixth-century decoration

Marble veneer on the church exterior

Structures southwest of the Justinianic church: the Patriarchal palace

Structures surrounding the Large Hall

The southwest vestibule of the church

The Baptistery south of the church

A large rectilinear structure north of the sixth-century church

Marble paving around the church and evidence for surrounding courtyards

Archaeology and liturgy in Justinian’s church

Conclusion

Chapter 4: Revealing the Byzantine cathedral: Hagia Sophia after Justinian

Introduction

The Skeuophylakion

North-east and south-east vestibules

The north-east ramp

Post-sixth-century modifications to the Patriarchate

Identifying the Large Hall and associated structures with the later textually-attested additions to the Patriarchal palace

The Baptistery

The buttresses

The south-west buttress

The south middle buttress

The north middle buttress

The north-east buttress

The west flying buttresses

The remaining buttresses

Archaeology and liturgy after the sixth century

Conclusion

Chapter 5: Sixth-century Hagia Sophia in its wider context

Introduction

Hagia Sophia in the context of surrounding structures and landscape features

Building Orthodoxy in sixth-century Constantinople

Bibliography

Erscheinungsdatum
Verlagsort Oxford
Sprache englisch
Maße 216 x 280 mm
Themenwelt Geisteswissenschaften Archäologie
Geschichte Allgemeine Geschichte Altertum / Antike
Geschichte Allgemeine Geschichte Mittelalter
Geisteswissenschaften Religion / Theologie Christentum
ISBN-10 1-78925-030-7 / 1789250307
ISBN-13 978-1-78925-030-5 / 9781789250305
Zustand Neuware
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