News

Fifth news item

"You've Got to Sleep With Your Mum and Dad" is now available on Amazon. Childhood angst, marathon swimming, international exploitation and the threat of impending pinniped intimacy. on 2014-08-13
Read more »

Fourth news item

Have a look at my page on Amazon. Still plenty of summer left for challenging literature. on 2014-08-13
Read more »

Third news item

Check out my Amazon Kindle page. 'The Baby Who Killed People for Money' is now available. An utterly charming child with a unique and lucrative skill. A father with no defence against his daughter's impulses. Would you take your little girl around Europe for a spot of murder tourism? Of course you would. on 2014-06-30
Read more »

Second news item

My story on the Tate gallery website on 2013-11-11
Read more »

First news item

A Thousand Natural Shocks An anthology that includes two of my stories. Available now at Amazon. on 2013-11-11
Read more »
November 2014
M T W T F S S
« Oct   Dec »
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
« Previous Entries Next Entries »

Archive for November, 2014

Posted November 25, 2014
  Posted by in Uncategorized

Between 1830 and 1834, Constantius I was the Ecumenical Patriarch. He seems to have been irritated at the haphazard manner in which information about the various Byzantine churches in Istanbul had filtered down the ages to him. He embarked on a campaign (similar to the one being waged at enormousfish.co.uk) to identify these recalcitrant churches in a definitive and Orthodox manner. He examined records from the time of the 1204 Latin invasion of Constantinople. Emperor Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos apparently set up camp by the Pantepoptes Monastery and watched the movements of the Venetian fleet in the Golden Horn near the Church of St Mary of Blachernae. Constantius used contemporary accounts to place the Monastery of Christos Pantepoptes on the site of the Eski Imaret Camii in the Zeyrek area. Pantepoptes means ‘the all-seeing’, an appropriate name for a place from which one could observe goings-on in almost all of the Golden Horn.

The great Alexander van Millingen accepted this identification and told a romantic version of the 1204 story in his wonderful 1912 tome about the Byzantine churches in Istanbul. Since then, the identification of the lovely little red church in Zeyrek has been set in stone.

Cyril Mango, the eminent English scholar of all things Byzantine was having none of this. He produced an elegant dismissal of all arguments that placed Pantepoptes at the current Eski Imaret Camii (or Medrese). Not the least of his points was that the upper part of the Golden Horn where St Mary of Blachernae is situated is not visible from Eski Imaret Camii. Mango places the Monastery of Christos Pantepoptes on the site of Yavuz Sultan Selim Camii, the terrace of which has a stunning view of the Golden Horn. Construction of this mosque began in 1520 and the determination of the great Sultan Süleyman to provide a fitting monument for his warlike father presumably swept any pre-existing buildings away.

Byzantine vaulting, north-east corner of Cistern of Aspar. Probably substructure of a church.

Byzantine vaulting, north-east corner of Cistern of Aspar. Probably substructure of a church.

There is a lot of Byzantine stuff around the Selim Camii, not least of which is the enormous Cistern of Aspar, the construction of which began in 459 in the reign of Marcian. The open cistern is now a sunken garden. Marcian’s name lives on in the imposing column of that name, which is down the hill a little. There is also a ridiculously pretty closed cistern close to the south side of the Cistern of Aspar. This is now a Duğun Sarayı (venue for wedding receptions) although when I chanced upon it in 1991, it was a banana warehouse.

Byzantine Cistern beneath Sivası Tekke Mescidi

Byzantine Cistern beneath Sivası Tekke Mescidi

Strange double capitals in 'Sultan Sarnıç'

Strange double capitals in 'Sultan Sarnıç'

Byzantine sources suggest that there were many monasteries in this area but omnivorous building work has swallowed these. There must be something interesting beneath the Yavuz Sultan Selim Camii but while that stands, we must be content with the fragments in its vicinity which, if Mango is right, are probably remnants of the Monastery of Christos Pantepoptes.

Byzantine stonework near the northern entrance to Yavuz Sultann Selim Camii.

Byzantine stonework near the northern entrance to Yavuz Sultann Selim Camii.

A Byzantine ayazma in the outer courtyard of Yavuz Sultan Selim Camii.

A Byzantine ayazma in the outer courtyard of Yavuz Sultan Selim Camii.

Some ecclesiastical marble.

Some ecclesiastical marble.

Share This Post

Bookmark and Share Bookmark   Print This Post Print This Post    


Posted November 24, 2014
  Posted by in Uncategorized

imaret-front

Share This Post

Bookmark and Share Bookmark   Print This Post Print This Post    


Posted November 23, 2014
  Posted by in Uncategorized

imaret-minaret

Share This Post

Bookmark and Share Bookmark   Print This Post Print This Post    


Posted November 22, 2014
  Posted by in Uncategorized

zeyrek-cistern-camii

Share This Post

Bookmark and Share Bookmark   Print This Post Print This Post    


Posted November 21, 2014
  Posted by in Uncategorized

zeyrek-environs-3

Share This Post

Bookmark and Share Bookmark   Print This Post Print This Post    


« Previous Entries Next Entries »
 
Powered by Wordpress
Web design and development by Pedalo Limited