Byzantine Churches in Constantinople: Their History and ArchitectureVan Millingen, Alexander
Philosophy
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople: Their History and Architecture
Van Millingen, Alexander
Architecture, Byzantine; Church architecture -- Turkey -- Istanbul; Church buildings -- Turkey -- Istanbul
The reasons which favour the identification of the mosque Eski Imaret
Mesjedi, which is situated on the heights above Aya Kapou (Gate of S.
Theodosia), with the church of S. Saviour Pantepoptes, the All-Seeing
([Greek: pantepoptês]), are the following: first, the tradition to that
effect,[347] which in the case of a building so conspicuous can scarcely
be mistaken; secondly, the correspondence of its position to that of the
Pantepoptes, on a hill commanding an extensive view of the Golden
Horn;[348] and finally, the architectural features which mark it to be
what the church of the Pantepoptes was, a building of the Comnenian
period. The church of the Pantepoptes was founded or restored by Anna
Dalassena,[349] the mother of Alexius I. Comnenus (1081-1118), one of
the most remarkable women in Byzantine history, combining to a rare
degree domestic virtues with great political ambition and administrative
ability. For twenty years she was associated with her son in the
government of the Empire, and was the power behind the throne which he
owed largely to her energy and devotion. About the year 1100 she laid
aside the cares of state, and without renouncing altogether her royal
style retired to rest in the monastery she had built, until her death,
five years later, at an advanced age.[350] There is nothing of special
importance to record in the annals of the House. Its inmates were
occasionally disturbed by the confinement among them of some dignitary
who had offended the Government, or by the theological disputes that
agitated the ecclesiastical circles of the capital.[351] But for the
most part life at Pantepoptes was quiet and peaceful. Only once does the
monastery stand out conspicuous before the eyes of the world. When the
Venetian ships under Henrico Dandolo, with the army of the Fourth
Crusade on board, lined the shore of the Golden Horn from Ispigas and
the church of S. Saviour the Benefactor to Blachernae (_i.e._ from
Jubali Kapoussi to Aivan Serai) on Easter Monday, 12th April 1204, the
Emperor Alexius Murtzuphlus established his headquarters beside the
Pantepoptes. There he pitched his vermilion tent, marshalled his best
troops, and watched the operations of the enemy. And thence he fled when
he saw the walls on the shore below him carried by storm, and Flemish
knights mounted on horses, which had been landed from the hostile fleet,
advancing to assault his position. So hurried was his flight that he
left his tent standing, and under its shelter Count Baldwin of Flanders
and Hainault slept away the fatigue of that day's victory.[352] During
the Latin occupation the church passed into the hands of the Venetians,
and was robbed of many of its relics for the benefit of churches in the
West.[353] Upon the Turkish conquest it served for some time as an
imaret or refectory for the students and teachers of the
_medressé_,[354] then in course of construction beside the great mosque
of Sultan Mehemed. Hence its Turkish name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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