Du Cange, _Familiæ Augustæ Byzantinæ_, p. 246. Footnote 422: Zorzo Dolfin, s. 54. Footnote 423: _Proceedings of the Greek Literary Syllogos of Consple._, vol. xvi., 1885: _Archæological Supplement_, p. 38. Footnote 424: Du Cange, _Familiæ Augustæ Byzantinæ; Familiæ Sclavonicæ_, ix. p. 336. Footnote 425: Paspates, p. 42. Footnote 426: _Ibid._, p. 45. Footnote 427: _Historia Cpolitanæ Urbis a Mahumete II. Captæ, per modum Epistolæ, die Augusti, anno 1453, ad Nicolaum V. Rom. Pont._, Migne, vol. clix. p. 936. [Illustration: Sketch Plan of the Blachernæ Quarter.] CHAPTER VII. THE PALACE OF THE PORPHYROGENITUS. The ruined Byzantine palace, commonly styled Tekfour Serai, beside the Porta Xylokerkou was the Imperial residence, known as the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (τὰ βασίλεια τοῦ Πορφυρογεννήτου: οἱ τοῦ Πορφυρογεννήτου οἶκοι),[428] and formed an annex to the great Palace of Blachernæ, which stood lower down the hill. It is true, Gyllius supposed it to be the Palace of the Hebdomon, and his opinion, though contrary to all the evidence on the subject, has been generally accepted as correct. But the proof that the suburb of the Hebdomon was situated at Makrikeui, upon the Sea of Marmora, is overwhelming, and consequently the Palace of the Hebdomon must be sought in that neighbourhood.[429] The evidence for the proper Byzantine name of Tekfour Serai[430] occurs in the passage in which Critobolus describes the positions occupied by the various divisions of the Turkish army, during the siege of 1453. According to that authority, the Turkish left wing extended from the Xylo Porta (beside the Golden Horn)[431] to the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, which was situated upon a slope, and thence to the Gate of Charisius (Edirnè Kapoussi).[432] The site thus assigned to the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus corresponds exactly to that of Tekfour Serai, which stands on the steep ascent leading from Egri Kapou to the Gate of Adrianople. [Illustration: The Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Southern Façade).] All other references to the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus are in accord with this conclusion, so far, at least, as they imply the proximity of that residence to the Palace of Blachernæ. When, for instance, Andronicus III., in 1328, entered Constantinople by the Gate of St. Romanus to wrest the government from the feeble hands of his grandfather Andronicus II., he took up his quarters, we are told, in the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, to be near the palace occupied by the elder sovereign.[433] That Andronicus II. was at the Palace of Blachernæ is manifest from the fact that the peasants who witnessed the entrance of the rebel grandson into the city ran and reported the event to the guards stationed at the Gate Gyrolimnè,[434] a gate leading directly to the Palace of Blachernæ.[435] [Illustration: The Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Northern Façade).]