Basilca Dis San Polieucto – Wikipedia Wikipedia

The Basilica of San Polieucetto ( in modern Greek: Saint Multipurpose , transliterate: Hagios polyeuktos ) It was an ancient church of Constantinople, erected in the 520s by the noble Anicia Giuliana and dedicated to San Polieuto. ^[first] It was erected as a symbol of Giuliana’s imperial descent: equipped with a very rich decoration, in which for the first time, sasanid decorative themes were used on a large scale, it was the largest church of Constantinople until the rebuilding of Hagia Sophia, ^[2] for which the new architectural form of the basilica with a dome introduced by the Basilica of San Polycto was perfected. ^{[3] [4]}

Little is known about the history of this basilica after its construction. It survived until the 11th century, after which it fell into ruin, becoming a quarry of architectural elements reused in Constantinople and other cities, such as Venice. In the Ottoman era the area where the basilica stood was rebuilt; His remains were rediscovered in the excavations of 1960 and have become archaeological area open to visitors, although some sculptures were transferred to the archaeological museums of Istanbul.

The church was commissioned by the noble Anicia Giuliana (descendant of the Theodosian dynasty as the daughter of the emperor Olibrio, grandson of the emperor Valentinian III and his wife Licinia Eudossia and bisni of the emperor Theodosius II); The construction lasted from 524 to 527, under the kingdom of Giustino I. it was a reconstruction of an older church, erected by Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II and a maternal great -grandmother of Anicia, and had the purpose of guarding the relic of the skull of San Polieuto. ^[first] It is believed that it was the largest church in Constantinople until the erection of the new Hagia Sophia by Justinian I (527-565), grandson and successor of Giustino. ^[2]

In an epigram of 76 verses, registered on the walls of the church and preserved in the Anthologia Greek (I.10), Giuliana is compared to the emperors of the past Constantine I and Theodosius II as a manufacturer of buildings, and claims to have passed the temple of Salomone, on whose proportions the temple would have been erected. The building therefore constituted a challenge to the prestige and authority of the reigning dynasty, of humble origins, and may have been at the origin of the reconstruction of Hagia Sophia on a gigantic scale a few years later. ^[5] In light of this rivalry it is therefore understandable because even Justinian, in front of Hagia Sophia completed, would seem to have exclaimed “Solomon, I have passed you!”. ^[6] The importance of the allusion to Solomon, however, is questioned by some scholars, who see more in the Church a statement of the imperial prestige of the Roman aristocracy, from which Giuliana descended, and of the Calcedonian faith, which it had defended during the kingdom of the emperor Miafisita Anastasio I (491-518). ^[7] A further aspect of antagonism with Justinian is however highlighted by a story handed down by Gregorio di Tours: shortly after his ascension to the throne, Justinian asked the old Julian to contribute to the state treasure with a large part of her fortune; After he tempacing a little, Giuliana merged her gold and forge the dishes, with which to adorn the interior of the roof of the church of San Polycto, thus removing it from the face of the emperor. ^[8]

The church was used until the 11th century when it was abandoned; From that moment on, sculptures and other architectural elements was stripped, both by the Byzantines and, after the sack of the city of 1204, by the Crusaders. Several pieces from San Polieuceto were reused in the monastery of Christ Pantociatore (the modern Mosque of Zeyrek), ^[9] while other pieces, such as the capitals, were reused in Vienna, Barcelona and Venice, ^[4] including the so -called “acritane pillars” of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. ^[ten]

The church site, in the Saraçhane district (the ancient Constantinianae ), was gradually occupied by houses and a mosque in the Ottoman period. In 1940 the area was demolished and in 1960, during the construction of the intersection between the şehzadebaşı Caddesi and Atatürk Bulvarı streets, the excavations began. ^[4] They were discovered times of bricks and sculptures in proconnesium marble, including fragments of the monumental epigram that adorned the church. These fragments, together with quotes on the approximate position of the Church in the Byzantine texts concerning the imperial processions along the street, have allowed a safe identification of the building. ^{[8] [ten]} The site was excavated extensively between 1964 and 1969, under the guidance of Nezi Firatli, the archaeological museums of Istanbul and Roy Michael Harrison, of the Dumbarton Oaks Institute. ^[4] The area, which is located in front of the Municipality of Istanbul, is now a protected archaeological site open to visitors, although the sculptures have been transferred to the city’s archaeological museum. ^[8]

Despite its architectural importance, very little is known about its precise structure. Most of the information on the original appearance of the Church derive from the epigram in honor of Giuliana and her family, engraved in various parts of the Church. ^[8] According to the epigram, the church was designed as a replica of the Temple of Jerusalem, with the precise proportions of the temple of Solomon indicated in the Bible, using the real cubit as a unit of measurement, as in the original. ^{[11] [twelfth]} Richard Martin Harrison, the archaeologist who directed the excavations, reconstructed the church as a basilica of a quadrata plant, with a side of 52 meters, a central nave and two lateral ones, with a narthex on the front preceded by an atrium of 26 meters in length. The remains of another building were found in Nort of the atrium, identified as the baptistery of the church or with the palace of Giuliana. ^[4] A structure located at the center of the construction indicates the position of the ambo, while the large foundations of the whole church indicate the presence, according to Harrison, of a dome, which would have brought the height of the church to 30 meters. The altar area was not completely carved, and its shape remains unknown. ^[13] The presence of the dome, although not universally accepted, is an element of great importance, as it would mean that it was San Polyieucetto, and not the churches of Justinian (Santi Sergio and Bacchus and Hagia Sophia), the first church to combine the traditional basilica with A dome. ^[4]

The epigram reveals that the interior was arranged on three floors, with colonnades and tunnels. Based on the epigramma and the structures found, Harrison also hypothesized the existence of a two -story torque, consisting of three niches with a connection between them, on the northern and southern sides of the ambo. The space around the western span of the dome should have been barrel or cruise. ^[14]

The internal decoration was extremely rich. ^[4] The walls were decorated in marble, the roof was golden, the narthece contained a representation of the baptism of Constantine I. ^[8] On the site, ivory fragments, amethyst, golden and colorful glass, which originally decorated the sculptures, as well as fragments of mosaics were found. ^[4] The reference to the Salomonic Temple was reinforced by the predominance of decorative motifs such as palm trees, pomegranates, lilies. ^[twelfth] An important feature, previously unknown to Constantinople, is the extensive use of sasanid decorative motifs, such as palmette friezes and pomegranate leaves, or symmetrical plant and geometric motifs. The Persian decorative reasons became increasingly widespread in the 6th century and were also used for the decoration of Hagia Sophia. ^[15] Another exceptional discovery are ten relief plates with the images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Apostles: these are very rare images, due to the destruction of human representations during the iconoclastic of the VIII and IX centuries. ^[16]

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