Lausus Palace and Palace of Antiochos



Today, there are two palaces in Sultanahmet between St Euphemia Church and Firuz Aga Mosque, which allow us to witness the life in Istanbul centuries ago. Since these palaces have turned into ruins today, it is not possible to find any signs or traces of the palaces. One of these palaces is Lausus Palace and the other is Anthiochus Palace. In today's article, we will tell you about these two palaces. 

Lausus Palace

Today it is located next to Sultanahmet Square. Also known as the palace of Lausos. It was renovated by its owner with a large collection of heroic and mythological statues. Lausus had a large collection collected from the eastern temples that had been looted and emptied during the reign of Thedosius I. The pagan sculptures in Lausus's collection, although complained about by devout Christians, were exhibited for the first time out of purely aesthetic and historical considerations. 


Reports indicate that Lausus arranged the statues in a particular order. The aforementioned statue of Zeus, together with Eros and Kairos, stood at the very end of the building under a half dome, with one wall devoted to statues of goddesses and the other to statues of animals.


The destruction of the palace occurred long after the death of Lausus. Today, there is the Binbirdirek Cistern below the place where the Laususus Palace is considered to be located. The ruins of the Palace of Antiochus still stand, just as the dome of the Palace of Laususus, which opened on the west side of the Hippodrome, still stands as a stone embankment.



Palace of Antiochos


It was built as the residence of Antiochus, a court official of Persian origin. As cubicularius (courtier), he became the young emperor's tutor, eventually rising to the position of praepositus sacri cubiculi and taking the title of Patricius. His repressive behaviour and influence over the young emperor led to his downfall (date disputed) by the emperor's sister Pulcheria, but he was allowed to return to his palace and live there.

The palace was first discovered in 1939, together with frescoes depicting the life of St Euphemia north-west of the Hippodrome. In 1942, a subsequent excavation by Alfons Maria Schneider revealed a hexagonal hall opening into a half dome, while in 1951-52, excavations by R. Duyuran led to the identification of the site with the inscription "praepositus of Antiochos" under a column. On the basis of the seals found on the bricks found on the site, J. Bardill suggested that the construction date could not be earlier than 430.

When the hexagonal building was converted into a church, many changes were made to the building. The bema was located to the right of the original entrance. In the apse facing south-east, another entrance was opened opposite the original entrance. The original doorway was retained but slightly narrowed, and the other two doors opened into circular rooms attached to the mausoleum on the north side.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Terrastrial City Walls of Istanbul in Zeytinburnu

Image
Zeytinburnu hosts some terrestrial part of Istanbul city walls which  holds a length of 22 kilometers in three zones in all. Terrestrial walls had been built in 4 years during the reign of Theodosius 2 and had finished on August 25, 413 located between Ayvansaray, a sea-neighborhood in Haliç, and Yedikule in the Marmara coast with a length of 5.5km. These walls contain 3 parts as inner walls, outer walls and the moat. The inner walls were about 5 meters wide, 20 meters high and reinforced with a tower in every 60 meters. The inner walls were 14 meters away from the outer walls. The outer wall were reinforced with 96 towers some of which were up to 23 meters high. The moat was 20 meters wide and 6 meters deep. Altınkapı in Yedikule was the most majestic city gate and used only by the emperors in times of expeditions for departures or arrival. Other city gates of Zeytinburnu are Belgradkapı, Silivrikapı, Mevlanakapı, Sulukule Kapısı and Topkapı. The terrestrial walls was repaired sev...
Read more

The tallest structure of Topkapi Palace: Justice Tower (Adalet Kulesi)

Image
Topkapi Palace II. The first construction of the Justice Tower (aka Adalet Kasrı) in its courtyard belongs to the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. Some parts of the mansion, which was wooden when it was first built and not as high as it is today, became the section where valuable carpets, fabrics, trays and pitchers and documents were stored. Sultan III. When the Outer Treasury Building was built during the reign of Murad I, the items in the Justice Tower were moved to the new building. The location of the Tower of Justice is important in terms of symbolic meaning. The Justice Tower, which was built adjacent to the Kubbealtı (Divan-ı Hümayun), where the state was administered and decisions were taken on behalf of the state; it gives a message to the society that the state is governed fairly and that the decisions taken are fair. The Justice Tower, which was repaired in various periods of the 17th and 18th centuries, was built by Sultan II. It took on a new style during the reign of Mahmu...
Read more

You need to know this before you make your plan to visit Ayasofya in Istanbul

Image
  As one of Turkey’s oldest historical monuments, Hagia Sophia is centuries old. Profit Mohammed was not born when it was built. Originally, it was a Roman Greek church and used as a church 916 years. After Turkish people conquered Constantinople, it became a mosque and was used as a mosque for 481 years. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk turned the historical monument into a museum after the Turkish Republic was established. As it changed over the centuries, it went from a church to a mosque to a museum. Eventually, the historical monument was converted into a mosque again in 2023. It was free entry for all visitors when it became a mosque, regardless of their religion or nationality. While the Muslims use the first floor as a mosque, the government turned the upper gallery into a museum where you can see beautiful mosaic from the Byzantine era. You can enter the mosque first floor, where there is apsis (mihrap) anytime during the day, if you are a Turkish Muslim citizen. If you are Muslim, b...
Read more