Polyeuktoskirche

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Part of a niche with an inscription and vine tendrils , now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum
Pillar of the Polyeuktosbasilika, today in front of the south portal of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice

The Polyeuktoskirche was a late antique basilica in Constantinople , which was donated by Anicia Iuliana in the 6th century . Today only the substructures are preserved. The exact start of construction is unclear, the last work was started around 526 AD. The model that was also to be surpassed was the temple of Solomon , as it is described in the Old Testament. The church bore the patronage of the martyr Polyeuktus , for whose head relic Empress Aelia Eudocia had built a first church building around 425.

The foundation walls of the Polyeuktoskirche were discovered in 1960 when a new town hall was being built and archaeologically researched by Martin Harrison between 1964 and 1969. The excavations resulted in a monumental building with a square floor plan with a side length of 52 meters without the narthex to the west . The massive foundation walls suggest a dome building with exedra , accompanied by side aisles and galleries , which served as a direct model for the Hagia Sophia , begun in 532 . For the dome - the tradition calls it the "radiant golden roof" - a clear room height of 35 meters is to be developed. The identification of the building was made possible by the donor's inscription, which consists of 76 lines of hexameters and has been handed down in literary terms, parts of which have been preserved on the numerous fragments of building sculpture.

In the 11th century the church was abandoned. Furnishings and architectural parts were used as spoilers for other buildings. After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, parts of it reached Venice and other cities in the west.

literature

  • Martin Harrison: A Temple for Byzantium. The discovery and excavation of Anicia Julianas Palace Church in Istanbul . Belser, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-7630-1248-6 .
  • Jonathan Bardill: A new temple for Byzantium. Anicia Iuliana, King Solomon, and the gilded ceiling of the church of St. Polyeuktos in Constantinople . In: Late Antique Archeology . 2006, pp. 339-370.
  • Hanna-Riitta Toivanen: The Church of St. Polyeuktos, Archeology and Texts. In: Acta Byzantina Fennica . NS 2, 2003-2004 (2005), ISSN  1458-7017 , pp. 127-149.

Coordinates: 41 ° 0 ′ 52 ″  N , 28 ° 57 ′ 11 ″  E