Constantine Forum

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Map of the Byzantine Constantinople
Yeniçeriler Caddesi and Column of Constantine
Constantinople in late Byzantine times. In the foreground the Great Palace and the Hippodrome , behind it the round Forum of Constantine

The Forum of Constantine ( Greek Φόρος Κωνσταντίνου ) was a public place in Byzantine Constantinople . In the center of the square stood the Constantine Column , the shaft of which has been preserved to this day.

location

The Constantine Forum was located on the second hill of Constantinople in the northeast of Region VII and bordered Regions III, V and VI. The square was on the main street of Constantinople ( Mese ) between the Great Palace and the Theodosius Forum, directly behind the first city wall of Byzantion . Today the square is in the Çemberlitaş district in the Fatih district on Yeniçeriler Caddesi . On the west side of the square is the Gazi-Atik-Ali-Pascha Mosque , in the north the Nuruosmaniye Mosque and in the east the old caravanserai Vezir Hanı .

history

The forum was built outside the old city walls of Byzantium when Constantinople was founded and was the center of the new city and its main street, Mese. The square was round and had a monumental gate to the east and west. The forum remained intact until the Fourth Crusade (1203/04). The forum was set on fire by crusaders in 1203 and the statues melted down in 1204.

architecture

The Forum of Constantine was a circular square lined with colonnades . The house of the Senate was on the north side of the Constantine Forum, on the south side a nymphaeum . Two mighty arches formed the entrance and exit to the Mese. The facade consisted of four porphyry columns.

Numerous images of ancient gods and mythological figures, imperial portraits and Christian figures and symbols stood on the square. The Byzantine historian and statesman Niketas Choniates reported on a bronze statue of Athena , which is said to have been similar to Athena Promachos in Athens and of "irresistible beauty". This flanked the entrance to the Senate with an Amphitrite or Thetis . In the northwest of the square stood elephants, a statue of Hera , as well as Helena and Paris . At the western entrance were "The Roman Woman" and "The Hungarian Woman". To the northeast was a cross and a statue of Constantine and his son. Several portraits of the emperors were housed in the colonnade. There was a cross at the eastern entrance, as well as statues of Helena Augusta , Tyche with a Modius grain measure, Constantine and two Victorias . In the southeast there were statues of Tritons and Nereids , "Daniel in the Lions' Den" and "The Good Shepherd" . Portraits of the Bishops of Constantinople were also on display. According to the Patria Constantinoupoleos , the round shape with the figures of earth and sea is supposed to represent, in another place the round shape is supposed to go back to the military tent of Constantine. The classical statues at the Forum Constantini were an expression of the emperor's virtues.

In the middle of the square was the Column of Constantine , which has been partially preserved to this day and was erected around 328. A statue of Constantine the Great as Apollo stood on the column from 330 onwards , but it fell down with the three uppermost column elements during a strong storm in 1150. The statue was replaced by a cross donated by Manuel I.

Web links

Commons : Konstantinsforum  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Potter: Constantine the Emperor . Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-998602-6 , pp. 262 ff.
  2. ^ Sarah Bassett: The Topography of Triumph in Late-Antique Constantinople . In: Fabian Goldbeck, Johannes Wienand (Hrsg.): The Roman triumph in principle and late antiquity . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016, p. 517
  3. ^ Glanville Downey: Notes on the Topography of Constantinople . in: The Art Bulletin , Vol. 34, No. 3 (September 1952), p. 235
  4. ↑ a b c X. Old sculptures in a new urban space for Constantine . In: Alessandra Bravi: Greek works of art in the political life of Rome and Constantinople . (= KLIO / supplements. New episode 21), De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2014, p. 266
  5. ^ RM Dawkins: Ancient Statues in Mediaeval Constantinople . In: Folklore , Vol. 35, No. 3 (September 30, 1924), p. 224 f.
  6. ↑ X. Old sculptures in a new urban space for Constantine . In: Alessandra Bravi: Greek works of art in the political life of Rome and Constantinople . (= KLIO / supplements. New series 21), De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2014, p. 262, p. 264 ff.
  7. ↑ X. Old sculptures in a new urban space for Constantine . In: Alessandra Bravi: Greek works of art in the political life of Rome and Constantinople . (= KLIO / supplements. New episode 21), De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2014, p. 265
  8. ^ Allan Doig: Liturgy and Architecture from the Early Church to the Middle Ages . Ashgate Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7546-5274-8 , p. 53 ff. ( Digitized version )

Coordinates: 41 ° 0 ′ 32.4 ″  N , 28 ° 58 ′ 15.6 ″  E