Porphyrogennetos Palace
The Porphyrogennetos Palace (also Palace of Konstantin Porphyrogenitus or Tekfur Palace ; Turkish Tekfur Sarayı , "Palace of the Emperor") is a Byzantine palace from the 13th century in the northwestern part of the old town of Istanbul .
The Porphyrogennetos Palace was believed to have been built in the late 13th century. Inserted into the Theodosian Land Wall between the front and main walls , it was part of the palace district around the Blachernen Palace . The palace of Constantine Porphyrogenitus was not named after Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetus , who ruled in the 10th century; it was created long after his time. The palace was named after Constantine Palaiologos Porphyrogennetos , a son of Emperor Michael VIII. Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus , d. H. In this context, " the purple-born " was the nickname of a member of the ruling house who, like Constantine Palaiologos, was born as the son of a Byzantine emperor in the purple chamber of the imperial palace , and who came into question as heir to the Byzantine throne.
After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 , the palace served as part of the sultan's menagerie , later as a brothel , then as a ceramics factory and poorhouse, before being abandoned in the 17th century. Only the outer walls of the palace with the facade of red brick and white marble remained. This characteristic change of material was used as a design tool to create a polychromy of the masonry through the use of broad layers of ashlar masonry, followed by layers of thin bricks with broad layers of mortar in between . The Tekfur Palace is the only significant example of Constantinople's secular Byzantine architecture that has survived to this day. Extensive restoration work has been carried out on the palace since 2006.
Views
The Porphyrogennetos Palace in the background, the Theodosian Land Wall in front
Remains of the chapel (south wall)
Polychromy of the masonry (south wall)
Repair of the south wall, August 2006.
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 2 ′ 1.5 ″ N , 28 ° 56 ′ 25 ″ E