899
Alessandra Ricci
Koç University, Department of
Archaeology and History of Art, Istanbul, Turkey;
aricci@ku.edu.tr
The Architectural Layout of the Middle Byzantine Monastery of Satyros
in Constantinople
Results of archaeological surveys,
three excavation campaigns, analysis and on-going research
are corroborating identification of present-day Istanbul`s Asian side largest surviving archaeological
area with the patriarchal monastery of
Satyros or Anatellon
. The site,
located in the modern
neighborhood of Küçükyalı, stood by the ancient Marmara seashore and across the
Prinkipo
islands.
According to the
vita Ignatii
(col. 560D), Ignatios begin construction of the most lavish of
his monasteries during his second patriarchate.
Satyros
was on the mainland not far from
Prinkipo
where Ignatios was exiled further deposition of his father, the emperor
Michael the First Rangabes
in 813. It is at
Satyros
, according to the
vita
, that the patriarch`s body was translated after his death
on, October 23 877 and buried in a small chamber located to the south of the
katholikon
.
Modern construction in the area of Küçükyalı has spared what might have been the main
core
of the ancient complex, a rectangular-in-plan platform organized on two levels and framed by
retaining walls. The lower level being occupied in part by an underground cistern and the upper
level preserving traces of a built environment not explored prior our research. There, archaeological
work lead to the exposure of the remains of a church whose structure survived above the cistern`s
uncollapsed eastern portion. The building bears the likely characteristics of a cross-domed church
with side compartments and a compact square outlook. By its south-eastern
flank a small funerary
chapel was object of excavations with further work carried out on the south-eastern corner of the
platform. There, a large square-in-plan buttressed tower was brought to light. In 2010, work outside
the platform to the north revealed continuation of architectural structures beyond the platform`s
limits. Analysis of the unearthed architectural features demonstrated they were all built concurrently,
likely part of a cohesive building program that took place in the second half of the 9
th
century.
The presentation proposes to discuss the architectural features of the single buildings thus
far excavated, their chronology, organization and function. Emphasis will also be placed on
the significance of this discovery within the rather modest panorama of surviving 9
th
century
ecclesiastical buildings and monastic complexes in the city of Constantinople.
900
Illustrations:
Plan of the archaeological site at Küçükyalı (KYAP, 2011)
The archaeological
site seen from south, 2010 excavation season
(KYAP, 2010)