Introduction
The Istanbul Rescue Archaeological Survey, co-directed by Dr Ken Dark
(The University of Reading) and Dr Ferudun Özgümüs (Istanbul
University), aims to record Byzantine and earlier material at risk
of damage or destruction in the western part of the area within the
walls of Byzantine Constantinople (see BBBS 25 1998, 26 1999, 28 2001,
29 2002). In 2003, the project focussed on many of the smaller districts
in this part of the city: Fatma Sultan, Arpaemini, Ördek Kasap,
Molla Seref, Murat Pasa, Inebey, Yali, Çakiraöa, Kürkçübasi,
Kasapilyas, Cerrahpasa and Nevbahar. This area has some of the largest
open spaces remaining inside the city walls, as it contains several
large modern hospitals with extensive grounds and the market gardens
and large commercial carparks around the former Langa Harbour.
The present land surface dips steeply south toward the sea in the area
immediately north of the level area of reclaimed land around the harbour,
so that the surroundings of Cerrahpasa Caddesi are much higher than the
coastal strip to its south. The area also contains part of the land walls
to the west and the sea walls and walls of the Byzantine Harbour of Theodosius
(the Langa Harbour) to the south.
Tunnelling for the second stage of ‘metro’ (underground
railway) system began in this part of the city in late 1998. The line
will run on approximately a diagonal route from Unkapani to Yenikapi,
over 5.2km, and include four stations. This involves the construction
of a 14m-wide tunnel up to 5m deep. In the course of this, marine clay
was found by Yenikapi station and on other sites within the Byzantine
harbour walls in the survey area, confirming the scale of the former
harbour.
Material recorded in 2003
Work in 2003 recorded Byzantine material from a series of sites across
the area, complementing investigation of adjacent areas in 1998 and
2002. The following summarises data from a few of the principal sites:
Kara Ahmet Camii
This Ottoman mosque was undergoing extensive restoration during 2003.
Earthmoving in the garden south of the building exposed two fragmentary
monolithic column capitals and sherds of Middle Byzantine Constantinopolitan
White Ware and Plain Glazed Ware, and Early Byzantine Phocaean Red
Slip Ware. These complement and provide a new context for the many
Byzantine columns re-used in the mosque and its courtyard. Together,
this evidence supports the view that these re-used columns may have
derived from a Byzantine structure on the site of the mosque.
Kürkçübasi Ahmed Semseddin Camii
Three granite and one marble Byzantine columns are re-used in the mosque’s
porch. These have what were once very fine white marble Corinthian capitals,
although they are somewhat eroded today. This is a very grand porch for
a small mosque and might hint at a Byzantine building in the neighbourhood,
although there is no further evidence to suggest that the columns were
acquired locally.
Cerrahpasa Camii
The porch of the mosque contains four Byzantine columns and two more
monolithic column shafts also lie in garden, where they have been recently
dug out of a 2m-deep construction trench along the north flank of the
structure. This suggests that the other columns here might have been
derived from the site of the mosque. Cerrahpasa Camii stands on a high
terrace, retained by Ottoman walling but conceivably Byzantine in origin – as
are many of the terraces in the west of the city. This could have afforded
impressive views south to the Marmara, although these are somewhat
obscured by modern structures.
The ‘Bulgar Palace’
The impressive brick late Ottoman-period mansion known as ‘the
Bulgar Palace’ is on a high terrace visible from most of the surrounding
district. Byzantine architectural fragments are built into its eastern
terrace wall by a lower level yard, and a c.4m diameter Byzantine-brick
built tubular well, with a cross-vaulted top, was recorded immediately
west of the Ottoman building. The present water level in the well is
c.8.5m below that of the terrace surface and the shaft clearly accesses
a local source, not a cistern. This structure may indicate significant
Byzantine activity on the terrace, and the location and scale of the
well perhaps imply an important complex.
The church of St Nicholas
The small modern church contains several re-used fragments of Byzantine
sculpture. These include a light grey marble sculpted human head 15cm
high, clearly part of a larger work, probably of Early Byzantine date
as it resembles the carving of fifth-century Byzantine sarcophagi from
the city. A light grey marble sculptured relief of The Good Shepherd
(again probably Early Byzantine) is built into a wall in the churchyard.
A white marble architectural fragment beside the present holy well is
similar to those at the church of Constantine Lips (Fenari Isa Camii).
In the chancel of the church there is also a white marble column bearing
an equal-armed cross and a white marble architectural fragment (decorated
with a cross flanked by doves) is set high in the southeast corner of
the church wall.
Colonnade on Atmaca sk
What seems to be a Byzantine colonnade was recorded on Atmaca sk., immediately
East of the 2003 ‘metro’ station construction site on Kucuk
Langa Caddesi. Local residents recall that this feature once consisted
of a line of at least three Byzantine monolithic columns, of which
only one in situ shaft and two stumps of similar material in the pavement
surface remain. These suggest that the colonnade would have been at
least 11.38m long and on a North East - South West alignment against
the south of a modern wall, which seems to preserve the line of the
Byzantine harbour wall. The harbour wall still stands along one side
of an adjacent schoolyard, showing that it ran north of the colonnade.
In an un-named lane immediately to the East of the column(s) there are
two separate stretches of Byzantine limestone and brick-banded masonry
wall, separated by a modern wall on same alignment. Combined, these would
comprise another extension of the harbour wall, showing that this turned
at an angle just north of the colonnade. A pair of monolithic Byzantine
column shafts (one with a sculpted capital) lying on the pavement by
this wall may be those from the other columns of the colonnade, or could
represent its continuation along this part of the harbour wall also.
Cerrahpasa Hospital
The hospital is situated near the sea and below a high terrace. A series
of Byzantine features was exposed in a recent terrace cutting north
of the hospital, on the side of a steep south-facing slope. These included
a brick-built, North-South, tunnel 70cm high x 1.5m wide and adjacent – but
highly fragmentary – Byzantine structural remains, perhaps of
a small tank or cistern. A vertical shaft fed into the tunnel, which
runs downhill toward the nearby Marmara. Given its size, form and slope,
the tunnel and shaft are probably drainage for the surface of the terrace.
A few sherds of Early Byzantine pottery (including a Phocaean Red Slip
Ware sherd and an amphora rim and handle) were found adjacent to the
channel. Further Byzantine material was recorded in the hospital grounds,
including three grey granite monolithic column shafts, two white marble
monolithic column shafts, a white marble column base, and two white
marble column capitals.
Istanbul University Hospital, Çapa
A fine, probably Middle Byzantine, white marble sarcophagus decorated
with relief Latin crosses on each face, was discovered during building
work behind the medical school crèche. A green-glazed base of
Constantinopolitan White Ware from the building works also hints at
Byzantine activity on, or near, the site.
A substructure at Yenikapi
A large Byzantine substructure was recorded on Kumsal sk., within 20m
of a modern Armenian church and beneath modern houses and shops. The
substructure is currently in use as a manufactory, and much of it is
filled with boxes and debris, rendering detailed recording extremely
difficult, but is of banded brick/light grey limestone and consists of
at least four chambers. Two are rectilinear rooms extending to the east
from a pair of smaller spaces, one containing a vertical shaft leading
both upwards and downwards, with an access hole into the room. The access
hole and the presence of doorways between the rooms suggest that the
substructure is unlikely to be a cistern. The precise East-West alignment
and the presence of a series of parallel long rooms might prompt interpretation
as the substructure of a church, although this is not the only option.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Culture at Ankara for
permission to carry out the survey and the relevant authorities for
permission to visit their buildings and property. Special thanks are
also due to our government representative Ms Neslihan Güderi for
her support and encouragement, and to the museums of Istanbul for their
assistance. Further thanks are due to the sponsoring bodies, especially
the Late Antiquity Research Group, The British Museum and Istanbul
University. In particular, the contribution by Dr Anthea Harris in
2003 has been invaluable, and special thanks are also due to Dr Chris
Entwistle at The British Museum. Thanks, too, to the Istanbul Guild
of Tourist Guides for their continued support. Finally, Ken Dark would
like to thank the Turkish Embassy and Consulate in London for their
special help in 2003.
Further information and contact details
A more detailed preliminary account of the 2003 season is available for £8.00
(UK postage included) from Ken.Dark (email: K.R.Dark@reading.ac.uk),
to whom any enquiries regarding the project may also be sent. A detailed
monograph reporting the results of the entire project is nearing completion.
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