Philadelphion (Philadelphia, Philadelphia; Greek: Φιλαδέλφιον ) is one of the most important city squares of the Byzantine era of Constantinople (now Istanbul ). Through it annually passed the imperial ceremonial processions. Here was the Capitol, which at one time served as a higher educational institution, and the facade of one of the buildings was decorated with the famous sculpture " Four Tetrarchs ".
Content
History and Description
Philadelphion Square (not a forum) was located on the main street of the city of Mesa , and it is claimed that it was here that the road diverged in two directions - the main highway went west to the Golden Gate; the other part of Mesa went northwest to the Adrianople Gate [1] . However, according to other sources, the fork was a little to the east - on the forum of Theodosius [2] . Here it is necessary to take into account the fact that throughout its history Constantinople was repeatedly rebuilt, and therefore the city plan often changed [3] .
The Capitol building, built under Constantine the Great (pr. 306–337), was located on the square, where pagan temples and sanctuaries of various gods were preserved until the end of the 4th century . In 425, the Capitol was transformed into a higher education academy [4] . It taught rhetoric, Greek and Latin grammar, philosophy and law; The teaching staff included about 27 teachers [1] . Tavernas located in nearby exedra (niches) were closed. From this moment on, the Capitol is very few mentioned. Probably, later it fell into decay and stood in ruins for most of the existence of Byzantium [4] .
Before the entrance to the square (on the eastern side) there was a 14-meter porphyry column, built in 393 by Emperor Theodosius (pr. 379–395). With him, a Latin inscription was applied to the column, and at the end of the 5th century, by order of the eunuch Muselia, it was supplemented with an inscription in Greek [1] . The column was crowned with a cross that fell down during a thunderstorm in 407 [4] . The wreckage of a once-destroyed column was found in the 1930s near the Laleli mosque [4] . Today they are in different places: one stands in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia , the other (4 m) in the courtyard of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum , and the top of the column was used in the construction of the pavilion in the Topkapi Palace [1] .
The portico in front of the main entrance to the square rested on huge columns of porphyry, whose exact amount is unknown. Perhaps some of them were originally part of the palace of the emperor Diocletian (pr. 284-305) in Nicomedia [4] .
On top of the two columns at the entrance was a pair of porphyry statues [comm. 1] , depicting men of a severe form, clutching two friends in an embrace, - " Four tetrarchs " [4] . Who exactly is depicted on them is still not clear: it may be the co-emperors of the period of the tetrarchy or the heirs of Constantine the Great. The latest version gave the name of the square itself - Philadelphion ("Brotherhood") [1] . During the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the statue of the tetrarchs was torn from the columns, taken to Venice and mounted in the facade of St. Mark's Cathedral . In a hurry, the Venetians broke away from the statue the right foot of one of the tetrarchs; this fragment was found during excavations near the Mireleion Palace in the 1960s [5] and is now in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul [1] .
Russian pilgrims who visited Byzantine Constantinople also mentioned the other two statues, also from porphyry. They portrayed two men seated on thrones, probably the emperor Constantine and his father Constance Chlorus . The Crusaders tried to take the sculptures with them, but only damaged them and abandoned [4] .
The area remained intact until the VIII century . Perhaps she suffered during the 740 earthquake.
See also
- Four tetrarchs
Comments
- ↑ According to another version, the sculptures served as consoles located at the entrance of the column.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ivanov S.A., 2011, p. 270—271
- ↑ Petrosyan and Yusupov, 1977, p. 43–45
- ↑ Necipoglu, 2001, p. 31
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 CAPITOLIUM and PHILADELPHION
- ↑ Striker, 1981, p. 29th
Literature
- Petrosyan Yu.A., Yusupov A.R. City on two continents. - M .: Science. Ch. ed. east lit. 1977.
- Ivanov S. A. In Search of Constantinople. A guide to Byzantine Istanbul and the surrounding area. - M .: Around the World, 2011. - ISBN 978-5-98652-382-8
- Necipoglu Nevra Byzantine Constantinople: Monuments, Topography and Everyday Life. - Leiden: Koninklijke, 2001. (English)
- Striker Cecil L. The Myrelaion (Bodrum Camii) in Istanbul. - Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1981.
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has Philadelphion- related media files