Byzantine Churches in Constantinople Part 29

CHAPTER XVII

THE MONASTERY OF MANUEL, KEFELe MESJEDI

The mosque known as Kefele Mesjedi, in the quarter of Salma Tomruk, is commonly supposed to represent the monastery founded by Manuel,[429] a distinguished general in the wars with the Saracens during the reign of Theophilus (823-842). This opinion is doubtless based upon the circ.u.mstance that the monastery in question stood in the vicinity of the cistern of Aspar,[430] [Greek: synengys te kisterne tou Asparos] (the large open reservoir to the east of the Gate of Adrianople), near which Kefele Mesjedi is also situated. But that circ.u.mstance alone cannot be regarded as sufficient ground for the identification of the two buildings. There are at least five other monasteries mentioned in Byzantine history, all distinguished by the mark of their proximity to the cistern of Aspar.[431] And at a short distance to the west of Kefele Mesjedi, and nearer to the cistern of Aspar, we find the remains of an old church, now Odalar Mesjedi, which might with equal force claim to represent the monastery of Manuel. The commonly received identification may, however, be correct as a happy conjecture. Mr. Siderides,[432]

indeed, considers the identification of the monastery of Manuel with Kefele Mesjedi a mistake. According to him, that monastery was a reconstruction or enlargement of the ancient monastery of SS. Manuel, Sabel, and Ishmael, which stood on the heights above the Phanar, now crowned by the mosque of Sultan Selim. To the objection that there it would not be near the cistern of Aspar, Mr. Siderides replies by denying the correctness of the identification of that cistern with the open reservoir (Tchoukour Bostan) to the east of the gate of Adrianople, and in the vicinity of Kefele Mesjedi. In Mr. Siderides' opinion the cistern of Aspar is the beautiful covered cistern, generally known as the cistern of Puicheria, to the south-west of the mosque of Sultan Selim.[433] But the dimensions of the cistern ascribed to the famous sister of Theodosius II. do not accord with the size of the cistern of Aspar. The latter was 'a very large cistern,' [Greek: ten megisten kinsternan],[434] while the former is only m. 29.1 long by m. 18 wide, with a roof supported on four rows of seven columns[435]--not a large cistern as works of that cla.s.s went in Constantinople. But if the cistern of Aspar was not situated in the district now marked by the mosque of Sultan Selim, neither could the monastery of Manuel have been there. Mr. Siderides,[436] moreover, identifies the monastery of Manuel with that of Manoueliou [Greek: tou Manoueliou] which appears in the Proceedings of the Synod held at Constantinople in 536 under Justinian.[437] This, however, does not agree with the statement that the monastery of Manuel was originally the private residence of the well-known general of that name in the ninth century. Furthermore, it is always dangerous to a.s.sume that the same name could not belong to different buildings, especially when the name occurs at distant intervals in the history of the city. Many mistakes in the topography of Constantinople are due to this false method of identification. As a matter of fact, the monastery of Manuel near the cistern of Aspar was not the only House of that name in the capital of the East. Another monastery of Manuel stood beside the Golden Horn, in the Genoese quarter, between the gate of the Neorion (Bagtche Kapoussi) and the gate of Eugenius (Yali Kiosk Kapoussi). It had a pier, known as the pier of the venerable monastery of Manuel, [Greek: skala tes sebasmias mones tou Manouel].[438] Paspates is consequently wrong in a.s.sociating that pier with Kefele Mesjedi.[439]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXIV.

S. THEODORE. THE OUTER NARTHEX, LOOKING NORTH.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: S. THEODORE. CAPITAL TO THE NORTH OF THE DOOR LEADING FROM THE OUTER TO THE INNER NARTHEX.

_To face page 254._]

Mordtmann[440] accepts the identification of Kefele Mesjedi with the monastery of Manuel as correct, but he identifies it also with the church and monastery which Gerlach found in this neighbourhood, and describes under the name of Aetius ([Greek: tou Aetiou]).[441] When visited by Gerlach in 1573, the church had been converted into a mosque, and was a beautiful building in excellent preservation. If all that remains of it is the bare structure of Kefele Mesjedi, the city has to mourn a great loss.[442] (Plate LXXVII.)

Manuel, the founder of the monastery, was the uncle of the Empress Theodora, wife of the Emperor Theophilus, and proved a loyal and devoted servant of the imperial family. Twice at the peril of his own life he saved the emperor from capture, if not from death, during the wars with the Saracens. Nevertheless, being accused of treason he fled to the court of Baghdad and took service under the Caliph Mutasim, until a.s.sured that Constantinople would welcome him back.

He was one of the three counsellors appointed by Theophilus to a.s.sist Theodora during the minority of Michael III., and so highly was he esteemed, that he was acclaimed emperor by the populace in the Hippodrome, and might have worn the crown but for his fidelity to the little prince. Silencing the shouts raised in his favour, he exclaimed, 'You have an emperor; my duty and highest honour is to defend his infancy and to secure for him, even at the price of my blood, the heritage of his father.' In the iconoclastic controversy Manuel supported the policy of Theophilus, and therefore found himself in a difficult position when Theodora decided to restore the use of eikons.

The story is, that while he lay dangerously ill at the time, monks of the Studion a.s.sured him that recovery was certain if he vowed to uphold the orthodox cause. The vow was taken, and upon his restoration to health Manuel favoured the measures of Theodora. Probably he felt that the current of public feeling on the subject was too strong for him to oppose. But the task of working in harmony with his colleagues in the regency, Theoctistus and Bardas, was soon found impossible, and rumours of a plot to blind him and remove him from the administration of affairs led him to retire to his house near the cistern of Aspar. For some time, indeed, he continued to appear occasionally at the palace, but at last he quitted for ever that scene of intrigue, and converted his residence into a monastery, where he might spend the closing days of his life in peace and finally be laid in a quiet grave.[443]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXV.

S. THEODORE. THE INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: S. THEODORE. THE INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST (UPPER PART).

_To face page 256._]

The building which Manuel bequeathed was reconstructed almost from the foundations, a large and beautiful edifice, by the celebrated Patriarch Photius.[444] It underwent extensive restoration again at the command of the Emperor Roma.n.u.s Lecapenus (919-945),[445] in token of his friendship for Sergius, the abbot of the monastery, a nephew of Photius, and eventually an occupant of the patriarchal throne for twenty years (999-1019). In it the Emperor Roma.n.u.s Argyrus (1028-1034) confined Prussia.n.u.s, a relative of the Bulgarian royal family, on a charge of treason;[446] and there Michael VII., nicknamed Parapinakes (the peck-filcher), because he sold wheat at one-fourth of its proper weight, and then at an exorbitant price, ultimately retired after his deposition.[447] The connection of so many prominent persons with the monastery implies the importance of the House.

_Architectural Features_

Kefele Mesjedi is a large oblong hall, m. 22.6 long by m. 7.22 wide, with walls constructed in alternate courses of four bricks and four stones, and covered with a lofty timber roof. It terminates to the north in an arch and a semicircular apse in brick. Two niches, with a window between them, indent the walls of the apse, and there is a niche in each pier of the arch. The building is entered by a door situated in the middle of the western wall. Originally the eastern and western walls, which form the long sides of the building, were lighted by two ranges of round-headed windows, somewhat irregularly s.p.a.ced. The upper range is situated a little below the ceiling, and forms a sort of clearstory of ten lights; the lower range has five windows, except in the western wall, where the place of one window is occupied by the entrance. The southern wall is also lighted by two ranges of windows, the lower windows being much larger than the higher. At some time b.u.t.tresses were built against the eastern wall. Under the west side is a cistern, the roof of which rests on three columns. In view of all these features it is impossible to believe that the building was a church. Its orientation, the absence of lateral apses in a structure of such dimensions, the position of the entrance, are all incompatible with that character. We have here, undoubtedly, the refectory and not the sanctuary of the monastic establishment. It resembles the refectory of the Laura on Mt. Athos,[448] and that of Daphni near Athens. It recalls the 'long and lofty building,' adorned with pictures of saints, which formed the refectory of the Peribleptos at Psamathia.[449]

There is a tradition that the use of the building was granted at the conquest to the Armenian colony which was brought from Kaffa in 1475 to repeople the capital, Hence the Turkish name of the building.[450]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXVI.

THE REFECTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF MANUEL, FROM THE WEST.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE REFECTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF MANUEL, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.

_To face page 258._]

NOTE

As Gerlach's work is rare, the reader may wish to see his description of the church of Aetius in the original (_Tagebuch_, pp.

455-56):--Nicht weit hiervon [the church of S. John in Petra] ist eine sehr schone Kirche, [Greek: tes Aetiou], da vor Zeiten ein sehr gross und weites Closter gewesen seyn und viel Hauser der Lehrer und Lernenden in sich gehabt haben solle. Jetzt wird nichts mehr davon gesehen als das zerfallene Gemauer einer herrlichen Pforten und eine trockene Ziternen, darinnen die Juden die Seiden spinnen, zwirnen und bereiten (_serica nectunt fila_). Vor der Kirchen ist ein weiter Hoff, rings aber umb denselbe herumb ein bedeckter Gang (_porticus_), welcher mit schonen auff verguldten viereckichten glasern Taffeln kunstlich gemahlten Figuren auss dem Alten und Neuen Testament, und mit griechischen uberschrifften gezieret ist, aber alte Gesichter derselben aussgekratzet sind. Die Wande dieser Umbgange sind mit Marmel von allerhand Farben bekleidet. Hat auch 3 oder 4 hohe Crepidines oder Absatze mit der Propheten, Apostel und Christi Bildnussen von Gold. Der Hauss- oder vielmehr Bau- herr oder auch der Stiffter ([Greek: ho ktetor]), und sein Weib, sind da auch gemahlet in einem Habit, fast wie man heut zu Tage gehet, aber mit einer ganz fremden Hauptzierde (_capellitii genere_), cla.s.s man darauss abnehmen kan, er sey einer aus den vornehmsten Kayserlich Bedienten gewesen, dann diese Zierde siehet auss fast wie ein Hertzogs Bareht von Seiden and Beltzwerck, der Bund oder das Umgewundene (_cinctura_) von mancherley Farben, wie heut zu Tage die Juden und Armenier weiss und blau durcheinander tragen. Sein Weib hat einen Schleyer (_peplum_) fast wie die Griechinnen. Der bedecte Gang und die Kirche sind ein Gebau (_porticus muro etiam templi continetur_), und gehet man durch zwey hohe Pforten hinein, welche 4 Theil in sich begreifft, oder in 4 Theil abgetheilet ist. 1. der bedeckte (_Porticus_) Gang, dessen Wande mit Marmelstein biss auff die Helffte bekleidet sind. Der Obertheil, da die Schwibbogen (_Laquearia_) anheben, hat er wie auch die Schwibbogen selber die Gemahlde. In diesem Gang oder Halle (_porticu_) stehen die Weiber, und kommen nicht in die Kirchen hinein, wie auch in andere Kirchen nicht, als wann sie zum Abendmahl gehen. 2. ist die Kirche fur sich so mit Turckischen Deppichen (_aoreis_) beleget und hat nur ein Thor. Ist ein hohes Gewolb (_laquearia_) und wie auch die uberige 2 Gewolbe (_laquearia_) ganz verguldet und ubermahlet, und die Wande von unten an biss an die Schwibbogen mit dem schonsten Marmelstein bekleidet. Auss diesem gehet man 3. durch einen niedern Crepidinem in dem dritten Theil der Kirchen, da der Bauherr oder Stiffter mit andern sehr schonen Bildnussen mit Gold gemahlet stehen, mit einem etwas niedern als der vorige Schwibbogen (_laquearia_). Auss diesem gehet man in den 4ten gewolbten auch gemahlten aber etwas finstern und viel kleine Fenster in sich haltenden Ort. Aussen an der Kirchmauren stehet diese Schrift.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Monogram in Greek.]

Vor dem Vorhoff (_vestibulo_, [Greek: propilio]) dieser Kirchen [Greek: tes 'Aetiou] zeigte mir Theodosius den Ort, da der letzte Christliche Kayser Constantinus als er bey der Turckischen Eroberung der Stadt fliehen wollen, von Pferde gesturtzet, und tod gefunden seyn solle.

'Not far from here is a very beautiful church where there is said to have been in times past a very large monastery with many houses for teachers and scholars within its walls. Nothing of all that is to be seen now except the ruins of a splendid gate and a dry cistern in which the Jews spin, throw, and prepare silk. In front of the church there is a large court surrounded by a covered pa.s.sage (_porticus_), which is adorned with beautiful figures from the Old and New Testaments painted on gilded quadrangular gla.s.s cubes with Greek inscriptions; but the ancient faces of these (figures) are scratched out. The walls of this pa.s.sage are covered with marble of different colours. It has also three or four high crepidines[451] or vaulted compartments (?) with the pictures of the prophets, of the apostles, and of Christ in gold. The master of the house, or rather the builder, or perhaps the founder, [Greek: ho ktetor], and his wife are also painted there in a costume very much the same as is worn to-day, but with a very strange head-ornament, from which we may conclude that he was one of the most distinguished of the imperial staff, for this ornament looks almost like a duke's biretta of silk and fur; the belt (_cinctura_) is of different colours, such as nowadays the Jews or Armenians wear, white and blue mixed. His wife has a veil (_peplum_) almost like that which Greek women have. The covered pa.s.sage and the church form one building (_porticus muro etiam templi continetur_), entered by two high gates, and comprising four parts, or divided into four parts. 1. The covered pa.s.sage (_porticus_), the walls of which as far as half their height are covered with marble. On the upper part, where the arches begin, and on the arches themselves are the paintings. In this pa.s.sage or hall stand the women, and do not enter the church as they do not enter other churches, unless they go to the Lord's supper. 2. Is the church, as such, covered with Turkish rugs, and has only one gate.

It has a high dome, which, like the remaining two domes, is entirely gilded and painted, and the walls up to the arches are covered with the most beautiful marble. From this one enters 3. through a low vaulted compartment, with a somewhat lower arch than the foresaid arches, the third part of the church, where the founder with other very beautiful portraits (pictures) is painted in gold. From this one enters 4. a vaulted and also painted, but rather dark place, with many small windows. On the outside of the walls of the church there is this inscription[452]--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Monogram in Greek.]

In front of the porch, vestibulo, [Greek: propilio] of this church Theodosius showed me the place where the last Christian emperor Constantine, intending to flee at the Turkish conquest of the city, is said to have fallen from his horse and to have been found dead.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGS. 88 AND 89.]

[429] Scarlatus Byzantius, p. 369; Patr. Constantius, p. 81; Paspates, p. 304.

[430] Leo Gramm. pp. 218, 222.

[431] Siderides, in _Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of C.P._ vol.

xxviii. p. 265.

[432] _Ibid._ p. 263.

[433] _Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of C.P._, _ut supra_, p. 258.

[434] _Pasch. Chron._ p. 593.

[435] _Die byzantinischen Wa.s.serbehalter von Konstantinopel_, von Dr.

Forscheimer und Dr. Strzygowski, pp. 62-63, 175-176.

[436] _Ut supra._

[437] Mansi, viii. col. 990, col. 1054.

[438] Miklosich et Muller, pp. 28, 50, 53, 54.

[439] P. 305. On p. 163 he places the pier in its proper position.

[440] _Esq. top._ p. 76; Archaeological Supplement to vol. xviii. of the _Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of C.P._ p. 9.

[441] _Turkisches Tagebuch_, pp. 455-56; cf. Crusius, _Turcograecia_ p. 190.

[442] The question thus raised presents serious difficulties. That some building[A] in the neighbourhood of Kefele Mesjedi was known by the name of Aetius[B] is undoubted. It was a cistern (Du Cange, i. p.

96), and formed one of the landmarks by which the church of S. John in Petra, situated in this quarter of the city, was distinguished (Du Cange, iv. p. 152 [Greek: engista tou Aetiou]). But while that is the case, Gyllius (_De top. C.P._ iv.), who explored this part of the city in 1550, does not mention any Byzantine church that answers at all to Gerlach's description of the church of Aetius, unless it be the Chora.

That Gyllius should have overlooked so beautiful a monument of Byzantine days as the church of Aetius, if different from the Chora, is certainly very strange. But it is not less strange to find that Gerlach does not speak of the Chora. Can the difficulty thus presented be removed by the supposition that Gerlach refers to the Chora under the name of Aetius? The position he a.s.signs to the church of Aetius in relation to the church of S. John in Petra and to the palace of Constantine (Tekfour Serai) favours that view, for he places the church of Aetius between S. John and the palace, exactly where the Chora would stand in that series of buildings. Looking towards the north-west from the windows of a house a little to the east of the Pammakaristos, Gerlach says 'Ad Occasum, Boream versus, Prodromi [Greek: mone] est, olim [Greek: petra]; longius inde, Aetii [Greek: mone]; postea, Palatium Constantini' (_Turcograecia_, p. 190). On the other hand, Gerlach's description of the church of Aetius differs in so many particulars from what holds true of the Chora, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to believe that in that description he had the latter church in mind. Unless, then, we are prepared to admit grave mistakes in Gerlach's description, we must either a.s.sume an extraordinary failure on his part and on the part of Gyllius to notice a most interesting Byzantine monument, directly on the path of both explorers in this quarter of the city, or regret the disappearance of an ancient sanctuary that rivalled the Chora in splendour.

[A] It was probably the ruined cistern with twenty-four columns arranged in four rows of seven pillars each, near the mosque Ka.s.sim Aga, a short distance above Kefele Mesjedi. Gerlach a.s.sociates it with the church of Aetius.

[B] _Tagebuch_, pp. 455-56; cf. Crusius, _Turcograecia_, p.