Blachernae ( gkm, Βλαχέρναι) was a suburb in the northwestern section of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, the capital city of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. It is the site of a

water source Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the great Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (''Panagia Blacherniotissa''), built by Empress

Pulcheria Aelia Pulcheria (; grc-gre, Πουλχερία; 19 January 398 or 399 – July 453) was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother emperor Theodosius II during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to he ...

in c. 450, expanded by Emperor

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

(r. 457–474) and renovated by Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

(r. 527–565) in the 6th century..

Etymology

The

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

philologist Ilie Gherghel wrote a study about Blachernae and concluded that it possibly derived from the name of a

Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

(sometimes written as Blach or Blasi), who came to Constantinople from the lower Danube, a region named today

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

. Gherghel compared data from old historians like

Genesios Genesius ( el, Γενέσιος, ''Genesios'') is the conventional name given to the anonymous Byzantine author of Armenian origin of the tenth century chronicle, ''On the reign of the emperors''. His first name is sometimes given as Joseph, combini ...

and from the Greek lexicon ''

Suidas The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'' and mentioned the existence of a small colony of Vlachs in the area of today Blachernae. Similar opinions were sustained by Lisseanu. The name Blachernae appeared in a work of

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking u ...

in connection with a revolt of Flavius Vitalianus against Emperor Anastasius I in 513. According to Ilie Gherghel, the word vlach became known in the Germanic and Slavic world through the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

that came in contact with the

. The byzantine origin of the word vlach is supported by the historian Stelian Brezeanu who considers that one of the first accounts about Romanians south of the Danube, referred to by the name ''vlachorynchini'' (the vlachs near the Rynchos river), is present in a historical account about the Kastamonitou Monastery which was written in the 17th century but based on a 9th century byzantine source.

Byzantine era

The quarter is recorded as ''regio XIV'' in the early 5th-century ''

Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae The ''Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae'' is an ancient "regionary", i.e., a list of monuments, public buildings and civil officials in Constantinople during the mid-5th century (between 425 and the 440s), during the reign of the emperor Theodosi ...

'', where it is recorded as being enclosed by a wall of its own.. The quarter was connected to the city proper at the construction of the

Theodosian Walls The Walls of Constantinople ( el, Τείχη της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey) since its founding as the ...

, but the Church of St. Mary remained outside of the walls until 627, when Emperor

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...

(r. 610–641) built another wall to enclose it. By that time, the church had become the major Marian shrine of the city, and the second-most important church in Constantinople after

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

, if only because the emperors' residence was nearby. In 1347, Emperor

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under An ...

(r. 1347–1354) was crowned there, instead of at Hagia Sophia. South of the church and situated on the city's Seventh Hill stood the imperial Palace of Blachernae, which was first erected in c. 500. During the

Komnenian period The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...

, it became the favourite imperial residence, eclipsing the older

Great Palace of Constantinople The Great Palace of Constantinople ( el, Μέγα Παλάτιον, ''Méga Palátion''; Latin: ''Palatium Magnum''), also known as the Sacred Palace ( el, Ἱερὸν Παλάτιον, ''Hieròn Palátion''; Latin: ''Sacrum Palatium''), was th ...

on the eastern end of the city. Although the

Latin emperors The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261 ...

returned to the Bucoleon Palace, the

Palaiologos The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...

emperors of the restored

again used the Blachernae Palace as their main residence. The Palace of the Porphyrogenitus ( tr, Tekfur Sarayı) and the so-called Prison of Anemas are the main surviving structures of the Palace of Blachernae, which was a complex of multiple buildings. Following the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...

to the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in May 1453, the Sultan's residence was moved to

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...

on the site of the ancient

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

of Byzantium, opposite to the original site of the Great Palace, which had by this time fallen into complete ruin, and the Blachernae area (with the exception of the Palace of Porphyrogenitus) fell into disuse. During the

Byzantine Papacy The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the Roman papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the '' apocrisiarii'' (liaisons ...

, the portion of the Aventine overlooking the Greek quarter of Rome became known as the ''ad Balcernas'' or ''Blachernas''.Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752'', page 42. Lexington Books.

Today

The historic Blachernae area is in the present-day

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

quarter known as

Ayvansaray Ayvansaray is a picturesque neighbourhood on the Golden Horn in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey, between Balat and Eyüp. It lies inside what was the walled city on Constantinople and later of İstanbul and corresponds to the old quarter ...

. The sacred spring, associated with the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, can still be visited today; in Turkish it is named ''Ayazma'', a name derived from the Greek term ''hagiasma'' (Greek: ), meaning "holy water".

Gallery

Image:Vlahernskaya.jpg, ''Our Lady of Blachernae'', an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

from the church of the Blachernae. File:Byzantine Constantinople-en.png, Byzantine-era Constantinople. File:Emperor Theophilus visits St Mary of Blachernae.jpg, Byzantine emperor

Theophilus Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...

(r. 829–842), on horseback, visits the Church of St. Mary in the Constantinopolitan suburb of Blachernae.

References

Sources

* *

External links

I. Gherghel on etymology

Church of Panagia of Blachernae
{{Authority control Quarters and suburbs of Constantinople Populated places in ancient Thrace Former populated places in Turkey