History
When Constantine I moved the Roman capital to Constantinople in 330, he planned out a palace for himself and his heirs. The palace was located between the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia. It was rebuilt and expanded several times during its history. Much of the complex was destroyed during the Nika riots of 532 and was rebuilt lavishly by the emperor Justinian I. Further extensions and alterations were commissioned by Justinian II and Basileos I. However, it had fallen into disrepair by the time of Constantine VII, who ordered its renovation. From the early 11th century onwards the Byzantine emperors favoured the palace of Blachernae as an imperial residence, though they continued to use the Great Palace as the primary administrative and ceremonial centre of the city. It declined substantially during the following century when parts of the complex were demolished or filled with rubble. During the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, the Palace was plundered by the soldiers of Boniface of Montferrat. Although the subsequent Latin emperors continued to use the Palace complex, they lacked money for its maintenance. The last Latin emperor, Baldwin II, went as far as removing the lead roofs of the Palace and selling them?
Consequently, when the city was retaken by the forces of Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261, the Great Palace was in a bad state. The Palaeologus emperors largely abandoned it, ruling from Blachernae and using the vaults as a prison. When Mehmed II entered the city in 1453, he found the palace ruined and abandoned. As he wandered its empty halls and pavilions, he allegedly whispered a quote from the Persian poet, Ferdowsi:
The spider spins his web in the Palace of the Caesars,An owl hoots in the towers of Afrasiyab. — Ferdowsi
Much of the palace was demolished in the general rebuilding of Constantinople in the early years of the Ottoman era. The area was initially turned into housing with a number of small mosques before Sultan Ahmet I demolished the remnants of the Daphne and Kathisma Palaces to build the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and its adjoining buildings. The site of the Great Palace began to be investigated in the late 19th century and an early 20th century fire uncovered a section of the Great Palace. On this site prison cells, many large rooms, and possibly tombs were found.
Initial excavations were carried out by French archaeologists at the Palace of Manganae between 1921-23. A much larger excavation was carried out by the University of St Andrews in 1935-38 and again from 1951-54, which uncovered a section of one of the south-western buildings at the Arasta Bazaar. The archaeologists discovered a spectacular series of wall and floor mosaics which have been conserved in the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. Excavations are continuing elsewhere, but so far, less than one quarter of the total area covered by the palace has been excavated; total excavation is not presently feasible as most of the palace currently lies underneath the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and other Ottoman-era buildings.
Read more about this topic: Great Palace Of Constantinople
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