The ruins of Church of St. Polyeuctus were found during the construction of a road near the Valens Aqueduct in the 1960s. Although only ruins remain from the church, it is very important in terms of shedding light on an important period in Byzantine history.
The church was built by Anicia Juliana, daughter of Olybrius, a former Western Roman emperor. The church, which was the most magnificent structure of Constantinople in the years it was built, was dedicated to a Christian martyr named Saint Polyeuktos.
History of The Church of St. Polyeuctus
In order to talk about the history of the Church of St. Polyeuctus, it is necessary to take a short journey into the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. Because the church was built as a result of a political conflict between the Roman aristocrats and the future great emperor Justinian.
To tell the story properly, we will need to rewind a bit. We will briefly talk about the 4th and 5th centuries, when the center of power of the Roman Empire shifted to the east. Let’s start our article with the hope that you will enjoy reading it.
1. The New Capital Constantinople
After Constantinople became the new capital, many things changed in the Roman Empire. The most important of these was the Hellenization of the Latin cult in Eastern Rome, but this is beyond our scope as it was a process that would take centuries.
The most rapid change after Emperor Constantine (Constantine), who paved the way for Christianity to spread to the masses in Rome, was the increasing importance of Christianity in Roman administration.
2. Rise of the Christianity in the State
The bishops, whose powers were determined by the decisions taken in the Council of Nicaea, began to overshadow the authority of the Roman emperors. We see that Theodosius I (379-395), who reigned about 50 years after the Emperor Constantine, kneel before Saint Ambrose (Archbishop of Milan) for his sins.
In the period of Leo I (457-474), the tradition of raising the new emperor on the shields of the soldiers had ended. Instead, the Patriarch of Constantinople began crowning the emperors.
Constantine, Theodosius and Leo were the emperors who accelerated Rome’s transition from Paganism to Christianity. For this reason, they were called “Great” by the Church.
However, after moving to the new capital Constantinople, religious beliefs were not the only thing that changed. The rule of choosing Emperors only among Romans ended. The end of this tradition with the crowning of Emperor Zeno was the result of the rise of barbarian soldiers in the Roman army.
3. Rise of Barbarian Soldiers in the Army
For example, General Aspar, who was the “Chief of Staff” at the time, played a major role in the accession of Emperor Leo I to the throne. Soldiers of barbarian origin had now reached the highest levels in the army and were directing policy.
If it had been possible, Aspar would have wanted to ascend to the throne himself. However, at that time, it was still not accepted for barbarians to ascend to the throne. However, this rule would change only a generation later.
An Isaurian general who married the daughter of Emperor Leo changed his name to Zeno. This paved the way for the first emperor of barbarian origin to ascend to the throne.
Zeno, who reigned between 474 and 491, was never accepted by the Roman aristocracy and the people. Therefore, it was expected that the next emperor would be identical with the traditional values of Rome.
In other words, according to the people’s wishes, the next emperor had to be someone who had both an “Orthodox” Christian belief, as in the decisions made by the Council of Nicaea, and also a true “Roman”.
The people demonstrated their will in arenas such as the Hippodrome of Constantinople and shouted to the empress, “Give us an Orthodox emperor, give us a Roman emperor!” (Byzantium: The Early Centuries by John Julius Norwich).
4. Reign of Emperor Anastasius I
After Zeno’s death, the person his wife Empress Ariadne would marry would become the new emperor of Rome. She married the 60-year-old charismatic bureaucrat Anastasius.
In this way, both the people and the senate were pleased. Anastasius, a successful and noble bureaucrat, ruled successfully between 491 and 518.
However, when Emperor Anastasius died, there was no heir to take the throne. Since the empress was no longer alive, the army would have to choose who would ascend to the throne.
In such an environment, the name of Justin, the commander of the palace guards, was put forward. Justin, who ascended to the throne with tens of thousands shouting his name in the Hippodrome, was Roman and Orthodox, but he could not even read and write!
5. Reign of Emperor Justin I
The Roman senate and aristocrats had a reason to complain again. Because the new emperor was a peasant who had emigrated from Thrace in his youth! However, no matter how uneducated he was, Justin was not a simple person.
He had come to Constantinople as an ordinary person, and had managed to rise to the level of commander of the palace guards. He was an excellent soldier and was highly respected by the army.
While the Roman aristocracy in the capital waited for Justin to fail, it became clear how far-sighted the new emperor was. Because while Justin was still a high-ranking officer, he had brought his nephew named “Petrus Sabbatius” from his village in Thrace and ensured that he received an excellent education in Constantinople.
Emperor Justin of course knew that he was not equipped to properly manage state affairs. For this reason, he had his nephew Peter elected as “Consul” and handed over bureaucratic duties to him.
Peter, an excellent statesman, was later made co-emperor with the title of “Caesar” and it was certain that he would be the next ruler. At this time, he changed his name to “Justinianus”.
6. Daughter of Olybrius, Anicia Juliana
Anicia Juliana, whose father Olybrius had briefly served as the Western Roman Emperor, was one of the most established members of the Roman court.
When Anicia’s son “Olybrius the Younger” married the nephew of Emperor Anastasius, she believed that he would be the next emperor after the elder Anastasius.
However, Anastasius had not chosen a successor as “Caesar” before his death. Anicia Juliana was disappointed when Justin, the commander of the palace guard, had hastily ascended to the throne.
Since Justin was not young either, Anicia still believed that someone from her own family could ascend to the throne in the future. However, Anicia’s dreams were dashed when Justin’s young nephew “Petrus” was declared the successor under the name “Justinianus.”
Realizing that she had no claim to the Roman throne, Anicia Juliana decided to show a symbolic reaction. She would spend her family’s great fortune on building a magnificent church and demonstrate the superiority of the Roman aristocracy.
Thus, she set out to build the most beautiful church in Constantinople. It would be named St Polyeuctus Church, after Polyeuktos (his Greek name), one of the early Christian martyrs.
7. Justinian and Theodora’s Church
This move by Anicia Juliana was a clear challenge to Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. It was known that Anicia hated Theodora as much as Justinian.
Theodora, the daughter of an official working in the Hippodrome, had become famous as a dancer before marrying Justinian. However, immediately after she rose to the palace, she proved that she had a strong character to become empress.
Justinian, who became emperor after the death of his predecessor Justin, declared his wife Theodora as co-ruler with the title of “Augusta”. Thus, they would rule the empire together.
As if that were not enough, they also built a church that rivaled Anicia Juliana’s Church of St. Polyeuctus. And they even chose its name, like Anicia Juliana did, after Christian martyrs.
This new church, dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus, two Roman soldiers martyred for their faith near Syria, was called the Church of Sergius and Bacchus.
This church, which was converted into a mosque during the Ottoman period, is known as the Little Hagia Sophia Mosque due to its resemblance to Hagia Sophia and has survived to this day.
Architecture of the Church of St Polyeuctus
The 6th century, when St Polyeuctus Church was built, marked a major change in Roman architecture. First, the central domed St Polyeuctus Church of Anicia Juliana was built, followed immediately by the octagonal domed Sergius and Bacchus Church of Justinian.
While all Roman churches built since the time of Emperor Constantine had a basilica plan, these two churches were the harbingers of a major change. Basilicas, which were essentially pagan Roman structures and inspired all early churches, were rectangular structures with three naves.
Basilicas, which were used for meetings and courts in Roman history, were converted into churches during the Constantine period. Basilica-plan churches left their mark on the first 200 years of Christianity. However, it was time for a major change.
The first example of this change, St Polyeuctus Church, had a central dome while preserving the three-nave structure. The dome rising above the central nave was placed on the thick walls separating the main space from the side naves. The structure had two half domes extending between the entrance and the apse, as in the Hagia Sophia, which was built later.
On the other hand, the Church of Sergius and Bacchus, built as a response to the arrogance of the aristocracy, brought a new perspective to church architecture with its octagonal dome inside a square structure.
The Church of St. Polyeuctus, built between 524 and 527, and the Church of Sergius and Bacchus, built between 527 and 536, paved the way for a new era. Thanks to the new dome plans developed by the two churches, Hagia Sophia, the most magnificent structure of the Byzantine Empire, was later built.
The thing that did the most damage to the historical heritage of Constantinople was the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. Crusader armies setting out from Europe plundered the capital Constantinople. During this looting, the columns of the Church of St Polyeuctus were also stolen.
The Church of St Polyeuctus, the most richly decorated church of its time, had structural elements decorated with exquisite figures on every inch. Some of the church’s pieces were stolen and taken to Italy, where they are now in the courtyard of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
I made the image above with ChatGPT’s image-generating AI engine DALL-E. After giving ChatGPT the information I had about the architecture of the Church of St Polyeuctus, this is the result (it seems to work, although it has its flaws).
Anicia Juliana’s Legacy
The Church of St. Polyeuctus was one of the groundbreaking structures in Eastern Roman architecture. Although centuries have passed since its destruction, it is still remembered as one of the most important Byzantine churches in Istanbul.
The fact that two of the most powerful women in Byzantine history, Empress Theodora and Anicia Juliana, lived in the same century led to the emergence of two important historical structures that enriched the history of Istanbul.
The Church of St. Polyeuctus also inspired the architecture of today’s Hagia Irene Church. Hagia Irene was destroyed during an earthquake in the 8th century and rebuilt with a simple architecture during the reign of the Iconoclast emperors.
Located in the first courtyard of Topkapi Palace today, Hagia Irene is the structure that most resembles the famous St. Polyeuctus Church of the past. For this reason, I have attached a recent photo of Hagia Irene above for reference.
Conclusion
The ruins of the St. Polyeuctus Church are currently located in the Fatih district, very close to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. As far as I know, the Istanbul Municipality archaeology team is conducting an excavation at the site of the church ruins.
Thanks to these studies, we may have new information about the history and architecture of the St. Polyeuctus Church in the coming years. Of course, I will be updating this article according to new developments.
If you are interested in the history of Istanbul, you can find many articles on this site’s blog page. For example, if you are interested in Byzantine artifacts in Istanbul, you can also read my related article at this address.
The Church of St. Polyeuctus by Serhat Engul
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