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View from the Marmara Sea
The Boukoleon Palace was built by Theophilos
(829-842) with a facade to the sea on top of the sea walls that had been
thickened in this region some decades before. The western part of this
facade survived until 1873 when it was demolished to give way for the
railway, the eastern part still stands upright. This reconstruction is
based on old drawings made before the destruction and the suggestions of
E. Mamboury published in 1934. About the back parts of the building
behind the facade and the railway nearly nothing is known.
The Boukoleon Palace formed the main living
quarter of the Great Palace between the 9th and 11th centuries. It was
inclosed into the new fortifications of the palace by Nikephoros Phokas
(963-969). Though the residence was shifted to the Blachernae palace
after 1081, the Boukoleon Palace was still in use later. It was still
inhabited by the latin emperors between 1204 and 1261, but given up
after the byzantine reconquest.
Detail of the Imperial Steps & Gate
Detail of the balcony
Lion statues,which these models are based
on, are in Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
Imperial Steps
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