The Palace of Blachernæ. Τὸ ἐν Βλαχέρναις Βασίλειον, Παλάτιον.

Until the site of the Palace of Blachernæ is excavated, little can be added to the information which Du Cange [494] and Paspates [495] have collected respecting that Imperial residence, from the statements made on the subject by writers during the Byzantine period. If the quarter of Egri Kapou, on the western spur of the Sixth Hill, was included in the Fourteenth Region of the city, the Palace of Blachernæ appears first as the palace which, according to the Notitia, adorned that Region. [496] In the reign of Anastasius I. the residence was enlarged by the addition of the Triclinus Anastasiacus (Τρίκλινος Ἀναστασιακὸς), [497] and in the tenth century [498] it boasted, moreover, of the Triclinus of the Holy Shrine (Τρίκλινος τῆς ἁγίας σοροῦ), named so in honour of the shrine in which the robe and mantle of the Theotokos were kept in the Church of Blachernæ; the Triclinus Danubius (Τρίκλινος Δανουβιὸς); and the Portico Josephiacus (τὸν Πόρτικα Ἰωσηφιακὸν). Under Alexius I. Comnenus it was frequently occupied by the Court, and there the emperor received the leaders of the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit, Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemond, and others. [499] By Manuel Comnenus it was repaired and embellished [500] to an extent which obtained for it the name of the New Palace, [501] and it was one of the sights of the capital with which he entertained Amaury, King of Jerusalem. [502] The lofty building named after the Empress Irene, [503] and, probably, the Domus Polytimos, [504] were the work of Manuel Comnenus. He also increased, as we have seen, the security of the palace by the erection of new bulwarks; to which Isaac Angelus added a tower. [505] In 1203 the palace was the scene of the negotiations between the latter emperor and the envoys of Baldwin of Flanders and Henrico Dandolo, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade. [506] In 1204, upon the capture of the city by the Crusaders, it surrendered to Henry, the brother of Baldwin, [507] but the Latin emperors seem to have preferred the Palace of the Bucoleon for their residence.

General View of the Wall of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus.

General View of the Wall of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus.

Baldwin II., however, resided in the Palace of Blachernæ, and left it in such a filthy condition that when taken possession of by the Greeks in 1261, Michael Palæologus could not occupy it until it had been thoroughly cleaned and renovated. [508] It was the usual residence of the Byzantine Court during the period of the Palæologi, [509] and from this palace the last emperor who sat upon the throne of Constantinople went forth to die “in the winding-sheet of his empire.” [510] All descriptions of the palace agree in representing it as of extraordinary splendour. [511] Foreign visitors could not find words in which to give an idea of its magnificence and wealth. According to them, its exterior appearance was incomparable in beauty, while within it was decorated with gold, and mosaics, and colours, and marbles, and columns, and jewels, at a cost hard to estimate, and with a skill that could be found nowhere else in the world. [512]

The hill on which the palace stood was partly artificial, to furnish a suitable platform or terrace for the group of buildings which composed the residence, and to afford wide views over the harbour, the city, and the country beyond the walls—“triplicem habitantibus jucunditatem offerens,” as Odo de Dogilo aptly remarks, “mare, campus, urbemque, alterius despicit.” The palace derived much of its importance from its proximity to the venerated shrine of the Theotokos of Blachernæ. And the ease with which the country could be reached from it, to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, must not be overlooked in explaining the favour with which the palace was regarded. [513] It should be added that the palace stood within the fortified enclosure [514] around the western spur of the Sixth Hill, the Castelion of Blachernæ (Τὸ ἐν Βλαχέρναις φρούριον, μέρος καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ περὶ τὰ βασίλεια φρουρίου ὂν Καστέλιον προσαγορευόμενον). [515]

Plan of the So-Called Prison of Anemas.

Plan of the So-Called Prison of Anemas.