Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1 For information on the history of the in Vize: Bericht ber die Arbeiten im Jahr For the Life of St. Mary the Younger,
city, see E. Oberhummer, Bizye, RE 3.1 2003, 22. Aratrma Sonular Toplants see BHG 1164, AASS Novembris, 4 (Brussels,
(1897): 552; A. Th. Samothrakis, (Ankara, 2004), 2:3140 and Vizede 1925), 692705, as well as the English
, 2nd Ayasofya (Sleyman Paa Camii): 2004 Yl translation with introduction by A. Laiou
ed. (Athens, 1963), 104b106b; and ODB almalar Raporu, 23. Aratrma Sonular in Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints
1:29293. Additional information has Toplants (Ankara, 2005), 2:33750. Lives in English Translation, ed. A.-M.
been provided by V. Velkov, Die thrakische For early references to the city as Talbot, Byzantine Saints Lives in English
Stadt Bizye, in Studia in honorem Veselini a place of exile, see Socrates Scholasticus, Translation 1 (Washington, DC, 1996), 239
Beevliev (Sofia, 1978), 17481; J. Jurukova, Kirchengeschichte, ed. G. C. Hansen, GCS, 89, with further bibliographical references.
Griechisches Mnzwerk: Die Mnzprgung n.s., 1 (Berlin, 1995), 244; Sozomenus, For the presumed date of Marys death, see
von Bizye, Schriften zur Geschichte und Kirchengeschichte, ed. J. Bidez and G. C. T. Pratsch, Das Todesdatum der Maria (der
Kultur der Antike 18 (Berlin, 1981), 18. Hansen, GCS, n.s., 4 (Berlin, 1995), 25455. Jngeren) von Bizye (BHG 1164): 16. Februar
For a summary account, see F. A. Bauer For Maximos the Confessors exile in Bizye, 902, BZ 97 (2004): 56769.
and H. A. Klein, Die Hagia Sophia in Vize: see Scripta saeculi VII vitam Maximi 2 The Byzantine Church at Vize (Bizye)
Forschungsgeschichte Restaurierungen Confessoris illustrantia, ed. P. Allen and in Thrace and St. Mary the Younger, ZRVI 11
Neue Ergebnisse, Millennium 1 (2004): B. Neil, CCSG 39 (Turnhout, 1999), 49. (1968): 913.
40737, esp. 40710. On the church of See also P. Allen and B. Neil, Maximus the 3 Ibid., 13.
Hagia Sophia, see most recently idem, Confessor and His Companions: Documents
Die Hagia Sophia (Sleyman Paa Camii) from Exile (Oxford, 2002), 7273.
the architecture of Ayasofya to that of the domed basilicas of Arta
and Mistras and concluded that it likewise must have been built in the
thirteenth or fourteenth century.4 Since the publication of Mangos
and Eyices studies, scholars have remained divided over the question
of dating the church. While Eyices typological arguments have been
accepted by Nazan Yavuzolu and James Morganstern, other schol-
ars like Yldz tken, Robert Ousterhout, and Vincenzo Ruggieri
have followed Mangos lead and argued for a late eighth- or early
ninth-century date of the church.5 A more recent study by Ayegl
Kahramankaptan and zkan Erturul even argued for two distinct
building phases: one in the tenth century, still visible in the basilican
structure of the ground floor, and another in the thirteenth or four-
teenth century, in which the galleries and the dome were added.6
The apparent difficulties in establishing even an approximate date
for the construction of the church at Vize indicate not only the restric-
tions of comparative architectural analysis but also the limits of our
knowledge and understanding of the buildings physical makeup. Since
the structure has suffered dramatically from decades of neglect, van-
dalism, and a recent, heavy-handed restoration conducted under the
supervision of the Edirne Vakflar Blge Mdrl, a joint archaeo-
logical survey project has been established by the authors of this report
to examine thoroughly the buildings fabric and to document compre-
hensively the various architectural spolia scattered around the site. The
first fieldwork campaign at Vize, carried out during July and August of
2003, aimed at providing accurate plans for the ground and gallery levels
of the church as well as detailed longitudinal and transverse sections.7
In addition, a catalogue of architectural spoliasome incorporated in
the fabric of the present structure, some scattered inside and outside
the buildingwas compiled, fragments measured, photographed, and
4 Trakyada Bizans devrine ait eserler, AnatSt 39 (1989): 12149, esp. 138; Ruggieri, Yll 3 (1961): 1820, pl. 1, with an English
Belleten 33 (1969): 32558, esp. 33132. Byzantine Religious Architecture (582867): translation at 4749: Church of St.-Sophia
Eyice repeated his arguments in two later Its History and Structural Elements, OCA 237 (Sleyman Paa) at Vize. A somewhat
articles: Les monuments byzantins de la (Rome, 1991), 233; V. Ruggieri, Larchitettura more accurate plan for the ground floor
Thrace turque, CorsiRav 18 (1971): 293308, religiosa nellImpero Bizantino ( fine VIIX and gallery level of the church was provided
esp. 29397, and Ayasofyalar, Ayasofya secolo) (Messina, 1995), 13235. A somewhat by Semavi Eyice in 1969: Trakya, res. 4
Mzesi Yll 11 (1990): 117, esp. 1517, more cautious position is taken by H. and 5, repr. in his Monuments, fig. 1, and
with an English translation at 1837: The Buchwald, Lascarid Architecture, JB 28 Ayasofyalar, res. 9.
other Ayasofyas. (1979): 26196, esp. 296 n. 99, who nonethe-
5 Yavuzolu, Vizedeki Bizans eserleri less favors an early date.
(MA diss., stanbul niversitesi, 1975), 6 Vizeden tarih fkryor, Mozaik 1
1021; Morganstern, The Byzantine Church (1995): 1833, esp. 28 and 31.
at Dereaz and its Decoration, Istanbuler 7 Feridun Dirimtekin was the first to
Mitteilungen, Beiheft 29 (Tbingen, 1983), provide a rough ground plan and an eleva-
84 n. 254; Mango, Byzantine Architecture tion drawing (north faade) for the church.
(Milan, 1985); tken and Ousterhout, See F. Dirimtekin, Vizedeki Ayasofya
Notes on the Monuments of Turkish Thrace, Kilisesi (Sleyman Paa), Ayasofya Mzesi
8 See photographs below, esp. figs. 56. 9 The remains were partly uncovered on 10 On the fortifications of Vize, see Eyice,
The sites architectural spolia have previously the south, north, and east sides of the present Trakya, 33637, and Monuments, 299.
been mentioned only in passing. See most building during the Vakflar restoration. 11 See Mango, Byzantine Church, 12
recently tken and Ousterhout, Notes, The brick foundations of a large semicircular (n. 2 above); Eyice, Trakya, 327, and
138. Responsible for the cataloguing of archi- apse to the east were first described by Monuments, 293; tken and Ousterhout,
tectural spolia during the 2003 fieldwork tken and Ousterhout, who identified it as Notes, 138.
campaign were Roberta Casagrande, MA the eastern end of an early Christian church
(Columbia University, New York) and Dr. and suggested that the present building was
Kirstin Noreen (Louisiana State University, constructed on the site of its predecessor.
Baton Rouge). See tken and Ousterhout, Notes, 13839.
12 H. Delehaye, Saints de Thrace et de 16 Bizye was first captured by the 17 See Eyice, Ayasofyalar, 16 [36].
Msie, AB 31 (1912): 161300, esp. 19294. Ottomans in 1368 but later returned to Hadm Sleyman Paas foundation of
13 Notitiae episcopatuum ecclesiae Byzantine rule (probably in 1411). It was the mosque at Ferecik has been called
Constantinopolitanae, ed. J. Darrouzs (Paris, once again captured by the Ottomans in into question by E. H. Ayverdi, Osmanl
1981), 1.41; 2.44; 3.57; 4.42; 5.46; 6.42; 7.52; 1453. On the history of the conquest, see Mimarsinin ilk Devri (Istanbul, 1966), 201.
8.66; 11.86; 12.92; 14.73; 15.127; 16.84; 18.113. F. Babinger, Beitrge zur Frhgeschichte 18 This identification is first given by
For the bishops of Bizye, see R. Janin, Bizya, der Trkenherrschaft in Rumelien (Brnn G. Lampousiades, , Thrakika
in Dictionnaire dhistoire et de gographie MunichVienna, 1944), 54 and 60; M. T. 9 (1938): 65 and has been accepted by
ecclsiastiques (Paris, 1912), 9:4446. Gkbilgin, XVXVI asrlarda Edirne ve Paa Dirimtekin, Church of St. Sophia, 47
14 BHG 1164, AASS Novembris, 4 livas (Istanbul, 1952), 6; A. Bakalopulos, (n. 7 above); Ayverdi, Osmanl Mimarsinin,
(Brussels, 1925), 697, 699; Talbot, Holy Les limites de lempire byzantin depuis 201; Mango, Byzantine Church, 10; Eyice,
Women, 267, 272 (n. 1 above). S. Ioannidis, la fin du XVe sicle jusqu sa chute (1453), Ayasofyalar, 16 [36].
, BZ 55 (1962): 5665, esp. 59; Mango, 19 On the identification of Sleyman
33 (Athens, Byzantine Church, 10 with n. 5 (n. 2 above). Paa, see Mango, Byzantine Church, 10;
1954), 14 (written in 1886). See also N. On the transfer of the metropolitan see to and Eyice, Trakya, 327, and, Ayasofyalar,
Bapheidis, Mesembria, see F. Miklosich and I. Mller, 1516 [3536] (both n. 4 above).
, ser. 2, 19 (1954): Acta et diplomata Graeca medii aevi, vol. 1, 20 Ed. Z. Danman (Istanbul, 1970),
193212, at 198. Acta patriarchatus Constantinopolitani 1315 9:241.
15 Eyice, Ayasofyalar, 16 [35]. 1402 (Vienna, 1860), 500.
into the twentieth century. Its decline started only around 1912, when
its minaret was destroyed by Bulgarian troops during the First Balkan
War.21 In the decades that followed, the mosque seems to have slowly
fallen into disrepair, since the Vakflar Blge Mdrl considered its
restoration already in 1952/53.22 The plan, however, was never carried
out. About a decade later, the mosque ceased to function as a house of
worship for the community of Vize (fig. 2).23
Judging from photos taken by scholars during the 1960s and 70s,
the profanation of the mosque led to the buildings accelerated dete-
rioration, which came to a halt only in 1979, when the Edirne Vakflar
Blge Mdrl finally authorized the long-planned restoration
of the mosque.24 While well intentioned, this restoration campaign
21 The minaret can still be seen in the photograph published in 1913 by K. H. a congregation.
earliest published photographs of the korpil, Arkheologicheski bieliezhki ot 24 Documents and receipts pertaining
Ayasofya from 1890 and 1906. See A. K. P. Strandzha-planina, Izvestija na Blgarskoto to the restoration campaign are housed
Stamoules, Archeologiesko Druestvo 3 (1912/13): 241, in the archives of the Edirne Vakflar Blge
, fig. 139. Mdrl.
, ser. 2 (Athens, 1926), 3:62, fig. 1; 22 Eyice, Ayasofyalar, 17 [3637].
Lampousiades, , 65; R. M. 23 Eyice (ibid.) relates that in 1961
Dawkins, The Modern Carnival in Thrace the imam made his call for prayer standing
and the Cult of Dionysus, JHS 24 (1906), on a mound outside the church and then
193, fig. 2. It is no longer visible in the performed his prayers alone for lack of
25 There is no official written or photo- restoration show the extent of earth accumu-
graphic documentation of this campaign. lation, especially on the buildings south
The only information that exists concerning and east faade. See Mango, Byzantine
the Vakflar restoration is a letter dated 17 Church, figs. 1 and 2. The removal of earth
August 1987, of the restorer-architect Erol was accompanied by the building of large
etin, cited by tken and Ousterhout, retaining walls on the north, south, and east
Notes, 13839 (n. 5 above), as well as letters sides of the church. The excavated material
and receipts kept in the archives of the was moved to the area west of the church,
Edirne Vakflar Blge Mdrl. where it was piled up to create large mounds.
26 Photographs taken prior to the Vakflar
27 Prior to the Vakflar restoration the with white marble and raised to a slightly the marble floor panels were left dispersed
size of the windows was much reduced, higher level than the narthex, which was also in front of the church.
as can be seen in a photograph published paved with marble. Reused fragments of a 29 It is unknown if the nineteenth-
by Cyril Mango; ibid., fig. 1, and Mango, Byzantine opus sectile floor were found century wooden muezzins gallery on the
Byzantine Architecture, fig. 134 (n. 5 above). incorporated into the marble floor both in second floor of the narthex was removed
The decision to point up the joints between the nave and in the narthex. For a descrip- during the Vakflar restoration or if it
brick layers and stones seems to have been tion of the floor prior to its removal, see had collapsed earlier. Photographs taken
guided by the discovery of original fill in Dirimtekin, Church of St. Sophia, 4748 in the late 1960s show it dilapidated yet
the lower portions of the walls, since the (n. 7 above), and Mango, Byzantine Church, still largely intact. See Mango, Byzantine
restoration work mimics the original tech- 10, who assumes that the marble floor was Church, fig. 3; Eyice, Trakya, res. 2.
nique. Traces of the original fill can best raised during the Ottoman period. Drawings
be seen in the lower areas of the north and of the specimen of opus sectile fragments
east faades. found in Ayasofya have been published in
28 Before the Vakflar restoration the Eyice, Trakya, res. 105 (n. 4 above). When
nave and side aisles of the church were paved the restoration campaign was halted in 1983,
tions below the original Byzantine floor level inside the church. On
the exterior, for instance, numerous sculptural fragments of liturgical
furnishings seem to have been uncovered during the restoration cam-
paign.30 Some more lavishly decorated fragments were subsequently
brought to the archaeological museums in Edirne and Tekirda, where
they were rediscovered during the summer of 2004; the rest remained
scattered in front of the buildings western faade.31 They were prob-
ably taken into the narthex and piled up between the minaret and
the blocked southern entrance into the narthex in 1995, following
an architectural survey and cleaning campaign conducted by zkan
Erturul of Trakya niversitesi in Edirne.32 While the exact findspots
as well as the circumstances that led to the discovery of these spolia
remain unknown, other archaeological discoveries are more clearly
attributable to the Vakflar restoration, the most significant being the
30 Since they are not recorded by 138 (n. 5 above). 32 Two fragments of a parapet slab
Dirimtekin, Mango, and Eyice, it must be 31 The fragments in Edirne were identi- featuring a carved cross were first published
assumed that these architectural fragments fied on the basis of photographs found in in Kahramankaptan and Erturul, Vize, 29
were uncovered during the Vakflar restora- the archives of the Edirne Kurul; those (n. 6 above).
tion. They are first, but only briefly, men- in Tekirda, by the director of the museum
tioned by tken and Ousterhout, Notes, during a routine visit in June 2004.
33 See tken and Ousterhout, Notes, of the work is contained in a letter by the
13839 for a brief discussion of these remains. restorer-architect Erol etin. According
34 Not mentioned by tken and to this document, the bodily remains found
Ousterhout, the walls that extend westward during the restoration were reburied in front
presumably formed the foundations of the of the building. See tken and Ousterhout,
side aisle walls of the previous structure. Notes, 13839.
35 As mentioned above, the only record
36 See Ioannidis, , 14 [= Bapheidis, U. Weibrod, Hier liegt der Knecht Gottes: 39 A. Kahramankaptan and .
, 198 (both n. 14 above)]; see also Grber in byzantinischen Kirchen und ihr Erturul, Vize, 2829. Two fresco frag-
Mango, Byzantine Church, 10, n. 6. Dekor (11. bis 15. Jahrhundert), Mainzer ments allegedly found in the church during
37 The inscription reads: + / Verffentlichungen zur Byzantinistik 5 a recent restoration campaign by the Vakflar
[]/ [] / [] []/ (Wiesbaden, 2003). (see postscript) may be identified as the ones
(obverse) + /[] /[][] / 38 See tken and Ousterhout, described by Erturul. They are now kept in
[] /[] (reverse)Theotokos, Notes, 138; R. Ousterhout, Master Builders the Krklareli Museum.
help your servant Theodore, the patrikios of Byzantium (Princeton, 1999), 164, 210.
and quaestor Dekapolites. On Theodore The whereabouts of the seal are unknown,
Dekapolites, see ODB 3:2043 with further but a photograph of it has been published
references. On tombs in Byzantine churches by tken and Ousterhout, Notes, pl.
and their decoration, see most recently XXXIIIa.
0 5m
40 The data thus collected were verified out using Adobe Illustrator (version 10.0.3).
directly on-site with the program CAPLAN This work was directed by Ralph C.
(version 1.5), developed by Cremer Rosenbauer, MA (Universitt Bern).
Programmentwicklungs-GmbH, Munich
(www.cpentw.de), further processed with
AutoCAD (release 2002), and finally laid
42 A reinforcement of previously existing (1988), cited as being in press by tken define the size of the original windows. The
piers or columns has been assumed by Eyice, and Ousterhout, Notes, 142 n. 91, was not use of smaller, more irregularly placed stones
Trakya, 329; idem, Monuments, 275 accessible to us. in the upper fill seems to indicate that the
(both n. 4 above); Mango, Byzantine 43 The gallery chapel on the north now windows were closed over time rather than
Church, 9 n. 2. tken and Ousterhout, lacks its former five-sided apse. After all at once.
Notes, 142 suggested a late Byzantine date its presumed collapse, it was rebuilt with 45 The narrow window that once opened
for these reinforcements based on the piers, only a flat wall at its eastern end. Mango, in the eastern apse of the south gallery
which have a decorative technique that uses Byzantine Church, 10, assumes that the chapel is only faintly visible on the exterior,
incised lines to highlight the mortar fills rebuilding of the chapel took place during but largely preserved on the interior.
between bricks and stones. Y. tken, the Turkish period. 46 This has already been observed by
Bizans duvar tekniinde tektonik ve estetik 44 Brick arches on top and a continuous tken and Ousterhout, Notes, 139.
zmler, Rleve ve Restorasyon Dergisi row of ashlar blocks on the bottom clearly
47 For earlier references to the opus of the building with numerous other spolia. through an analysis of the spolia reused
sectile floor fragments, see Dirimtekin, They were probably removed from this area in the fabric of the present building
Church of St. Sophia, 47 (n. 7 above); and taken into the narthex for safekeeping the approximate dates of construction for
Eyice, Trakya, res. 105; Mango, Byzantine after the survey conducted by zkan the two churches.
Church, 10. After the Vakflar restoration, Erturul in 1995. 50 At its western end the south wall rises
the fragments were seen and summarily 49 It is hoped that the complete catalogue to a height of about 0.30 m and consists of
described by Kahramankaptan and Erturul, of architectural spolia found on the site two layers of ashlar blocks topped by a band
Vize, 32 (n. 6 above). as well as in local museums will not only of three to four bricks with wide mortarbeds.
48 tken and Ousterhout, Notes, 138, provide an inventory of liturgical furnishings The north wall consists of larger ashlar blocks
mention the fragment of an ambo along with associated with the present and previous and incorporates sections of worked bedrock.
an Ionic impost capital as lying to the west churches, but also help to narrow down
0 25 cm
18 21
19 22
51 Notes, 139, fig. 5. GmbH, Dresden (www.kubit.de). chapel has been discovered south of the
52 This work was conducted under the 54 This work was coordinated by Roberta church of Hagia Sophia during roadwork.
supervision of Ralph C. Rosenbauer, MA, Casagrande, MA, and Meredith Fluke (both While this structure has been partly exca-
and Auguste Waldmann, MA. of Columbia University). Very able support vated and its apse mosaic transported to
53 Theodolite: Leica TCR 1105 XR. was provided by Kristian L. Hansen the museum in Tekirda, it has remained
Camera: Nikon D 70. The software is an (Columbia University). unpublished.
AutoCAD plug-in developed by Kubit 55 A second, much smaller church or
on which the church of Hagia Sophia and its predecessor were built (fig.
25).56 An extension of the landscape model is planned for one of the
next fieldwork seasons as it will not only help to determine the spatial
relationship between the church of Hagia Sophia and a smaller church
or chapel to its south, discovered during roadwork, but also facilitate a
reconstruction of their exact location on the acropolis in relation to the
surviving system of walls and fortifications of the Byzantine city.
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt, Munich
The Cleveland Museum of Art