Search Results

This chapter assesses the consequences of the civil war for religious institutions, communities and structures such as churches, cathedrals, monasteries and bishops’ palaces. The war crimes against churches catalogued by horrified chroniclers and borne out to some extent in the archaeological evidence affected modest numbers of sites in specific geographical zones. Archaeological investigation has revealed very real evidence for the militarisation of ecclesiastical sites, although in many contexts documentary evidence for the apparent transformation of a church into a fortification suggests that the building was garrisoned rather than being converted into something physically resembling a castle. The civil war also had a series of much longer-lasting impacts on the ecclesiastical world in terms of creating the social and tenurial conditions and a spiritual environment where religious patronage became increasingly politicised and where lower-ranked members within the elite had the means and motivation to establish monasteries, which swelled in numbers as never before.

The city of Olympos, an ancient harbor city on the south coast of Lycia and a member of the Lycian League, enjoyed a period of prosperity in the fifth to sixth centuries AD. Christianity arrived relatively early there, and the city was home of significant ecclesiastical figures. Practically all standing remains appear to date back from that period, although some incorporate older ancient structures. Principal structures include the so-called Harbor Basilica, Episcopal Palace, and Mosaic Building. The last datable finds are from the seventh century. After the seventh century AD the city was largely abandoned probably due to Arab raids.

During the early Byzantine period the topography of Priene remained much the same as in Roman times. In the late seventh century Priene was then relocated to a more defensible position on the acropolis and thereby reduced to approximately one-third of its former size. The ancient city had now become a Byzantine fortress. In the tenth century Priene is known to have housed a large garrison, Mount Mycale in the hinterland of the city had become a monastic center, and large and wealthy estates are also attested in the region. In the late eleventh or the twelfth century the lower city of Priene was repopulated and refortified, and the Byzantine settlement covered about the same area as ancient Priene. It served as capital city of the episkepsis Sampson, a new administrative unit that was presided by influential members of the Byzantine aristocracy.

Early Byzantine Aphrodisias was characterized by urban continuity. The most noticeable change was the conversion of the temple of Aphrodite into a large church. Several other early Byzantine churches were located in the cemeteries outside the ancient city. The surrounding countryside was also densely inhabited. By the later seventh century both the city and the countryside appear to have been in decline. Destruction of an intact, but empty building in or after the second half of the seventh century is suggestive of an Arab invasion that could have induced the population to flee. Village-like occupation is again attested from the eighth century onwards, and the theater was turned into a fortress. The surrounding countryside was resettled in the middle Byzantine period. There and at Aphrodisias/Stauropolis, several middle Byzantine church buildings attest to some modest prosperity, until the arrival of the Turks led to widespread abandonment again.

Patara is rich in Byzantine monuments, but few dates have been established with certainty. For the time being, much of the available chronology remains relative, and some monuments can only be attributed vaguely to an “earlier” or to a “later” period rather than to a fixed point in time. Both eras witnessed the building of substantial city walls and major churches and cemeteries, the later Byzantine period on a smaller scale than the earlier one. The earlier fortifications may have been defended against the Arabs, while the later ones appear to have been built against the Turks. The middle centuries between the earlier Invasion Period and the later coming of the Turks is not attested, archaeologically or otherwise, and forms a conspicuous gap in the urban history of Patara.

This chapter considers the development of Ephesus from the sixth to the fourteenth centuries. The archaeological evidence suggests that the city was thriving well into the seventh century and that it remained an important regional center also during the Invasion Period. This importance was mainly due to Ephesus’ administrative role as provincial capital, as harbor and trading center, and as pilgrimage site. Paleo-geographical investigations have shown that the harbor basin remained in use at least until the twelfth century. However, pollen analyses attest a marked increase of pastoral farming from the late seventh to tenth centuries, when settlement intensity appears to have declined. The settlement indicators recover somewhat in the eleventh century, when an additional second town sprang up around the pilgrimage site of St. John, which survived the Turkish conquest under the name of Ayasoluk.

Side remained a rich and well-populated city during the early Byzantine period. The city’s main temple was replaced with a church, and other urban monuments continued in use. Later decline is indicated by a new set of Byzantine city walls, probably from the Invasion Period, that cut the city in two and thus reduced its size by half. Middle Byzantine church buildings are again to be found in both parts of the city, inside and outside the Byzantine city walls, which could suggest urban recovery or the settlement may have disintegrated into dispersed and essentially rural estates, some possibly monastic.

In spite of much damage and loss, Nicaea is noteworthy because of its well-preserved city walls and for the great number of surviving Byzantine churches, including mosaics and frescoes. Sculpted marbles have also survived in considerable numbers. Most marbles were carved in the early Byzantine period. Most churches were built in the first half of the thirteenth century, when the Byzantine emperors resided at Nicaea and also reinforced the city walls. The Invasion Period from the later seventh to the earlier ninth centuries is also relatively well attested both at the city walls and by church building. In comparison, the middle Byzantine period from the later ninth to the earlier eleventh centuries forms a noticeable gap in the archaeological record. A continuation of urban life is not in evidence, although the great number and variety of later Byzantine monuments appears to suggest otherwise.

Early Byzantine Miletus retained—and indeed conserved—ancient buildings, sculptures, and streets. Even churches were designed in an ancient style and, when new Byzantine city walls were built in the seventh century, the temple of Serapis became the focal point of the biggest and most splendid gate. However, in the middle Byzantine period the ancient city center was abandoned and remained in ruins after it was destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake. Middle Byzantine prosperity is instead attested in the surrounding countryside with the construction of a number of elaborate church buildings and a considerable amount of architectural sculpture. Middle Byzantine Miletus was evidently affected by ruralization; this could explain why the city had to be refounded under the new name of Palatia and rebuilt on the previously uninhabited Theater Hill when, from the later eleventh century onwards, the arrival of the Turks necessitated a return to urban fortifications.