1. Location, identification and chronological placement of the monument

The Myrelaion (mod. Bodrum Camii) is situated in the area Aksaray in the district of Eminönü in Istanbul. The sources do not point out its exact location in the Byzantine city. It is generally placed to the south of the Mese but further north from the Eptaskalon Gate, in the location of the modern Bodrum Camii; this brought forth the main argument in favour of the identification of the two monuments as each other.¹

The exact date of the construction of the church remains unknown. It is certain, however, that it was the katholikon of the Myrelaion monastery founded, according to the sources, by Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (940-944).² In 922 Romanos’ wife Theodora was buried in the church.³ Consequently, the founding of the monument took place some time between 920 (Romanos’ rise to the throne) and 922, when the church must have been nearly finished, for the burial of the empress.

After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, the church was converted into a mosque and retained that capacity until the 20^th century.

2. History

2.1. The monastery

The only reference to the Myrelaion Monastery dating it before the period of Romanos I derives from Patria of Constantinople; Emperor Constantine V (741-775) mockingly calls the monastery ‘Psarelaion’ (fish oil).⁴ However, this reference is generally considered unreliable. Most sources agree that Romanos I founded the monument, converting his nearby palace into a monastery.⁵ After Romanos’ death, the foundation continued to be in use as a female monastery until the end of the 11^th century; many members of imperial families have retired there as nuns, and the monastery had received many imperial donations in land. In the 14^th century, before 1315, it became a male monastery.⁶ The monastery was mentioned for the final time before the fall of Constantinople, around 1400, in a business deal; its later fate remains uknown.⁷

2.2. The katholikon

The katholikon of the monastery was built as a burial place for the Lekapenos family.⁸ The first burial, in 922, was that of Theodora, wife of Romanos I. His eldest son, Christophoros, was buried there in 931. Another son of Romanos I, Constantine, was buried in Myrelaion in 946, in the same tomb as his wife Helena, who had died in 940. In 948, Romanos I’s remains, who had died in exile in the island of Prote, were transferred to Myrelaion. Finally, in 961, Helena, daughter of Romanos and widow of Constantine VII Porphyrogennitos was buried near her family, in her father’s edifice.

In 1203 a fire due to arson destroyed the building,⁹ which was abandoned during the years of Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204-1261). Excavation findings attest that in ca. 1300, during the Palaiologan period, there were large scale restoration works in the monument that simplified its original shape.¹⁰

Approximately fifty years after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, the grand vizier Mesih Ali Paşa converted the church into a mosque. From then on, the monument came to be known as Bodrum Camii, because of the basement in its substructure or Mesih Ali Paşa, after its founder.¹¹ However, the name ‘Myrelaion’ was not forgotten; shortly before the mid 16^th century, the traveller Gilles, in his visit to Constantinople, attributed to Bodrum Camii its byzantine name.¹² In ca. 1784, according to the French traveller Le Chevalier, the monument suffered damages from a fire and its north side required restorations.¹³ In 1911 a yet another fire afflicted the monument, and it was since abandoned. In 1964-65, the Archaeological Museum of Constantinople organised a restoration programme for the monument that caused many alterations on it.¹⁴

The first systematic archaeological study on the church had been conducted by Van Millingen¹⁵ and Ebersolt, at the beginning of the 20^th century;¹⁶ the building was still in use as a mosque, and the limited information that came to light was in fact a simple description of the monument. After the building was deserted, Talbot Rice conducted a limited excavation in the 1930s, which led him to the conclusion that the church was built in the 11^th century, on a 7^th century substructure.¹⁷ This supposition was later adopted by Bals, who considered it a burial building, with an underground crypt.¹⁸ Striker, the main researcher of this monument, invalidated the previous theories on the chronology of the building; after further excavations he concluded that the church and its substructure were build at the same time.¹⁹ He also proved beyond doubt that Bodrum Camii can be safely identified as the Myrelaion monastery.

3. Architecture

3.1. The architectural type

The monument, with dimensions 11,22 m × 17,50 m, was a complex cross-in-square church, with three apses projecting on the eastern side. Its masonry consists entire of bricks and it is built on a high foundation substructure. This foundation structure helped bring the building on the save level with the nearby palace of Romanos, to which it was directly attached.²⁰ The church of Myrelaion and the north church of the monastery of Lips (which dates earlier, in 907)²¹ are the earliest surviving examples of the complex cross-in-square covered with dome in the Byzantine capital.²² These two monuments are considered to have copied the monument named Nea Ekklesia, founded by Basil I in 880;²³ this church has been destroyed since the 15^th century.

3.2. Interior morphology

The monument has a narthex to the west, a square-shaped nave and a bema with parabemata (prothesis and diakonikon) to the east. The narthex, following the structure of the nave, consists of three bays; the central one is covered with a domical vault on pendentives, while the side ones are cross-vaulted. There are semi-circular niches in the narrow sides of the narthex, while to the east three archways lead into the nave.

The nave has a square shape, 8m long, inside which a cross with 4 m arms is inscribed. The dome has a diameter of 5.50 m and its tall (3.15 m), octagonal drum rests on four pillars. Striker’s excavations, however, have shown that these piers are dated on a later stage of the monument, while initially the dome was supported by four columns. The arms of the cross and the corner bays are all cross-vaulted.

The bema is rectangular with a semi-circular conch to the east, and is covered by a cross vault. Two arched openings to the northern and southern walls connect the bema with the side rooms. These have the ground-plan of a triconch, with niches, to their north, south and east walls. They are covered with domical vaults on pendentives.

3.3. Articulation of the exterior

A series of semi-cylindrical buttresses on the external walls reflect the internal structure of the monument, and create a flowing and complex effect on its western, northern and southern side. There are many openings on these surfaces that have been greatly altered from the Palaiologan period until today.

The horizontal arms of the cross are projected to the exterior with blind arches that, according to the reconstruction, had been triple. On the upper level two large semi-circular windows, one in the northern and one in the southern side, were subdivided into three parts by pairs of colonnetes. In the middle level there were three-light openings, while on the lower level there were large trilobate openings with stone pillars, one on the end wall the northern arm and one on that of the southern arm of the cross. The light openings were probably closed with slabs.

The corner bays were lit by round-headed windows on the upper level and arched openings on the lower one. Similar arched openings could be found on the side walls of the prothesis and the diakonikon, as well as the end walls of the narthex.

On the east side, on each of the two lateral apses of the Bema, one large and tall window was opened, while the central apse was lit by a large trilobate window with square stone mullions. The single-light window that one can see today on the central apse is a Palaiologan modification.

The octagonal drum of the dome was pierced by large, arched windows, crowned with dentil courses; apart from the rich lighting of the interior, the windows also give a less massive effect on the building. The drum concludes into a horizontal cornice.

The external morphology was complete with a simple architectural decoration: stone dentil bands surrounded the exterior of the monument, just underneath the roof, while there were also two marble cornices, one of them surrounding the beginning of the upper level of the monument, while the other covered the upper level of the arms of the cross.

Most of these elements are now lost or modified in the latest restoration: the western side has been rebuilt, in the northern side only two levels survive from the original church, while windows have been added to the rebuilt southern side.

3.4. The substructure

The substructure, which measures 13.10 m. × 24.10 m., is a simple stone-and-brick construction, which was built in order to create a platform that would bring the main edifice to the same level as the adjoined palace of Romanos. This original solution gave impressive height to the monument and created an imposing, tower-like effect. In its original phase, during the 10^th century, this basement was probably used as a storage space, without actually being connected to the main church above it. During the Palaiologan restoration of the monument (ca. 1300) the basement was converted into an underground cross-in-square church. The floor was elevated, the openings were rebuilt and it was adorned with frescoes. Seven burials along the south aisle prove that this lower church was used as a burial crypt.²⁴

The lower church has approximately the same size as the one above it and had also the same arrangement. Four columns with Corinthian capitals survive, while in the exterior there is a series of very large rectangular piers linked with arches.²⁵

Because of its substructure, the Myrelaion had been studied alongside other two-storied churches. However, Striker believes that such an association is incorrect, since the substructure ceased to be used for liturgic purpose after the 14^th century; therefore we cannot describe the Myrelaion as a two-storied church. This view of his has been contestated.²⁶

4. Decoration

The interior decoration of the monument does not survive. However, excavation findings from the nave floor have unearthed a rich decorative scheme: opus sectile with geometrical motifs on the floor, marble revetment on the lower part of the walls and mosaics on the upper levels, as well as plinth plates with colour-painted decoration.²⁷

The underground temple was adorned with frescoes when it was converted into a burial crypt during the Palaiologan period. Until the latest restoration program, a fragment of these frescoes survived above a tomb: a female figure was kneeling before a Virgin in the type of Ηοdegetria;²⁸ today this fragment has been lost.

Fragments of unidentified of sculpture decoration and a small part of cornice with relief decor thought to be part of the church’s decoration. All these findings have been attributed to the first phase of the monument (10^th-11^th centuries).²⁹

5. Significance of the monument

As mentioned above, the Myrelaion monastery is one of the earliest examples of a complex cross-in-square domed church in Constantinopolitan architecture, the second one being the north church of the monastery of Lips. This architectural type, which these two monuments present fully established, would soon become very popular in Byzantine church architecture. The quality of the Myrelaion church stands out, both for its design and the way it was executed. However, the significance of the Myrelaion becomes even greater beacause of a considerable lack of surviving monuments from this period in Constantinople; it is one of the few examples of Constantinopolitan religious architecture under the Macedonian dynasty, while the next church that we find in the capital dates to the 11^th century.

Apart from its architectural type, this church, according to Striker, also has a historical significance, as the private burial edifice of Emperor Romanos I. Romanos became emperor by quietly pushing aside the underage Constantine VII, initially as basileopator and later as co-emperor. He aspired to found his own imperial dynasty, but never fully turned against Constantine VII, who remained co-emperor under his father-in-law’s shadow. According to Striker, the foundation of a family burial place was undoubtedly connected to the way that Romanos rose to power. Imperial burials usually took place in the Holy Apostles church. Because Romanos and his family’s burials there would never be considered legitimate, there was need for an alternative burial place. This action of Romanos possibly encouraged the later Byzantine practice of founding private burial churches.³⁰