1. Location

Hebdomon was one of the most important suburbs of Constantinople. Many suggestions have been made on the identification of its location.¹ However, according to the prevailing view expressed by Professor Van Millingen, Hebdomon was located in the wider area of the sea of Marmara, seven Roman miles (little more than 10 klm) westwards of the Milion. Traversed by the Via Egnatia, it was the point of depart of imperial triumphs toward the city (figs. 2 and 3).² Until 1922, the site of the Byzantine Hebdomon was occupied by the Greek village Makrochorion, while today the same area has been renamed Bakirköy.

2. Significance of the suburb

Already in the 4^th century the imperial army would camp in Hebdomon. It also possessed a platform, the Tribunal, on which the emperor presented himself to the troop. The wide valley (which was called Kampos, imitating the Roman Campus Martius), its immediate access to the sea and mainly its short distance from the capital were the reasons that rendered Hebdomon the ideal place for the legions of New Rome to camp. It is not a coincidence that the Senate would welcome there the Emperor after a campaign, for the procession towards the city to begin.³

Hebdomon was also a location of great political significance, since it was where the emperor was acknowledged as commander of the Roman army and even his proclamation often took place there as well.⁴ The area was the starting point of every official procession to Constantinople. This suburb was also of great religious importance, which is indicated by the great number of churches built there on the one hand, and on the other by the fact that, after the powerful earthquakes of 447/448, the people of the city rushes in Hebdomon to pray with the Emperor and the Patriarch.⁵

3. Secular architecture

In the greater Hebdomon area there were numerous and fine edifices, both secular and religious. Today little is preserved and in very bad condition. Hebdomon was considered an imperial suburb and was increasingly embellished with edifices. It seems that Valens took charge of the monumental elevation of the Tribunal, where he was proclaimed emperor, so much that Themistius castigates him that he neglects the capital itself.⁶ In the Patria, Constantine I appears to have built the church of St. John the Theologian in Hebdomon, and during the reign of Theodosios I the church of the Baptist was built to receive the relic of the saint’s head.⁷ During the reign of Justinian I porticoes, fora and baths were built and many older buildings were renovated, which matched corresponding edifices in Constantinople. Moreover, the harbour of Hebdomon, which probably dates back to the end of the 4^th century, was cleaned.⁸ The area suffered destructions by Arab raids in late 7^th- early 8^th century, and by raids of the Bulgarians under Krum in 813.⁹ However, a number of churches were renovated by Basil I and in the Book of Ceremonies the area appears to have preserved – at least until the 10^th century – its importance as a location for the reception of the emperor after a military campaign. A few examples of Hebdomon’s secular architecture is the Tribunal, Magnaura, the palaces of Jucundianae or Secundianae, the columns and the statue of Theodosios II, the circular mausoleum, fortresses and cisterns.

3.1. Tribunal

The Tribunal (or Bema) was a kind of elevated platform on which the emperor would ascend to address his army. It was built by Emperor Valens after his proclamation in 364. As far as its form is concerned, it had a round shape and its front faced the so-called Kampos. On the facade of the building niches opened in regular distances, where statues of emperors were placed (fig. 4).¹⁰ The width of the platform was approximately 2.40 m., while its height is uncertain. However, the maximum height of the surviving parts reaches approximately up to 5 m. on the west side and 3 m. on the east side.

3.2. Palaces

3.2.1. Magnaura

As in the Mangaura of the Great Palace, the analogous Magnaura in Hebdomon housed the ceremony of the Senate for the Emperor’s victorious arrival from a campaign. The building was erected under the reign of emperor Marcian and the identification of its location was possible thanks to the excavations of Th. Macrides.¹¹ Foundations of a Byzantine quayside and marble semicircular bases were found on the western side of the harbour. According to Macrides, they were bases of piers that supported a circular construction, possibly the solar of Magnaura.

3.2.2. Palace of Justinian

According to Procopius and other sources, Justinian I erected in Hebdomon the palace of Jucundianae or Secundianae. Theophanes refers to the palace in relation to the porphyry column of Theodosios, which collapsed during the earthquake of 558. According to the chronographer, the column had been placed in front of the palace of Justinian I.¹²

3.3. Fortresses

Hebdomon possessed two fortresses, one on the east side and the other on the west side of the harbour. The first one was known as ‘cyclobion’ or Kastellion Stroggylon’ (circular fortress) and the second one as “Castle of the Theodosianae”.¹³ Few fragments of the second fortress survived until the mid-20th C., while today a modern building stands on its place.

3.4. Cicterns

To the northeast of modern Bakirköy, a large Byzantine cistern survives until today, in a relatively good condition. Rectangular in shape, it measures 127×76 m. and is 11 m. deep.¹⁴ It was not the only cistern, since there have been located four others, three of them open and one covered, known as the Cistern of Magnaura, rectangular in shape with 98 columns.

4. Religious architecture

Apart from the numerous and impressive secular buildings that embellished the imperial suburb, many churches were also built. Today few of them survive and the rest are known to us from the written sources, mainly from the synaxaria. Janin counts the churches of St. Theodote, St. Menas and Menaius, of St. Vicentius, the monastery of the Infants and possibly the hagiasma of St. Mamas.¹⁵

4.1. Church of St. Theodote

The church was built by Justinian I during the reign of his uncle Justin I.¹⁶ The church was probably associated with the feast of St. Theodote in Hebdomon on July the 29^th. The church has been completely destroyed and its exact location in the suburb has not been identified.¹⁷

4.2. Church of St. John the Theologian

The church is ascribed to Constantine the Great (324-337) and it is described as oblong, thus it was probably a basilica.¹⁸ The church was destroyed in the 7^th century and it was rebuilt by Basil I during the 9^th century.¹⁹ Today it is completely destroyed.

4.3. Church of the Prophet Samuel

The church was built on the occasion of the arrival of the relics of the Prophet Samuel to Constantinople, probably between 406-408, when Arcadios I (395-408) held the throne and Attikos (406-425) was Patriarch.²⁰ It seems that the church was located a little further outside Hebdomon, while Th. Macrides does not even include it in his study. The church collapsed during the earthquake of 557 and it was probably never repaired after that.²¹

4.4. Church of St. John the Baptist

The church is located 4 klm outside the Golden Gate. It was initially excavated by a team of French archaeologists under the guidance of R. Demangel, who first published it in 1945. The last traces of the church disappeared in 1965, when a hospital was built on the site.

The church is mentioned in the Patria and in other sources as a foundation of Theodosios I, where the relic of St. John the Baptist’s head was kept. The church was remodelled by Justinian I and, according to Prokopios, the Justinianic church followed the plan of St. Michael of Anaplou. Prokopios’ description of the second,²² along with the archaeological evidence, allows a reconstruction of the form of St. John the Baptist in Hebdomon. It was an octagonal church which reminds the ground-plan of its contemporaneous church of St. Vitale. Its apse was semicircular both on the inside and the outside, which is uncommon in Constantinopolitan religious architecture of this period. The foundations of six piers were discovered in the nave. Two piers in the south- and one in the northeast side were found in their entirety. Thus, we know that they were 2.40-2.75 m. wide and 6 m. high. From the eastern piers which were attached to the apse only their abutted half was found (fig. 5).²³ The church had possibly an atrium and was surrounded by porticoes. It may also have had galleries and had been covered with a dome.²⁴