This is a remarkable site (40.943748,29.115137) that has fallen victim to the tendency to establish a project with huge fanfare, then leave it to crumble when the money runs out. It’s still an amazing place. Essentially, the site is a raised platform of about 60m by 40m. The excavated section appears to be bounded by the walls of a collapsed cistern, once consisting of columns supporting rows of domes. The information on site says three rows of domes although it looks like four to me. The part on the east has an impressive single dome which is still standing. On top of this (and resting on the same four piers as supported this eastern dome) was constructed a large church with a dome about ten metres in diameter.
As usual, there is conjecture over the name and function of the building. One faction suggests that the church is part of the Palace of Bryas, built in 834 by the Emperor Theophilus. However, the Italian team that investigated the site in 2002 found evidence that this building is from the second half of the ninth century. It may be the church of the Monastery of Satyros, which was apparently quite close to Bryas Palace. It is doubtful whether the identity of the church will ever be settled.
Column on the north outer wall
In the meantime, anyone can get in. It’s a bit difficult to enter the large domed cistern but the rest is fair game. Small children play football against the outside walls and teenagers gather on the high walls after school. Remarkably, graffiti and incidental damage are minimal.
south external wall
Looking west through the collapsed cistern.
Dome of main cistern during initial study (photograph in Istanbul Archaeological Museum)
13th – 14th century earthenware pitcher with sgrafitto decoration, from Küçükyalı. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
Section of inlaid floor from Küçükyalı. Istanbul Archaeological Museum
No Author listed. (2002) Maltepe’deki arkeolojik kazıdan kilise mi saray mı tartışması çıktı. Arkitera Bilgi Hizmetleri Available online at: http://v3.arkitera.com/v1/haberler/2004/12/30/maltepe.htm Accessed 10th Aug 2016
Kayar, A. (2005) Bizans prensinin manastırı Türkiye’nin ilk arkeolojik parkı olacak Hürriyet. Available online at: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/bizans-prensinin-
manastiri-turkiye-nin-ilk-arkeolojik-parki-olacak-342077 Accessed 10th Aug 2016
Ricci, A. (1996) The Road from Baghdad to Byzantium and the Case of the Bryas Palace. In Brubaker, L. (ed) Byzantium in the Ninth Century: Dead or Alive? Papers from the Thirtieth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Birmingham, March 1996. Ashgate – Variorum, Aldershot. Pages 131 – 149. Available online at: https://www.academia.edu/1164332/A._Ricci_The_Road_from_Baghdad_to_Byzantium_and_the_case_of_the_Bryas_Palace Accessed 2nd Aug 2016
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