Hieria (in Greek variously Ἱερεῖα, Ἱερία, Ἡρία), also known as Heraeum or Heraion (Ἡραῖον), modern Fenerbahçe, was a town of ancient Bithynia and a suburb of Byzantine-era Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). It is prominent in the city's history as the site of an imperial palace.
The name derives from Heraion akron (Greek: Ἡραῖον ἄκρον, "Cape of Hera"), which was given in antiquity to a small promontory (modern Fener burnu) on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, opposite Chalcedon (modern Kadıköy).[1] The Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) built a palace here, which included a harbour and a church dedicated to St. Mary.[1] The palace, which survived at least until 1203, served as a summer residence for a number of Byzantine emperors, including Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) and Emperor Basil I (r. 867–886), who added a chapel dedicated to the Prophet Elijah.[1] Due to its location on the Asian side of the Bosporus, the palace often served as a reception point for triumphal returns of the Byzantine emperors from campaigns in the East.[1] The iconoclastic "Council of Hieria" took place in the palace in 754.[1] Only a few traces of the original palace complex (the harbour breakwater, a cistern and funerary inscriptions) survive.[1]
Its site is located at Fenerbahçe in Asiatic Turkey.[2][3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Kazhdan 1991, p. 929.
- ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 53, and directory notes accompanying.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
Sources
- Kazhdan, Alexander Petrovich, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. New York, New York and Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.