The Palace of Daphne (, Dáphnē, lit. 'Laurus nobilis) was one of the major wings of the Great Palace of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (modern Istanbul, Turkey). According to George Codinus, it was named after a statue of the nymph Daphne, brought from Rome.[Paspates (2004), p. 227] The exact layout and appearance of the palace is unclear, since it lies under the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, and the only surviving evidence comes from literary sources.[Westbrook (2007)] Jonathan Bardill, however, has suggested that the peristyle with mosaics adjoining an apsed hall, excavated by the Walker Trust excavations in 1935-7 and 1952-4, could be the Augusteus of the Daphne Palace.
History and description
The Daphne belonged to the earliest building phase of the palace complex, that of
Constantine I, who rebuilt the city of
Byzantium into Constantinople, his new capital, as well as his immediate successors.
() expanded the original building, which remained the main residential area for the emperors until the 8th century. The palace was formed by an ensemble of ceremonial halls and residential buildings, located in the westernmost part of the imperial palace complex, next to the Hippodrome, and was connected to the imperial box (the
kathisma) there by a stairway.
[Kazhdan (1991), p. 869] This complex included the residential wing of the
koitōn ("bedchamber") of the Daphne proper, the Octagon, and the chapel of
St Stephen,
[Paspates (2004), p. 229–233] built in ca. 421, the
Augusta Pulcheria to house the right arm of the saint.
[Maguire (2004), p. 57] The Daphne was connected to the hall (
triklinos) of the
Augusteus (, not to be confused with the
Augustaion square), also one of the oldest parts of the imperial palace. It was also known under the name
Stepsimon (Στέψιμον, "coronation"), highlighting its function the original coronation hall of the palace, a role it retained (especially for the coronations of empresses and imperial weddings) to a degree into the middle Byzantine period.
[Maguire (2004), pp. 59–60] In turn, the Augusteus was connected to the later Trikonchos palace and the hall of the
Consistorium.
[Paspates (2004), p. 233–235] Two further chapels, dedicated to the
Virgin Mary and the
Holy Trinity, were also located in the southern part of the Daphne complex.
[Paspates (2004), p. 236–237]
In the 9th-10th centuries, the center of court life and ceremonial was moved to the south, towards the Boukoleon Palace and the ceremonial structures around the Chrysotriklinos. Although the Daphne continued to feature in imperial ceremonies however, as described in the De Ceremoniis by Constantine Porphyrogennetos, its decline in prestige and use is well illustrated by the fact that the walls by which Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas () surrounded the palace with new walls, the Daphne complex was not included in them.
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