Chapter XVII

THE MONASTERY OF MANUEL, KEFELÉ MESJEDI

The mosque known as Kefelé Mesjedi, in the quarter of Salma Tomruk, is commonly supposed to represent the monastery founded by Manuel,[429] a distinguished general in the wars with the Saracens during the reign of Theophilus (823-842). This opinion is doubtless based upon the circumstance that the monastery in question stood in the vicinity of the cistern of Aspar,[430] [Greek: synengys tê kisternê tou Asparos] (the large open reservoir to the east of the Gate of Adrianople), near which Kefelé Mesjedi is also situated. But that circumstance alone cannot be regarded as sufficient ground for the identification of the two buildings. There are at least five other monasteries mentioned in Byzantine history, all distinguished by the mark of their proximity to the cistern of Aspar.[431] And at a short distance to the west of Kefelé Mesjedi, and nearer to the cistern of Aspar, we find the remains of an old church, now Odalar Mesjedi, which might with equal force claim to represent the monastery of Manuel. The commonly received identification may, however, be correct as a happy conjecture. Mr. Siderides,[432] indeed, considers the identification of the monastery of Manuel with Kefelé Mesjedi a mistake. According to him, that monastery was a reconstruction or enlargement of the ancient monastery of SS. Manuel, Sabel, and Ishmael, which stood on the heights above the Phanar, now crowned by the mosque of Sultan Selim. To the objection that there it would not be near the cistern of Aspar, Mr. Siderides replies by denying the correctness of the identification of that cistern with the open reservoir (Tchoukour Bostan) to the east of the gate of Adrianople, and in the vicinity of Kefelé Mesjedi. In Mr. Siderides' opinion the cistern of Aspar is the beautiful covered cistern, generally known as the cistern of Puicheria, to the south-west of the mosque of Sultan Selim.[433] But the dimensions of the cistern ascribed to the famous sister of Theodosius II. do not accord with the size of the cistern of Aspar. The latter was 'a very large cistern,' [Greek: tên megistên kinsternan],[434] while the former is only m. 29.1 long by m. 18 wide, with a roof supported on four rows of seven columns[435]--not a large cistern as works of that class went in Constantinople. But if the cistern of Aspar was not situated in the district now marked by the mosque of Sultan Selim, neither could the monastery of Manuel have been there. Mr. Siderides,[436] moreover, identifies the monastery of Manuel with that of Manoueliou [Greek: tou Manouêliou] which appears in the Proceedings of the Synod held at Constantinople in 536 under Justinian.[437] This, however, does not agree with the statement that the monastery of Manuel was originally the private residence of the well-known general of that name in the ninth century. Furthermore, it is always dangerous to assume that the same name could not belong to different buildings, especially when the name occurs at distant intervals in the history of the city. Many mistakes in the topography of Constantinople are due to this false method of identification. As a matter of fact, the monastery of Manuel near the cistern of Aspar was not the only House of that name in the capital of the East. Another monastery of Manuel stood beside the Golden Horn, in the Genoese quarter, between the gate of the Neorion (Bagtché Kapoussi) and the gate of Eugenius (Yali Kiosk Kapoussi). It had a pier, known as the pier of the venerable monastery of Manuel, [Greek: skala tês sebasmias monês tou Manouêl].[438] Paspates is consequently wrong in associating that pier with Kefelé Mesjedi.[439]

Mordtmann[440] accepts the identification of Kefelé Mesjedi with the monastery of Manuel as correct, but he identifies it also with the church and monastery which Gerlach found in this neighbourhood, and describes under the name of Aetius ([Greek: tou Aetiou]).[441] When visited by Gerlach in 1573, the church had been converted into a mosque, and was a beautiful building in excellent preservation. If all that remains of it is the bare structure of Kefelé Mesjedi, the city has to mourn a great loss.[442] (Plate LXXVII.)

Manuel, the founder of the monastery, was the uncle of the Empress Theodora, wife of the Emperor Theophilus, and proved a loyal and devoted servant of the imperial family. Twice at the peril of his own life he saved the emperor from capture, if not from death, during the wars with the Saracens. Nevertheless, being accused of treason he fled to the court of Baghdad and took service under the Caliph Mutasim, until assured that Constantinople would welcome him back.

He was one of the three counsellors appointed by Theophilus to assist Theodora during the minority of Michael III., and so highly was he esteemed, that he was acclaimed emperor by the populace in the Hippodrome, and might have worn the crown but for his fidelity to the little prince. Silencing the shouts raised in his favour, he exclaimed, 'You have an emperor; my duty and highest honour is to defend his infancy and to secure for him, even at the price of my blood, the heritage of his father.' In the iconoclastic controversy Manuel supported the policy of Theophilus, and therefore found himself in a difficult position when Theodora decided to restore the use of eikons. The story is, that while he lay dangerously ill at the time, monks of the Studion assured him that recovery was certain if he vowed to uphold the orthodox cause. The vow was taken, and upon his restoration to health Manuel favoured the measures of Theodora. Probably he felt that the current of public feeling on the subject was too strong for him to oppose. But the task of working in harmony with his colleagues in the regency, Theoctistus and Bardas, was soon found impossible, and rumours of a plot to blind him and remove him from the administration of affairs led him to retire to his house near the cistern of Aspar. For some time, indeed, he continued to appear occasionally at the palace, but at last he quitted for ever that scene of intrigue, and converted his residence into a monastery, where he might spend the closing days of his life in peace and finally be laid in a quiet grave.[443]

The building which Manuel bequeathed was reconstructed almost from the foundations, a large and beautiful edifice, by the celebrated Patriarch Photius.[444] It underwent extensive restoration again at the command of the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus (919-945),[445] in token of his friendship for Sergius, the abbot of the monastery, a nephew of Photius, and eventually an occupant of the patriarchal throne for twenty years (999-1019). In it the Emperor Romanus Argyrus (1028-1034) confined Prussianus, a relative of the Bulgarian royal family, on a charge of treason;[446] and there Michael VII., nicknamed Parapinakes (the peck-filcher), because he sold wheat at one-fourth of its proper weight, and then at an exorbitant price, ultimately retired after his deposition.[447] The connection of so many prominent persons with the monastery implies the importance of the House.

_Architectural Features_

Kefelé Mesjedi is a large oblong hall, m. 22.6 long by m. 7.22 wide, with walls constructed in alternate courses of four bricks and four stones, and covered with a lofty timber roof. It terminates to the north in an arch and a semicircular apse in brick. Two niches, with a window between them, indent the walls of the apse, and there is a niche in each pier of the arch. The building is entered by a door situated in the middle of the western wall. Originally the eastern and western walls, which form the long sides of the building, were lighted by two ranges of round-headed windows, somewhat irregularly spaced. The upper range is situated a little below the ceiling, and forms a sort of clearstory of ten lights; the lower range has five windows, except in the western wall, where the place of one window is occupied by the entrance. The southern wall is also lighted by two ranges of windows, the lower windows being much larger than the higher. At some time buttresses were built against the eastern wall. Under the west side is a cistern, the roof of which rests on three columns. In view of all these features it is impossible to believe that the building was a church. Its orientation, the absence of lateral apses in a structure of such dimensions, the position of the entrance, are all incompatible with that character. We have here, undoubtedly, the refectory and not the sanctuary of the monastic establishment. It resembles the refectory of the Laura on Mt. Athos,[448] and that of Daphni near Athens. It recalls the 'long and lofty building,' adorned with pictures of saints, which formed the refectory of the Peribleptos at Psamathia.[449]

There is a tradition that the use of the building was granted at the conquest to the Armenian colony which was brought from Kaffa in 1475 to repeople the capital, Hence the Turkish name of the building.[450]

NOTE

As Gerlach's work is rare, the reader may wish to see his
description of the church of Aetius in the original (_Tagebuch_, pp.
455-56):--Nicht weit hiervon [the church of S. John in Petra] ist
eine sehr schöne Kirche, [Greek: tês Aetiou], da vor Zeiten ein sehr
gross und weites Closter gewesen seyn und viel Häuser der Lehrer und
Lernenden in sich gehabt haben solle. Jetzt wird nichts mehr davon
gesehen als das zerfallene Gemäuer einer herrlichen Pforten und eine
trockene Ziternen, darinnen die Juden die Seiden spinnen, zwirnen
und bereiten (_serica nectunt fila_). Vor der Kirchen ist ein weiter
Hoff, rings aber umb denselbe herumb ein bedeckter Gang
(_porticus_), welcher mit schönen auff vergüldten viereckichten
gläsern Taffeln künstlich gemahlten Figuren auss dem Alten und Neuen
Testament, und mit griechischen Überschrifften gezieret ist, aber
alte Gesichter derselben aussgekratzet sind. Die Wände dieser
Umbgänge sind mit Marmel von allerhand Farben bekleidet. Hat auch 3
oder 4 hohe Crepidines oder Absätze mit der Propheten, Apostel und
Christi Bildnüssen von Gold. Der Hauss- oder vielmehr Bau- herr oder
auch der Stiffter ([Greek: ho ktêtôr]), und sein Weib, sind da auch
gemahlet in einem Habit, fast wie man heut zu Tage gehet, aber mit
einer ganz fremden Hauptzierde (_capellitii genere_), class man
darauss abnehmen kan, er sey einer aus den vornehmsten Käyserlich
Bedienten gewesen, dann diese Zierde siehet auss fast wie ein
Hertzogs Bareht von Seiden and Beltzwerck, der Bund oder das
Umgewundene (_cinctura_) von mancherley Farben, wie heut zu Tage die
Juden und Armenier weiss und blau durcheinander tragen. Sein Weib
hat einen Schleyer (_peplum_) fast wie die Griechinnen. Der bedecte
Gang und die Kirche sind ein Gebäu (_porticus muro etiam templi
continetur_), und gehet man durch zwey hohe Pforten hinein, welche 4
Theil in sich begreifft, oder in 4 Theil abgetheilet ist. 1. der
bedeckte (_Porticus_) Gang, dessen Wände mit Marmelstein biss auff
die Helffte bekleidet sind. Der Obertheil, da die Schwibbögen
(_Laquearia_) anheben, hat er wie auch die Schwibbögen selber die
Gemählde. In diesem Gang oder Halle (_porticu_) stehen die Weiber,
und kommen nicht in die Kirchen hinein, wie auch in andere Kirchen
nicht, als wann sie zum Abendmahl gehen. 2. ist die Kirche für sich
so mit Türckischen Deppichen (_aoreis_) beleget und hat nur ein
Thor. Ist ein hohes Gewölb (_laquearia_) und wie auch die überige 2
Gewölbe (_laquearia_) ganz vergüldet und übermahlet, und die Wände
von unten an biss an die Schwibbögen mit dem schönsten Marmelstein
bekleidet. Auss diesem gehet man 3. durch einen niedern Crepidinem
in dem dritten Theil der Kirchen, da der Bauherr oder Stiffter mit
andern sehr schönen Bildnüssen mit Gold gemahlet stehen, mit einem
etwas niedern als der vorige Schwibbögen (_laquearia_). Auss diesem
gehet man in den 4ten gewölbten auch gemahlten aber etwas finstern
und viel kleine Fenster in sich haltenden Ort. Aussen an der
Kirchmauren stehet diese Schrift.

Vor dem Vorhoff (_vestibulo_, [Greek: propiliô]) dieser Kirchen
[Greek: tês 'Aetiou] zeigte mir Theodosius den Ort, da der letzte
Christliche Käyser Constantinus als er bey der Türckischen Eroberung
der Stadt fliehen wollen, von Pferde gestürtzet, und tod gefunden
seyn solle.

'Not far from here is a very beautiful church where there is said to
have been in times past a very large monastery with many houses for
teachers and scholars within its walls. Nothing of all that is to be
seen now except the ruins of a splendid gate and a dry cistern in
which the Jews spin, throw, and prepare silk. In front of the church
there is a large court surrounded by a covered passage (_porticus_),
which is adorned with beautiful figures from the Old and New
Testaments painted on gilded quadrangular glass cubes with Greek
inscriptions; but the ancient faces of these (figures) are scratched
out. The walls of this passage are covered with marble of different
colours. It has also three or four high crepidines[451] or vaulted
compartments (?) with the pictures of the prophets, of the apostles,
and of Christ in gold. The master of the house, or rather the
builder, or perhaps the founder, [Greek: ho ktêtôr], and his wife
are also painted there in a costume very much the same as is worn
to-day, but with a very strange head-ornament, from which we may
conclude that he was one of the most distinguished of the imperial
staff, for this ornament looks almost like a duke's biretta of silk
and fur; the belt (_cinctura_) is of different colours, such as
nowadays the Jews or Armenians wear, white and blue mixed. His wife
has a veil (_peplum_) almost like that which Greek women have. The
covered passage and the church form one building (_porticus muro
etiam templi continetur_), entered by two high gates, and comprising
four parts, or divided into four parts. 1. The covered passage
(_porticus_), the walls of which as far as half their height are
covered with marble. On the upper part, where the arches begin, and
on the arches themselves are the paintings. In this passage or hall
stand the women, and do not enter the church as they do not enter
other churches, unless they go to the Lord's supper. 2. Is the
church, as such, covered with Turkish rugs, and has only one gate.
It has a high dome, which, like the remaining two domes, is entirely
gilded and painted, and the walls up to the arches are covered with
the most beautiful marble. From this one enters 3. through a low
vaulted compartment, with a somewhat lower arch than the foresaid
arches, the third part of the church, where the founder with other
very beautiful portraits (pictures) is painted in gold. From this
one enters 4. a vaulted and also painted, but rather dark place,
with many small windows. On the outside of the walls of the church
there is this inscription[452]--

In front of the porch, vestibulo, [Greek: propiliô] of this church
Theodosius showed me the place where the last Christian emperor
Constantine, intending to flee at the Turkish conquest of the city,
is said to have fallen from his horse and to have been found dead.'

[429] Scarlatus Byzantius, p. 369; Patr. Constantius, p. 81; Paspates, p. 304.

[430] Leo Gramm. pp. 218, 222.

[431] Siderides, in _Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of C.P._ vol. xxviii. p. 265.

[432] _Ibid._ p. 263.

[433] _Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of C.P._, _ut supra_, p. 258.

[434] _Pasch. Chron._ p. 593.

[435] _Die byzantinischen Wasserbehälter von Konstantinopel_, von Dr. Forscheimer und Dr. Strzygowski, pp. 62-63, 175-176.

[436] _Ut supra._

[437] Mansi, viii. col. 990, col. 1054.

[438] Miklosich et Müller, pp. 28, 50, 53, 54.

[439] P. 305. On p. 163 he places the pier in its proper position.

[440] _Esq. top._ p. 76; Archaeological Supplement to vol. xviii. of the _Proceedings of the Greek Syllogos of C.P._ p. 9.

[441] _Türkisches Tagebuch_, pp. 455-56; cf. Crusius, _Turcograecia_ p. 190.

[442] The question thus raised presents serious difficulties. That some building[A] in the neighbourhood of Kefelé Mesjedi was known by the name of Aetius[B] is undoubted. It was a cistern (Du Cange, i. p. 96), and formed one of the landmarks by which the church of S. John in Petra, situated in this quarter of the city, was distinguished (Du Cange, iv. p. 152 [Greek: engista tou Aetiou]). But while that is the case, Gyllius (_De top. C.P._ iv.), who explored this part of the city in 1550, does not mention any Byzantine church that answers at all to Gerlach's description of the church of Aetius, unless it be the Chora. That Gyllius should have overlooked so beautiful a monument of Byzantine days as the church of Aetius, if different from the Chora, is certainly very strange. But it is not less strange to find that Gerlach does not speak of the Chora. Can the difficulty thus presented be removed by the supposition that Gerlach refers to the Chora under the name of Aetius? The position he assigns to the church of Aetius in relation to the church of S. John in Petra and to the palace of Constantine (Tekfour Serai) favours that view, for he places the church of Aetius between S. John and the palace, exactly where the Chora would stand in that series of buildings. Looking towards the north-west from the windows of a house a little to the east of the Pammakaristos, Gerlach says 'Ad Occasum, Boream versus, Prodromi [Greek: monê] est, olim [Greek: petra]; longius inde, Aetii [Greek: monê]; postea, Palatium Constantini' (_Turcograecia_, p. 190). On the other hand, Gerlach's description of the church of Aetius differs in so many particulars from what holds true of the Chora, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to believe that in that description he had the latter church in mind. Unless, then, we are prepared to admit grave mistakes in Gerlach's description, we must either assume an extraordinary failure on his part and on the part of Gyllius to notice a most interesting Byzantine monument, directly on the path of both explorers in this quarter of the city, or regret the disappearance of an ancient sanctuary that rivalled the Chora in splendour.

[A] It was probably the ruined cistern with twenty-four
columns arranged in four rows of seven pillars each, near
the mosque Kassim Aga, a short distance above Kefelé
Mesjedi. Gerlach associates it with the church of Aetius.

[B] _Tagebuch_, pp. 455-56; cf. Crusius, _Turcograecia_, p.
190. In the documents associated with the Synod of 536 in
Constantinople the cistern of Aetius serves to identify the
monastery of Mara (Mansi, viii. cols. 910, 930, 990). Cf.
Banduri, iii. p. 49; v. p. 106.

[443] There is some uncertainty as to the identity of Manuel. Some authorities distinguish Manuel the general from Manuel the uncle of Theodora, on the ground that the former is said to have died of wounds received in battle during the reign of Theophilus (see Leo Gramm. p. 222). But it would be strange for different Manuels to reside near the cistern of Aspar, and to convert their residences into the monastery of Manuel in that vicinity. For other reasons for the identification see Bury, _Eastern Roman Empire_, Appendix viii. p. 476.

[444] Theodore Balsamon, vol. i. p. 1041; Canon VII. of the Synod of Constantinople held under Photius.

[445] Theoph. Cont. p. 433, [Greek: monê tou Manouêlou].

[446] Cedrenus, ii. p. 487.

[447] Scylitzes, in Cedrenus, ii, p. 738.

[448] H. Brockhaus, _Die Kunst in den Athos-Klöstern_, p. 34; G. Millet, _Le Monastère de Daphné_.

[449] Gerlach, _Tagebuch_, p. 337.

[450] Paspates, p. 395.

[451] In Parker's _Glossary of Architecture_, p. 506, the term is defined 'quae vulgariter a volta dicitur' (Matt. Par. 1056). Du Cange defines the word 'caverna ubi viae conveniunt.'

[452] According to the Patriarch Constantius (_Ancient and Modern Constantinople_, p. 76), the monogram--

was to be seen in his day on the exterior western wall of the Chora.