Squares


In modern cities, squares are areas for residents to meet, communicate and have fun. Squares in that sense do not seem to have existed in Byzantium. Terraces with arcades affording a view out to sea or over the surrounding area above the walls were designed as recreation areas. Following the Roman tradition, cities in late antiquity had a complex of public buildings around a central forum. The arcades surrounding the main square housed shops, while the centre of the square usually had a column supporting a statue of the emperor.

Fairs and even executions took place in some of them, such as the Forum Bovis (“of the Ox”) in Constantinople.  That being said, after the 7th century fora in the capital were converted into market places.

In the new fortress cities founded on high ground, wide points in the streets or free spaces around churches served as squares. Though provision had not originally been made for such use, it would appear that these places served as meeting points that catered for processions, religious ceremonies and festivals.

Public spaces and squares are rarely testified in mid and late Byzantium. Mystras was one example, as the level ground in front of the Palace of the Despots was free of buildings and thus suitable for social gatherings.

The scarcity of squares and planned open spaces could be interpreted as resulting from urban sprawl and the crowding so characteristic of Byzantine cities, especially in the provinces. Typical examples are the medieval villages of Chios, where dense house construction leaves almost no open spaces, except those next to churches. Indeed, open spaces around churches and monastery enclosures gradually became important hubs of social life in cities.


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The city: Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, was built on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium, on the triangular peninsula formed by the Golden Horn, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. This was an excellent location that controlled trade routes linking the Aegean to the Black Sea. Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople in 330 AD as a city to rival Rome in splendour, wealth and power. The city grew fast, leading to problems of space and facilities, so Theodosius I extended it to the west by building new strong walls that protected Constantinople until the end of the Byzantine Empire. The city was laid out after Rome. A main road, the Mese Odos, linked the palace to the Golden Gate. On this road was the Forum, a circular plaza with a statue of Constantine mounted on a column, surrounded by public buildings. Theodosius I and Arcadius later built more forums decorated with their own statues. Following the Nika riots in the 6th century, Justinian adorned Constantinople with magnificent edifices, palaces, baths and public buildings. This time also saw the construction of Agia Sophia (the Holy Wisdom), the church which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate throughout the Byzantine period. During the 7th and 8th centuries Constantinople faced major problems that threw it into disarray: attacks by the Avars (a siege in 674) and Arabs (attacks in 674 and 717-718); natural disasters (a powerful, destructive earthquake in 740); and epidemics (plague in 747). Limited building activity resumed in the 8th and 9th century, mainly concentrated on strengthening the city's fortifications. With the recovery of the Byzantine Empire from the 9th to the 11th century, Constantinople became the most populated city in Christendom; the majority of inhabitants were Greek-speaking, but many other ethnic groups lived alongside them, such as Jews, Armenians, Russians, Italians merchants, Arabs and mercenaries from Western Europe and Scandinavia. Many public, private and church-owned buildings were erected at the time, with an emphasis on establishing charitable institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages and schools. Higher education flourished, thanks to the care of the state and the emergence of important scholars. This renaissance lasted until the mid-11th century, when economic problems due to poor management set in, compounded by the adverse outcome of imperial operations beyond the borders. The Crusaders left Constantinople entirely unscathed when first passing through, but in the Fourth Crusade of 1204 the Franks conquered and ransacked the city, slaughtering those inhabitants they did not take prisoner or drive out. In 1261 the city was retaken by Michael VIII Palaeologus, who rebuilt most of the monuments and the walls but proved unable to restore the city to its former splendour and glory. Enfeebled as it was, the empire was incapable of checking the advance of the Ottomans, and in 1453 Constantinople finally fell into their hands. The fall signalled the end of the empire. Nevertheless, the Byzantine intellectual tradition remained significant, as many scholars settled in the Venetian dominions of Crete and the Peloponnese, as well as in European countries, conveying Greek learning to the West.
The castle: The castle of Mystras or Myzithra was founded in 1249 by the Frankish Prince William II de Villehardouin. It lies on the top of a mound in the foothills of Mt. Taygetus, a few miles to the north-west of Lacedaemon, as Sparta was known in the Byzantine era. The hill is naturally fortified; it is completely inaccessible from the south and southeast, as the rock rises almost vertically to an incredible height. However, the view of the Eurotas river valley is not blocked by anything to the north, east and south - the site is crucial to controlling the area. The name Mystras is probably derived from some landowner in the area whose surname or profession was Myzithras (a cheese maker).The Franks built a strong castle for the effective control of the south Peloponnese. However, in order to free William after the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259, three years later they were forced to surrender the fortresses of Monemvasia, Mani and Mystras to the Byzantines.Over the next few years, the security provided by the hill prompted the people of Lacedaemon and the surrounding villages to settle on the hillside below the castle. There they built houses, using marble and other building material from the ruins of ancient Sparta and their former properties. The Diocese of Lacedaemon moved its headquarters to Mystras in 1264, followed in 1289 by the annually elected general at the head of the military in the Morea. The cathedral dedicated to Agios Demetrios was built in the last third of the 13th century, possibly by Bishop Eugene, and was renovated by Nicephorus Moschopoulos from Constantinople. Outstanding figures in Mystras must have included Daniel and chancellor Pachomius, who founded Agioi Theodoroi (before 1296) and Aphentiko (1310), the two successive catholica at Vrontochi Monastery. From 1308 onwards the annually elected commander was replaced by a permanently appointed official.In 1348 Mystras became capital of the Despotate of the Morea, first governed by Manuel Cantcuzenus (1348-1380), second son of Emperor John VI. Manuel wedded Princess Isabella, the daughter of Guy de Lusignan, King of Armenia Minor. To Greeks she is better known as Isabeau, from a widely read fictional biography. In around 1350 Manuel founded the Monastery of the Zoodochos Christos (the Life-giving Christ), which has been identified as the present day church of Agia Sophia. Isabella appears to have founded Peribleptos Monastery at about the same time.In 1383 the command of Mystras passed from the Cantacuzenus family to the Palaeologus family, which then held the throne in Constantinople. Theodore I Palaeologus, son of Emperor John V, put a stop to the separatist aspirations of Demetrios, last of the Cantacuzeni. The administration of Mystras always depended on the delicate balance between enemies and friends. On the one hand, the city’s inhabitants had high morale and a strong sense of national consciousness, as a result of years of war and forced cohabitation with the Franks, Venetians and Albanians, who had begun to arrive in the Peloponnese in waves from the 13th century onwards, as well as with Jews, who had settled on the outskirts of the city. The inhabitants reacted vigorously when Theodore attempted to lease Mystras to the Knights Hospitaller in 1402, thus cancelling the settlement. On the other hand, there were continuous conflicts between the rulers and the population over high taxation and other burdens. In 1423 the Ottomans pillaged the Peloponnese, but in 1429, after the successes of Theodore II Palaeologus and the new emperor John VIII, a new Despotate was created with Glarentza as its capital, followed in 1430 by a third based at Kalavryta. It was then, in this period of final triumph, that the monasteries of the Annunciation and Pantanassa were built at Mystras. However, of the three Palaeologus brothers who laid claim to rule of the Morea and even of Constantinople itself - Theodore, Thomas and Constantine - only the latter remained in Mystras until 1449. He then left for the capital to ascend the throne, without having been officially crowned. After 1453 the Ottomans had the upper hand in the Peloponnese, and it was only a matter of time before they conquered the last Byzantine strongholds. In 1460 Demetrios Palaeologus surrendered Mystras to Mehmet II, when threatened by his mighty army, while Thomas left to Italy from Patras.Mystras was a large city for its time, and the heart of the Peloponnese for close on two centuries. Major figures of the time walked its narrow streets - laymen and clergy who determined not only the fate of the city, but possibly also that of Europe. The most famous of all was the philosopher Georgius Gemistus Plethon, who held high government office. Indeed, at the synod on the Union of the Churches, it was Plethon who led to the revival of interest in classical culture in Florence. In 1464, during the unsuccessful Venetian siege of Mystras, Lord Sigismondo Malatesta managed to enter the city and loot the corpse of Plethon, which he deposited alongside those of other wise men at his court in Rimini.


Bibliography (5)

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5. Μπούρας Χαράλαμπος, Ιστορία της Αρχιτεκτονικής, 1994


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