TURKEY: TURKISH ARCHAELOGISTS DISCOVER WHAT IS BELIEVE TO BE PART OF A FIFTH CENTURY BYZANTINE IMPERIAL PALACE
Record ID:
584930
TURKEY: TURKISH ARCHAELOGISTS DISCOVER WHAT IS BELIEVE TO BE PART OF A FIFTH CENTURY BYZANTINE IMPERIAL PALACE
- Title: TURKEY: TURKISH ARCHAELOGISTS DISCOVER WHAT IS BELIEVE TO BE PART OF A FIFTH CENTURY BYZANTINE IMPERIAL PALACE
- Date: 22nd July 1998
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 22, 1998) (RTV) 1. GV OF THE HAGIA SOFIA PAN TO DIGGING SITE 0.10 2. SV DIGGING SITE 0.21 3. SV OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE 0.28 4. SV SCAFFOLDING BY THE PALACE SITE (2 SHOTS) 0.42 5. SV/CU PAINTED WALL (2 SHOTS) 0.58 6. PAN UO OF INTERIOR PALACE 1.07 7. LAS DOME 1.12 8. PAN DOWN THE COLUMN 1.20 9. CU PALACE FLOOR 1.28 10. CU/SV OF REMNANTS OF PALACE (6 SHOTS) 2.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 6th August 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City:
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVAAN2U9G6P6DUQWEVM7EGX1LGEB
- Story Text: Turkish archaeologists have stumbled upon what is believed to be part of a vast fifth century Byzantine imperial palace buried beneath Istanbul's old city.
Although the Byzantine imperial palace is well-documented and its splendour recounted by early travellers, archaeologists had been unsure where to begin looking for the massive complex, now beneath a bustling hub of commercial and tourist activity.
In its heyday, the palace complex covered 100,000 square metres (120,000 square yards) and resembled a well contained mini-city, archaeologists say.
"We originally began excavating a late Ottoman structure, which we later found was interlaced with a 17th century building and a Byzantine structure," Alpay Pasinli, director of the Archaeological Museum said.
"What has been unearthed so far could be the remains of the old archives section of the palace," Pasinli told Reuters.
"These finds are important because, given their location, they are probably public or official buildings," said Pasinli.
He cautioned however that it was too early to say much more about the structure and its archaeological importance.
The Turkish archaeological team also unearthed a wall of vividly painted frescoes believed to be part of a Byzantine chapel or grave, dating back to the seventh century.
Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium, was founded in the fourth century A.D.as the opulent capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Ottoman Turkish Sultan Mehmet II conquered the city from the Byzantine Greeks in 1453 and renamed it Istanbul.
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