Everything about Blachernae totally explained
Blachernae was a suburb in the northwestern section of
Constantinople. It was the site of a
spring and a number of churches were built there, notably by
Pulcheria in the
5th century and by
Justinian I in the
6th century. These were originally outside the
city walls, until
627 when the walls were expanded to include this section of the city. The area was expanded to include an
imperial palace in the
11th century by
Alexius I, but the walls were still relatively weak, reinforced only by the ramparts of the palace. After Alexius, the
Palace of Blachernae became the main residence of the
emperors from 1081 AD to 1453 AD, though the old
Great Palace was still used for major imperial ceremonies.
Its weakness was first exposed in the
Fourth Crusade, when the invaders penetrated Blachernae. Blachernae was also the site of the
Blachernitissa, a church in honour of the
Theotokos (
Mother of God), which became the second-most important church in Constantinople after
Hagia Sophia, if only because the emperors' residence was nearby. In
1347,
John VI Cantacuzenus was
crowned there, instead of in Hagia Sophia. In
1453 during the
final siege of Constantinople, the
Ottomans attacked Blachernae with their large cannon, almost completely destroying the walls there; the Byzantine defenders failed to block the
Kerkoporta gate, enabling the Turks to enter the city.
After the Ottoman conquest, the sultan's residence was moved to
Topkapı Palace on the site of the ancient
acropolis of Byzantium, opposite to the original site of the Great Palace, which had by this time fallen into complete ruin, and the Blachernae area (with the exception of the
Palace of Porphyrogenitus) fell into disuse.
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