Today I came across a new Twitter feed, @ConstantineCity, publishing additions to https://cityofconstantine.com/, “Cataloging the remnants of Roman Constantinople in Istanbul”. This is a great idea, which I wonder nobody has had before.
The website doesn’t seem to have much on it, but the twitter feed does. Here is a tweet on the Studios monastery:
Stoudios Monastery: Monastic complex founded in the 5th c. and dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Its main basilica is still standing, albeit roofless, with elaborate flooring exposed to the elements.
The last image must be taken by a drone, which highlights how useful these things can be.
A Google search for “İmrahor İlyasbey Anıtı” or “Imrahor camii” – Camii is Turkish for mosque – will find more photos of the main basilica.
The Studios monastery is immensely important in the transmission of Greek culture. The Greek minuscule book hand was supposedly developed there in the 9th century, replacing the larger uncial hand. The Wikipedia article (caution!) is here.
This is splendid – many thanks! I finally caught up with St. Theodore the Studite’s On the Holy Icons as so readably translated by Catharine P. Roth (after having known her in Oxford), but I can’t recall ever hearing of this survival, or thinking of trying to find out if anything survived!