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Byzantine Heritage Depicted: the Aqueduct of Valens in the Historical Topography of Istanbul

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Byzantine Heritage Depicted: the Aqueduct of Valens in the Historical Topography of Istanbul BYZANTINE HERITAGE DEPICTED: THE AQUEDUCT OF VALENS IN THE HISTORICAL TOPOGRAPHY OF ISTANBUL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY FATMA SARIKAYA IŞIK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE OCTOBER 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Yaşar Kondakçı Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Prof. Dr. F. Cânâ Bilsel Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Assist.Prof.Dr. Pelin Yoncacı Arslan Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Suna Güven (METU, AH) Assist. Prof. Dr. Pelin Yoncacı Arslan (METU, AH) Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu (Boğaziçi Uni, HIST) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Fatma Sarıkaya Işık Signature : iii ABSTRACT BYZANTINE HERITAGE DEPICTED: THE AQUEDUCT OF VALENS IN THE HISTORICAL TOPOGRAPHY OF ISTANBUL SARIKAYA IŞIK, Fatma M.A., Department of History of Architecture Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Pelin Yoncacı Arslan October 2019, 228 pages The Aqueduct of Valens is one of the surviving urban elements referring back to the historical layers of the city of Istanbul. In the early Byzantine era, the intra-mural water bridge was constructed as a part of the longest Roman waterlines reaching from the Thracian Peninsula. During the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, the Aqueduct maintained its critical operation for supplying water and, at the same time protected its urban presence in the urban topography. It developed into an urban monument as a distinctive feature of the Byzantine cityscape and a complementary memorial of the subsequent Ottoman capital. With the promise of analyzing the status of the Byzantine Aqueduct of Valens in the urban space of Ottoman Istanbul, this thesis aims to investigate the depictions of the monument and analyze its cultural, spatial and urban interactions in the ever-changing imperial topography. Under the light of visual documents such as maps, panoramas, miniatures and other forms of illustrations, and by a framing timeline from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, this study appreciates the ‘timeless monumentality’ of the Aqueduct of Valens in the city of Istanbul. The monument’s urban roles and functions will be analyzed by exploring its viewing, visibility and its reciprocity with the surrounding elements, especially with the monumental ones. iv Keywords: Valens Aqueduct, Urban Monument, Urban Representation, Visual Memory, Ottoman Istanbul. v ÖZ TASVİRDEKİ BİZANS MİRASI: İSTANBUL’UN TARİHİ TOPOGRAFYASINDA VALENS SU KEMERİ SARIKAYA IŞIK, Fatma Yüksek Lisans, Mimarlık Tarihi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Pelin Yoncacı Arslan Ekim 2019, 228 sayfa Valens Su Kemeri, İstanbul şehrinin tarihi katmanlarına atıfta bulunan, günümüzde ayakta kalmış olan kentsel unsurlardan biridir. Bu kemer, Bizans döneminde Trakya Yarımadası'na uzanan en uzun Roma su yolunun bir parçası olarak Suriçi’nde inşa edilmiş ve hem Bizans hem de Osmanlı dönemi boyunca, şehre su temini için faaliyetini sürdürmüştür. Diğer taraftan, Bizans kent manzarasının ayırt edici bir özelliği ve Osmanlı başkentinin tamamlayıcı bir parçası olarak kentsel bir anıt haline gelmiştir. Bu tez, Valens Su Kemeri’nin Osmanlı İstanbul’unun kentsel alanındaki statüsünü analiz etme vaadi ile şehir tasvirlerini değerlendirmeyi ve bu su yapısının değişmekte olan imparatorluk topografyasındaki kültürel, mekansal ve kentsel etkileşimlerini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, on beşinci yüzyıldan on sekizinci yüzyıla uzanan bir zaman çizelgesiyle, haritalar, panoramalar ve minyatürler gibi çeşitli görsel belgeler ışığında, bu çalışma Valens Su Kemeri'nin kent içerisindeki “zamansız anıtsallığını” kavramaktadır. Bu su yapısının kentsel rolleri ve işlevleri, onun görünüşünü, görünürlüğünü ve çevresindeki unsurlarla, özellikle anıtsal elemanlarla olan karşılıklı ilişkisini araştırmak suretiyle analiz edilmiştir. vi Anahtar Kelimeler: Valens Su Kemeri, Bozdoğan Kemeri, Kentsel Topografya, Kentsel Bellek, Osmanlı İstanbul’u. vii To the most idealist woman and instructor, I have ever met, Ayşe Hoca’ma, viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For the first and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis advisor, Assist. Prof. Dr. Pelin Yoncacı Arslan for her precious mentorship and support during this long process. I will always appreciate her enthusiastic collaboration, precise perfectionism and inspiring criticisms that made my study an accomplished master thesis. I will also be grateful to her friendship, encouraging me for my graduate studies and for further academic career. I would like to thank the examining committee members, first Prof. Dr. Suna Güven for her constructive comments and distinctive viewpoint substantially contributing to my thesis; and Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu for her insightful criticisms, comprehensive suggestions and meticulous examination promoting the main discussions of my study. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Namık Günay Erkal for his mind-opening discussions and inspiring comments on my thesis proposal at the beginning of this process. I want to express my thanks to Dilara Burcu Giritlioğlu for being my thesis- comrade and for sharing my excitement and distress with her sincere friendship; Elif Bilge and Şehri Kartal for their patience in my unending questions and their sincere helpfulness; Ayşegül Sarıkaya, Hayrunnisa Erçerçi, Şule Yıldız, Zeynep Yaviç, Eren Yazıcı, Gülenay Yılmaz, İrem Güngör, Neslihan Ateş, İlknur Kaya, Zeynep Şeyma Divleli and all my close friends for their endless support make my life easier in every possible occasion. I would like to thank my family for their blessings and continuous moral support and, for waiving the times we could spend together. I also indebted to Oğlüş, my bewildered cat, for escorting me to the endless nights (on top of my writing-table.) Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Musa Işık, my other half, for his devotion to my encouragement; and always being there with his high-calorie foods and calming support. I appreciate his presence in every step of my life. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION ......................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 2. APPROACHING THE AQUEDUCT OF VALENS .............................................. 2.1. A Brief History of Constantinople .............................................................. 16 2.2. Constantinople and the Access to Water ..................................................... 34 2.3. The Aqueduct of Valens .............................................................................. 55 3. THE EMERGENCE OF THE AQUEDUCT OF VALENS IN THE CITYSCAPE OF ISTANBUL ................................................................................ 3.1. Early Illustrations of Constantinople ........................................................... 63 3.2. The Ottoman City and the Aqueduct of Valens ........................................... 67 4. THE CITY VIEWED BY OTTOMANS ................................................................ 4.1. The Ottoman Perception of the Aqueduct of Valens .................................. 79 4.2. The Technical Projections of the Water Bridge .......................................... 94 5. THE BYZANTINE BRIDGE ON THE SKYLINE ................................................ 5.1. A Prelude to the Northern Panorama of Istanbul: The Sixteenth-Century Panoramic Views ................................................................................................................ 98 x 5.2. Diversity in the Genre: The Seventeenth-Century Panoramic Presentations of Istanbul ............................................................................ 107 5.3. The Eighteenth-Century Panoramas in Search of Accuracy ..................... 118 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 127 6.1. Beyond the Practical Role .......................................................................... 129 6.2. Belonging to the Imperial Landscape ........................................................ 131 6.3. Lasting on the Monumental Skyline .........................................................
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