Golden Gate

The Golden Gate (ancient Greek Χρυσεία Πύλη Chryseía Pýlē, Latin Porta Aurea, Turkish Altınkapı) is a gate of the Theodosian Wall of Byzantine Constantinople.

History

At the beginning of the 5th century AD the praetorian prefect Anthemius, as guardian of the still underage Byzantine emperor Theodosius II, erected a new city wall. In connection with this new fortification of the city a magnificent city gate was built in the area of the introduction of the Via Egnatia coming from Rome, which was also to serve as a triumphal gate for ceremonial entries of the emperor.

In the years 674/675 the gate was a site of heavy attacks during the siege of the city by the Arabs. In the year 740 a statue of Theodosius standing on the central structure of the gate fell down in an earthquake. In 866 another earthquake also caused the bronze Nike statue to fall. In 1203 the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade besieged the gate. The foregate, which had been erected shortly before, was heavily damaged in the fighting in April 1204.

During the civil wars in the second half of the 14th century the gate had been expanded by John V into a small citadel. John VI had the gate further reinforced. In doing so the foregate was also reinforced and the façade was decorated with side‑mounted relief plates depicting mythological scenes. Due to the attack by Sultan Bayezid I the works had to be halted and the small castle partially demolished. Only the structures on the south tower and a large stair tower behind it remained.

After the Ottoman sultans captured Constantinople in 1453, the gate was incorporated in 1457/58 into the fortress Yedikule built under Sultan Mehmet II. The passages were walled up and the bridge in front of the gate was demolished. Of the relief panels attached to the outer gate since the end of the 14th century, 12 were still present in 1620. However, they were lost in the 17th century. The attempt by the English ambassador Thomas Roe to acquire some of the panels failed.

In 1894 a severe earthquake struck the region, during which the Golden Gate also suffered serious damage. The upper parts of the tower gates were affected, and numerous blocks fell down.

The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1927 in the courtyard and at the outer gate, uncovering fragments of the relief panels. In 1933 further investigations followed, during which Bruno Meyer‑Plath and Alfons Maria Schneider made a detailed architectural survey.

Architecture

The 66‑metre‑wide city gate consists on the land side of two massive towers made of marble blocks with an almost square base of about 17 × 18.3 metres, projecting from the line of the wall. They flank three passages of different widths and heights. These also consist of marble blocks. The arches are set in wedge‑stone joints. Piers and lintels frame these passages. The courtyard between the towers was paved with marble slabs. On the gate stood, among other things, statues of Theodosius II and the victory goddess Nike as well as an elephant team.

Its name was derived from gilded door leaves, which the passage apparently received after the victory over the Western Roman Emperor John in 425. This middle gate remained reserved for the emperor and normally stayed closed. Above the gate an inscription was apparently also placed in 425. On the field side it read: HAEC LOCA THEODOSIUS DECORAT POST FATA TYRANNI (“Theodosius decorated this place after the death of the tyrant”). On the city‑ward facing west side it read: AUREA SAECLA GERIT QUI PORTAM CONSTRUIT AURO (“He who built the golden gate ruled in a golden age”).

This inscription was the basis for scholarly discussions about whether the gate was actually built only under Theodosius II as part of the land wall or whether an earlier triumphal gate of Theodosius I could have been incorporated into the land wall. Since the inscription does not name the tyrant, it could refer to Theodosius I and his struggle against the Western Roman usurper Magnus Maximus. Sondagen confirmed in 1927 that the marble towers with the gate had been erected simultaneously, but they could not date the subsequent walls precisely, as these had been altered and repaired several times during the Komnenian period and the Ottoman Empire. In newer investigations of the corner connections between wall and towers, the time of origin under Theodosius II was again called into question. However, the Golden Gate of the Theodosian land wall is not mentioned in the Notitia urbis Constantinopolitanae, which could be an indication that the gate did not exist at the time of its composition (c. 425 AD). It is discussed that the land wall was torn down after the victory of Theodosius II over John in 425 and that the gate may have been installed or enlarged afterwards.