The Byzantine Court as a Physical Space

The Great Palace of Constantinople, in which the Byzantine Court had his physical centre for more than eighthundred years, expanded gradually from a rather compact fourth-century core into a vast complex of buildings, open spaces and passageways. The Great Palace served not only as the emperor’s residence, but also as the seat of govern-ment and the headquarters of the administration.

The aim of this paper is to give an overview how this develop¬ment took place, with spe-cial regard to the following questions:

1) What was the layout of the palace area in the first phase of its existence? Was the core of the Great Palace actually designed as a copy of the palace of Rome, or rather not?

2) How did the crisis of the seventh and eighth century affect the buildings and institu-tions of the palace? What happened thereafter during its reconstruction?

3) What were the reasons for the shifting of the active centre of the Great Palace to the south-west of the palace area?

4) How was the physical space of the Great Palace area experienced in court ceremonial by processions and receptions?

5) Why was the Great Palace partially abandoned since the late eleventh century, and by what were its former functions replaced?

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