A History Built on Ruins: Venice and the Destruction of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople

Abstract

In 1463, construction was underway on the Fatih Mosque Istanbul by Sultan Mehmet II. According to one of the Sultan's ambassadors, the Mosque was located in the best site of the city. The site of the new mosque was the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had served as a site of Byzantine imperial ceremony. While the circumstances of its destruction remain murky, Israel argues that the demolition of the church was subsumed into the rhetoric of conflict as Mehmet conquered Venetian territory along the Adriatic, and as Pope Pius II tried to stir enthusiasm for a crusade. Against this backdrop of political strife, this article explores the reproduction and redefinition of the Church of the Holy Apostles through traces of its relics and architectural forms as the Republic again redefined their relationship with the Byzantine Empire, claiming inheritance over its patrimony.