Constantinople Reimagined: Tracing Byzantium’s Afterlife in Republican Istanbul’s Built Environment

This paper examines Istanbul’s Byzantine architectural heritage during Turkey’s Republican era (post-1923) through the congress theme “Byzantium beyond Byzantium,” analyzing the Historical Peninsula as a palimpsest of cultural memory. Emerging from war in 1923, Istanbul faced demographic decline and urban decay, yet excavations revealed enduring Byzantine strata—churches, city walls, spoliated elements—integrated into Ottoman and modern structures. The study traces four phases: early Republican secular-scientific archaeology (1923–1950); mid-century urbanization and ideological shifts, such as the 1953 conquest anniversary sidelining Byzantine narratives (1950–1973); heritage legislation and NGO advocacy (1973–2000); and interdisciplinary, digitally augmented approaches post-2000. It critiques tensions between preservation and neoliberal urban development while highlighting how monuments like repurposed churches and toponyms bridge medieval and cosmopolitan Istanbul. By situating the city within the “global Middle Ages,” the paper underscores Byzantium’s Afro-Eurasian interactions with Greek, Ottoman, and Islamic traditions, expanding Nicolae Iorga’s Byzance après Byzance to include hybrid identities and diasporic memory. Despite globalization and demographic pressures, Istanbul’s Byzantine layer—though fragmented—remains a physical and cultural anchor, exemplifying transnational continuity. Systematic research, legal frameworks, and community-engaged strategies reveal how “unchanging entities” persist amid radical urban change, offering lessons for heritage preservation. The study advocates holistic methodologies—blending archival work, digital mapping, and archaeological excavation—to protect multilayered heritage as living intersections of history, space, and community. Aligning with international statutes, it calls for transcending chronological and imperial boundaries, affirming Byzantium’s enduring legacy in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond.