Palace of Daphne

[1] The exact layout and appearance of the palace is unclear, since it lies under the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, and the only surviving evidence comes from literary sources.

[3] The Daphne belonged to the earliest building phase of the palace complex, that of Constantine I, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium into Constantinople, his new capital, as well as his immediate successors.

[4] This complex included the residential wing of the koitōn ("bedchamber") of the Daphne proper, the Octagon, and the chapel of St Stephen,[5] built in ca.

[6] The Daphne was connected to the hall (triklinos) of the Augusteus (Greek: Αὐγουστεύς, not to be confused with the Augustaion square), also one of the oldest parts of the imperial palace.

[2] After the 11th century, the Daphne seems to have fallen into disrepair and gradual ruin, a process exacerbated by the plundering of the remaining structures for metals and architectural elements under the Latin Empire (1204–1261).