Research Project conducted under the supervision of Professor Stavros Mamaloukos and realized as postdoctoral research by Athanasios Koumantos and Ioannis Perrakis.

Overview

This project was started in the academic year 2019–20 at the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic Faculty of the University of Patras. The object of this project is the study of two very important coastal cities of Eastern Thrace, namely Ainos and Selymbria, both situated in the periphery of Constantinople. The chronological focus of the project is from Late Antiquity (3th century AD) to the early 20th century. The two cities have parallel historical courses and many common cultural elements.

The primary components of this research are:

1) The location and documention (in photos and architectural drawings) of all the remaining monuments of various periods based on careful field research, 

2) Systematic study of surviving artifacts (icons, sacred objects, etc.) as well as relevant published archaeological finds,

3) Research in various archives in Greece and abroad,

4) Systematic study of all relevant bibliography, written sources, old photos, aerial photos, old and new maps, drawings, etc.,

4) Study of oral testimonies in recorded interviews of old people, both old Greek and new Turkish residents, who retain in their memory old names, the location or description of lost buildings, etc.

Based on the findings and conclusions of the above research, the primary aim of the project is to study the history, urban planning evolution, architecture, and art of both cities, with the ultimate goal of portraying in topographical drawings and in 3D depictions the true form of the cities in various historical phases.

Further Reading

Mamaloukos, Stavros. “Middle and Late Byzantine church architecture in the periphery of Constantinople.” In Ērōs Ktistēs. Mnēmē Charalampou Boura, Melissa, edited by Manolēs Korres and Stauros Mamaloukos and Kostas Zampas and Fanē Mallouchou-Tufano, v. 2, 97–124. Athens: Melissa, 2018.

Mamaloukos, Stavros, and Perrakēs, Iōannēs. “The Church of Theotokos Chrysopege at Ainos (Enez).” In 4th International Symposium on Thracian Studies, Byzantine Thrace: Evidence and Remains, Komotini, 18–22 April 2007, Proceedings, edited by Charalampos Bakirtzēs and Nikos Zēkos and Xenophon Moniaros, Byzantinische Forschungen 30 (2011): 503–535, fig. 844–859.

Mamaloukos, Stavros and Perrakēs, Iōannēs. “O naos tēs Theotokou Chrysopēgēs stēn Aino" [The church of Theotokou Chrysopege at Ainos]. In 4ο Διεθνές Συμπόσιο Θρακικών Σπουδών. Βυζαντινή Θράκη: Μαρτυρίες και Κατάλοιπα, Κομοτηνή, 18–22 Απριλίου 2007. Περιλήψεις, Κομοτηνή, 2007, 47–48. 

Mamaloukos, Stauros. “Sympliromatika stoicheia gia tēn architektonikē tēs katholikēs ekklēsias (Fatih Tzami) tēs Ainou / Additional notes on the architecture of the “Katholike Ekklesia” (Fatih Camii) at Ainos (Enez).” Peri Thrakēs 5 (2005-2006): 11–39.

Perrakēs, Iōannēs. “Xyloglypta templa se naous tēs perifereias Ainou.” In Scientific Conference. The wood-carved iconostasis of Post-Byzantine times (16 th – 19 th c.). Programme. Abstracts of papers. 30-11, 1-12-2018. Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, 2018, 11.