By Nikolaos Thymakis | Agricultural Engineer MSc, Deputy Manager of Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia, PhD Candidate in Landscape Architecture, Politecnico di Milano (under the supervision of Prof. Neratzia Tzortzi)
Thematic Overview
The encroachment of the world relates to the planting of a garden, an image that expresses the creative character of apostasy. This consists of denying evil, with parallel care of the inner true man, until it becomes a divine temple. Gardens, meadows, and paradises can be integrated in the broadest sense into the philosophy of Byzantine society. In descriptions of gardens, there are several other features, like fountains (especially in Constantinople). These descriptions, combined with details of various buildings in Byzantine Chronography, offer insight into gardens in great urban centers and monasteries. Many scholars today study palace gardens such as “Mesokipion” and “Maggana”, medical texts, monastic estates, rural society, and agriculture in Byzantium. Conferences, Events, and Symposia relating to Byzantium have started to devote attention to Horticulture, Agriculture, and Gardens in general.
One important factor in the study of medieval gardens is the location of a monastery or a church. This was usually focused on a source of water, like a natural spring, pond, or river. The water source could be diverted to various locations throughout the monastery to be used for cooking, bathing, and watering vegetation. Identifying a reliable source of water was an essential element for the self-sufficiency of monasteries, especially important for farming activities and product sufficiency. Perivolion, an edible garden, was (and still is to this day) a basic element of gardens in Byzantine monasteries.
Several types of gardens have been studied to date. It seems that ornamental gardens existed alongside fruit and vegetable gardens, in parks that enhanced the large towns; other gardens surrounded imperial palaces, residences of the aristocracy, and monasteries.
It is, nevertheless, difficult to reconstruct or visualize these landscapes. Research on areas to the north of the Byzantine Empire (Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Croatia, Kosovo, etc.) offers valuable evidence on the topic. There are several Byzantine churches, serving either as active local chapels, churches, or monasteries, or are now in ruins, but with significant landscape and cultural impact in their area. Several of them are characterized as exceptional cultural heritage monuments (ICOMOS, EUROPA NOSTRA, UNESCO, CULTURAL ROUTES of COUNCIL OF EUROPE) and their gardens could be a part of the European Historic Gardens Network and some of them (maybe) in Historical Botanic Gardens Network.
The sites (landscapes) of the monasteries have been selected based on their general ecological distinction in the ecosystems (environments) of the Byzantine Empire. The research seeks to uncover whether the criteria for the selection of sites (landscapes) correlate with ecozones and the blooming species mentioned in the Bible, and/or religious art through the centuries (pictures, paintings, photographs, browsers, descriptions, etc.).
Several key sites include:
-St. Ivan of Rila Monastery, Rila, Bulgaria
-Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery, Rozhen Monastery, Melnik, Bulgaria
-St. Ioannis the Theologian, Kaneo, Lake Orchid, North Macedonia
-Ephrasian Basilica-Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Mary, Porec, Croatia
-St. Joannikije of Devic, Devic, Kosovo.
These monasteries are treated as “case studies”. The research would have several parameters such as location, landscape context, lines, planting methodology, plants and vegetation, as well as biodiversity, watering systems, soil, and ecological consequences. Regarding the buildings, there are several references and reports concerning gates, the main church, guesthouses, cell wings, phiale, kiosks, and boathouses (if near the sea), etc. Details of ruins (paths, walls, walled gardens), remaining trees and plantings, as well as garden units can also be identified through this research, as are related art objects (paintings, mosaics), maps, and drawings. Finally, social, cultural, and daily life could be another source of research for cultivation traditions, including food production that included these gardens.
Key Issues and Debates
We have very little information about the gardens of Byzantium. In almost all cases, no archaeological remains of gardens have been excavated. Most details about Byzantine gardens are preserved in historical sources. These include descriptions (“ekphrases”) of gardens in rhetorical and philosophical texts, such as novels or myths, as well as representations in monuments and artistic objects. Byzantine gardens have their own distinct characteristics and developed throughout the empire and in the decades after 1453.
Today, some bibliography and research on the topic of Byzantine Gardens has emerged, more organized in the last 30 years. This research describes types of product gardens, but also recreational gardens and imaginary or symbolic gardens.
Byzantine Gardens were more than just gardens. The term “garden” has numerous meanings depending on the occupation of the person who was tending to it. Usually, a garden was associated with a region or a plot of land that was cultivated. “The Garden” was closely related with meditation, medication, the Eating Habits, the Bible, as well as other psychological, biological, and spiritual factors. Most of the previous research has primarily relied on Byzantine Rhythm in Architecture rather than in the landscape development that surrounded the building units. However, the documents that mention the garden scheme focus on the principles of the Byzantine Garden Design. Also, importance has been given to the symbolism of the plants and other elements included in gardens.
There are specific links between monasteries in the Byzantine period and modern monastic communities through ecological “models” such as Botanical Gardens, Healing Gardens, Rural Landscapes with Traditional Farming techniques, and Symbolic Trees.
Consistent with these premises, the research focuses on Byzantine gardens as revealed through several sources, based on the few textual sources available for facts and data and specific case studies (monasteries and churches), as well as approaches that link the garden with religious, social, culture, topographica, and daily activities. The research also examines the impact of monasteries and churches with Byzantine gardens as urban landscapes developed around these sites. The model describes through a typology the thematic elements of the Byzantine Garden and their impact on daily life, as well as the connections with the surrounding or neighboring area and structures. The elements that transferred from the period of the 13th-17th century until today within the garden context of each monastery also contribute to the research.
The literature review on this topic has been carried out according to different approaches, all useful to build a comprehensive picture:
i) a progressive collection of documents, selected for their relevance and analyzed in depth, which have allowed for a better framing of the problem. These are liturgical and holy texts, Byzantine art, and historical sources referring to Byzantine gardens and monastic rural areas. Horticulture/Botany and Landscape/Gardening resources are also included to support both the theoretical and practical dimensions of this research.
ii) a structured research and literature review, based on keywords and several interviews with different fields scientists, specialists, and individuals closely related to the topic (theologists, byzantinologists, botanists, bandscape architects, paleographic experts, bishops, priests, monks) aimed at providing a qualitative overview of research trends.
References
Downey, G. “Nicolas Mesarites: Descriptions of the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47 (1957): 862–864.
Bakke. J. “The vanished gardens of Byzantium. Gardening, Visual Culture, and Devotion in the Byzantine Orthodox Tradition.” In Bodin & Hedlund, eds. Byzantine Gardens and Beyond. Uppsala, 2013.
Della Dora, V. “Landscape, Nature, and the Sacred in Byzantium.” In Early Christian Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Littlewood A. “Gardens of Byzantium.” Journal of Garden History 12, 1992.
Further Reading
Constantinides, N.C. “Byzantine Gardens and Horticulture in the Late Byzantine Period, 1204-1453: The Secular Sources.” In Byzantine Garden Culture, eds. Henry Maguire, Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahnm and Antony Littlewood. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2002.
A study about the uses of gardens in the everyday life of the monasteries and the neighboring communities, including impact on diet, cultivation, symbolism, and religious life.
Górecki D.M. “The Slavic Theory of Byzantine Rural Community in Soviet and Post-Soviet Historiography.” Byzantinoslavica 67 (2019): 337-364.
A study about rural life and practices, including the cultivation of farms and gardens in Byzantine monasteries.
Littlewood A. “Possible Future Directions.” In Byzantine Garden Culture, eds. Henry Maguire, Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahnm and Antony Littlewood. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2002.
A study for the future direction of the topic and research for the crucial questions referring to the effects of Byzantine gardens in modern times.
Maguire H., and A. Terry A. “The Wall Mosaics of the Cathedral of Euphrasius in Poreč: Third Preliminary Report.” Hortus Artium Medievalium 7 (2020): 131-166.
This articles analyzes mosaics and their floral or landscape elements, from Byzantium to today.
Nordic Byzantine Network, “Byzantine Gardens and Beyond”, SCAS, Symposium, Uppsala University, 7-11 April 2011.
A scholarly gathering that discussed how elements of Byzantine gardens resonate today in local societies and religious life.
This contribution was sponsored by the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross.
