Great Palace

   The official imperial residence in Constantinople (q.v.), situated east of the Hippodrome (q.v.), to which its residential wing, the Palace of Daphne, was connected. The Augustaion (q.v.) was situated on its north side, where the palace's main entrance, the Chalke (q.v.), was situated. The palace, begun by Constantine I (q.v.), consisted of groups of reception rooms, audience and banquet halls, chapels, throne rooms, and residences, linked by covered corridors and porticos. Among its famous buildings were the Chrysotriklinos, the Nea Ekklesia, and the triconch of Theophilos (qq.v.). Constantine VII's De ceremoniis (qq.v.) describes the palace in sufficient detail to reconstruct much of its layout, but actual excavations have been insufficient to identify specific buildings. The Great Palace and adjacent Hippodrome figured prominently in the Nika Revolt (q.v.) of 532. Komnenian emperors (q.v.), beginning with Alexios I (q.v.), preferred to live in the Blachernai palace (q.v.). The decline of the Great Palace began in 1204 when it was made the residence of the Latin emperors. It further declined under the Palaiologan dynasty (q.v.)