shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkey

on the Fourth Hill of Istanbul, beneath the Fatih Mosque

Church of the Holy Apostles

— the church the city remembers in absence.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“The Church of the Holy Apostles stood on the Fourth Hill of Constantinople for more than a thousand years — burial place of Constantine and most of the Byzantine emperors, second in importance only to Hagia Sophia. It fell into ruin after 1453 and was demolished in 1461 to make room for the Fatih Mosque. The artwork holds the church as it once stood, in the colour the city still remembers.

from the studio

— bring it home

Church of the Holy Apostles, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Church of the Holy Apostles

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

The Church of the Holy Apostles stood on the Fourth Hill of Constantinople, in the Fatih district of modern Istanbul. Founded by Constantine the Great around 330 and rebuilt by Justinian I in the 540s, it was a cruciform basilica with five domes — the model for St Mark's in Venice and the Basilica of St John at Ephesus. It served as the imperial mausoleum from Constantine through the eleventh century. After the Ottoman conquest the building decayed; Mehmed II had it demolished in 1461 and built the original Fatih Camii on the site.

— informed by Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica

— the stone

The Justinianic rebuild was the second great cruciform church of the empire after Hagia Sophia. Five domes rode the four equal arms and the crossing; the central dome was raised on a windowed drum, the four arm-domes lower. Procopius described it in the 550s. Mosaics covered the interior — scenes of the life of Christ documented by Nicholas Mesarites around 1200. The sarcophagi of the emperors lined the side aisles in porphyry, green Thessalian, and white Proconnesian marble. Nothing of the building survives above ground.

— informed by Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Studies

— the visit

There is nothing of the Byzantine church to see in person — the present Fatih Mosque (rebuilt after the 1766 earthquake) covers the site. The mosque is open to visitors outside prayer times, free, on the Fourth Hill of Fatih district. Mehmed II's tomb is in the adjacent türbe garden. The closest tram stop is Aksaray on the T1 line, then a fifteen-minute walk uphill. Archaeologists have probed the courtyard over several decades but no church foundations have been confirmed and published.

— informed by Wikipedia: Fatih Mosque

— where

Turkey · Fatih, Istanbul

— elevation

60 m · 197 ft

— position

41.0193° N · 28.9497° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

at the lake

Fatih Mosque

mosque

3 km E

Hagia Sophia

former cathedral

1 km SE

Valens Aqueduct

Roman aqueduct

3 km NW

Chora Church

Byzantine church

Church of the Holy Apostles

Fatih Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Valens Aqueduct

Chora Church

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Church of the Holy Apostles — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

On the Fourth Hill of Constantinople, in what is now the Fatih district of Istanbul. The Fatih Mosque stands on or very near the original footprint. The church was second only to Hagia Sophia in imperial importance.

Constantine the Great founded the original around 330. Constantius II completed it after his father's death. Justinian I demolished the original and built the great cruciform rebuild that was consecrated in 550.

Most of the Byzantine emperors from Constantine the Great through the eleventh century, along with their families and several patriarchs. The porphyry sarcophagi were broken up after the Fourth Crusade and the Ottoman demolition.

Mehmed II had the ruined church demolished in 1461 to clear ground for his own mosque complex, the original Fatih Camii. The Byzantine building had been decaying since the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

Nothing of it stands. The site is occupied by the eighteenth-century rebuild of the Fatih Mosque. The closest surviving Byzantine echo is St Mark's Basilica in Venice, which copied the five-dome plan.

— about the piece in your home

It often does. The piece restores a building that has been gone for more than five hundred years — the burial church of the emperors. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

The palette runs in gold, porphyry, and Byzantine deep blue. It sits well in Traditional rooms with dark wood, in ecclesiastical studies, and in Maximalist interiors that already carry icon work or mosaic.

A Large reads as the hero piece above a console. Above a full sofa, a four-tile or nine-tile Mural holds the wall. The Medium suits a narrow entry, a chapel, or a study.

Yes — order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room that sees water or steam. Both are scratch-resistant and read cleanly under task lighting. The Glossy finish belongs on a dry wall.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and lives beneath a thin finish, so the artwork will not lift or fade with normal cleaning.

— if this one stayed with you

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