The Boukoleon Palace (also spelled Bucoleon), currently being restored, was one of the most historically significant Byzantine palaces in Constantinople (modern Istanbul), serving as a crucial part of the massive imperial residential complex known as the Great Palace.
It was the summer palace and one of the principal imperial residences for Byzantine emperors, particularly from the 9th to the 11th centuries, before the court permanently moved to the Palace of Blachernae. It also housed the Byzantine imperial regalia and sacred relics.
Strategically located on the southern side of the city, it was built directly along the Sea of Marmara (Propontis) shoreline, south of the Great Palace and the Hippodrome. Its position on the sea walls gave it a stunning facade overlooking the water.
Boukoleon Palace, meaning “bull-lion” in Greek
The palace gets its name from a large marble sculpture (or perhaps two separate sculptures) that once stood at its private harbor, depicting a bull and a lion. The name Boukoleon literally means “bull-lion” in Greek.
The first building phase is often attributed to Emperor Theodosius II in the 5th century AD. It was extensively rebuilt and expanded by Emperor Theophilos (829–842) and fortified by Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (963–969), who made it his primary residence.
The palace was seized by Boniface of Montferrat
In 1204, during the Fourth Crusade’s sack of Constantinople, the palace was famously seized by Boniface of Montferrat, who discovered significant treasures and many Byzantine noblewomen who had fled there. It was said Montferrat:
“…rode all along the shore to the palace of Boukoleon, and when he arrived there it surrendered, on condition that the lives of all therein should be spared. At Boukoleon were found the larger number of the great ladies who had fled to the castle, for there were found the sister of the King of France, who had been empress, and the sister of the King of Hungary, who had also been empress, and other ladies very many. Of the treasure that was found in that palace I cannot well speak, for there was so much that it was beyond end or counting.” (Villehardouin)
Among the prizes, then, was Empress Margaret, daughter of Bela III of Hungary, whom Boniface married. During the subsequent Latin Empire (1204–1261), the Boukoleon continued to be used as an imperial residence.
Following the recapture of the city by Michael VIII Palaiologos, however, the palace, along with the entire Great Palace complex, was gradually abandoned in favor of the Blachernae Palace. It fell into ruin, a state in which the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II found it upon entering the city in 1453.
Today, only the impressive seaward facade of the palace, featuring three large marble-framed windows and a gallery, remains visible—a powerful ruin incorporated into the old sea walls of Istanbul.
Related: Constantinople: The Greek Settlement That Became the World’s Greatest City
