ABSTRACT
The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 permanently altered the sacred landscape of this important Greek Orthodox city. The gradual transformation of the Orthodox landscape in Ottoman Istanbul provides an interesting example of a landscape in transition. This chapter focuses on the formation of Greek Orthodox neighbourhoods after the Ottoman conquest in order to explore the reciprocal relationship between the location of religious buildings – especially the Patriarchate, the chief church of the Greek Orthodox patriarch – and surrounding Orthodox communities. It pays particular attention to the previously neglected social features of the developments. The chapter examines the relationship between the evolution of the sacred Orthodox landscape of Ottoman Istanbul and wider shifts in the city's population. It analyses the immediate consequences of the Ottomans' arrival in the city. The presence of royal members of the semi-autonomous principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia added a special character to the Orthodox landscape of Fener.
