Πύλες και επιγραφή Άννας Παλαιολογίνας | Gates and epigraphy of Anna Paleologina

Gates and epigraphy of Anna Paleologina

Like other modern Hellenistic cities, Thessaloniki was fortified right after its establishment by King Cassander in 315 BC. His aim of building the new city was to create a new urban center of particular geopolitical importance that could communicate with the Balkan regions, through road and river arteries, but it would also facilitate trade between the city and great centers of commerce through the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Gates and  Anna Paleologina’s epigraph (inscription)

In the centuries that followed, the walls were repaired, supplemented, extended, parts of them were destroyed and rebuilt on the initiative of various Roman and Byzantine emperors. Communication between the city and the countryside was by means of gates that were opened on the four sides of the walls and locked at night for security reasons. In 1355 there were five gates in the eastern part of the wall. At this time, after the end of the Zealot movement, the Empress Anna Paleologina had settled in Thessaloniki. The Empress decided to work on the repair and improvement of the city walls as it was the time when Thessaloniki was preparing to fight against the attacks by John Kantakouzenos and Stephen Dusan, kralis (noble status) of the Serbs. At the same time two gates were opened in the wall which connected the Trigonio Tower with the courtyard of the Acropolis. Their construction dates back to 1355-1356, while they do not differ at all in the way they were built. They are based on two marble pillars, of which one bears the following engraved inscription: «ΑΝΗΓΕΡΘΗ Η ΠΑΡΟΥΣΑ ΠΥΛΗ ΟΡΙΣΜΩ ΤΗΣ ΚΡΑΤΙΑΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΙΑΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΚΥΡΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΔΕΣΠΟΙΝΗΣ ΚΥΡΑΣ ΑΝΝΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΝΗΣ ΥΠΗΡΕΤΗΣΑΝΤΟΣ ΚΑ[ΣΤΡΟ]ΥΛΑΚΟΣ ΙΩ(ΑΝΝΟΥ) ΧΑΜΑΕΤΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΚΟΙΑ[ΣΤΟΡΟΣ Τ]Ω ϚΩΞ[Δ΄ ΕΤΕΙ] ΙΝΔ(ΙΚΤΙΩΝΙ) Θ΄» meaning: “This gate was constructed by order of our almighty and respected Lady Anna Paleologina, at the time when John Hamaetos served as castle keeper and judicial governor in the year 6864 (=1355/56), indiction 9th”.

Gates and epigraphy of Anna Paleologina

Anna of Savoy (1306-1365), also known as Anna Paleologina or Giovanna, was born in Chambery in the Duchy of Savoy and was the daughter of Amedeo V of Savoy. After a marriage arrangement, she married Andronicus III Palaeologus. She exerted a great influence on her husband and on the Byzantine court, to which she introduced elements of Western culture, Western customs and chivalric practices such as jousting. After her husband’s death, Anna played an important role in the political life of the Empire. In 1341-1347, she became regent to her minor son John V. During this period she would come into conflict with John VI Kantakouzenos, who was proclaimed emperor in Thrace by the army. Anna, after being manipulated by two ambitious men, the patriarch Kaleka and Alexios Apokaukos, was led to misguided actions, such as mortgaging the imperial jewels, imprisoning Gregory Palamas and declaring allegiance to Pope Urban V. After the victory of Kantakouzenos, Anna’s son John V was sent to Thessaloniki as the second, inferior emperor in order to avoid a new civil war. As it did not take him long to find supporters there, most notably Stephen Dusan, Kantakouzenos sent Anna to mediate between her son and the Serbian ruler to prevent them from going against him. Through the negotiations she conducted, Thessaloniki was saved from the attack of Stefanos Dusan. Since then and for fourteen years Anna Paleologina would reign as an Empress in the region of Thessaloniki. She issued decrees and minted her own coinage. A series of archaeological documents attest to her status and power, as she is depicted on them crowned with the monogram A, i.e. Augusta. As an empress, she made various donations to monasteries in the city, the most important being that to Agioi Anargyroi in 1360. These donations endeared her to Orthodox priests, such as Nicholas Kavassilas, who composed a eulogy to honour her. She died in 1365 as a nun named Anastasia.

[Indicative sources: G. Gounari (1976), The Walls of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki: ΙΜΧΑ, G. Velenis (1988), The Walls of Thessaloniki: From Kassandros to Heraklio, Thessaloniki: University Studio Press, N. Poulou (2012), ‘The Walls’ in Impressions: The Byzantine Thessaloniki in photographs and drawings of the British School of Athens (1888-1910), L. Aspiotis (2003), The castles of Thessaloniki, 3rd edition, Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis Bros, K. Nigdeli (2016), Municipality of Neapolis-Sykeon “The great Kallikratian Municipality“]