From an Archaeological Excavation to Inertia: The Unfinished Story of the Church of St. Polyeuktos

The Church of St. Polyeuktos, located in Istanbul’s Saraçhane district, is a significant yet long-neglected urban archaeological site. Discovered during the construction of an underpass in 1960, the church became the focus of excavation efforts led by Dumbarton Oaks (DO) right after the discovery. Despite completed excavations in 1969, number of conservation laws enacted since and developing institutional infrastructure for the protection of cultural heritage, the site was neglected for over five decades. The article examines the roles of key institutions, including the Byzantine Institute of America, Istanbul Archaeological Museums, and municipal authorities, highlighting the entanglement of archaeology with politics, diplomacy, and heritage policy in the 1960s, comprehensively using the documents in DO Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives for the first time. It also features the architectural drawings of the archaeological park project for the first time in a publication, which were designed in the late 1960s. The article argues that the neglect of the site cannot be attributed solely to political disinterest in Byzantine heritage but is symptomatic of broader structural issues in cultural heritage management, including institutional inertia, the absence of long-term planning, and a disconnect between legal frameworks and implementation. Renewed excavation campaigns launched by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 2022, and the emergence of new archeological park projects, signal a potential turning point. However, the article contends that realizing an archaeological park at the site requires a shift from design-driven approaches to integrated, interpretive strategies grounded in participatory and interdisciplinary collaboration.