The land of beautiful horses : stables in middle Byzantine settlements of Cappadocia

Abstract

The present work is a study on horses and horse breeding in Middle Byzantine Cappadocia with special attention being paid to the architectural evidence, namely, the stables. The major aim here is to test the hypothesis that the landowner magnates living in monumental rock-cut mansions bred horses in their large stables to supply their own troops, as well as those of the imperial army. In order to evaluate this further, this thesis investigates the stables of the elite mansions in three settlements, Açık Saray, Çanlı Kilise, and Selime-Yaprakhisar. The architecture of the stables is discussed along with their possible functions and meanings. Architectural data is supplemented by literary evidence on horses and horse breeding in the Byzantine world.