Özet:

The theories on space as being a multi-layered social construction have been influencing studies conducted in social sciences, especially the ones on literature, history, geography, theology and political science since 1960s. In the narrative historical sources such as chronicles, epics and hagiography, time and space (chronotrope) are the essential building blocks of the stories. Space in the historical sources is the container for the events and for the historical figures (factual or fictional) in which the characters may stand still or move. Space turns into a place through naming (toponym), manipulation of the landscapes (city architecture as well as arable land and social structures) and through telling stories about a particular place. This article examines Byzantine hagiography and Turkish Muslim epics in order to examine the way in which the cities of Byzantium (Diyar-ı Rum, Land of Rome) turn into “Turkish Muslim,” cities through toponymic changes and the creation of new foundation stories.

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