The Byzantine churches founded by the emperor Constantine (324‒37)[1]
By Maria Vaiou
[1] ODB, 1, 498‒500; For the churches attributed to him, see G. Dagron, Naissance d‘ une capitale: Constantinople et ses institutions (Paris, 1974), 391‒409; J. Burckhardt, The age of Constantine the Great, (1852, tr. 1960); N. Baynes, Constantine the Great and the Christian church (1929; rev. 1972); S. N. C. Lieu, and D. Montserrat, eds., Constantine, history, historiography and legend (London, 1998); T. Grünewald, Constantinus Maximus Augustus. Herrschaftspropaganda in der zeitgenuössischen Uberlieferung (1992); and P. Stephenson, Constantine: unconquered emperor, Christian victor (London, 2009).
St. Acacius in Heptascalon [1] (13thc.)
Attributed to the emperor Constantine I by the patriographers and the ecclesiastical historian Nicephorus Callistus (d. 1335). The body of St. Acacius lay there. Near the Golden Horn on the street leading to the aqueduct. Existed in 359 when Macedonius[2] brought the corpse of Constantine the Great because the church of St. Apostles was ruined by an earthquake. Mentioned in the Notitia in Regio X. Restored by the emperors Justinian and Basil I. Mentioned by the pilgrim Anthony in 1200. In the end of the 13th century, the typikon of the monastery of the Sure Hope mentions that it was close to the church of St. Acacius. A church of St. Euphemia is attested nearby.
- Janin, Les églises et les monastères de Constantinople byzantine, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1969) [Janin2], 14‒5; idem, ‘Les processions religieuses a Byzance’, REB 24 (1966), 69‒88, 80; G. Majeska, Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the fourteenth and fifteenth ceturies (Washington, 1984), 354; A. Mordtmann, Equisse topographique de Constantinople (Lille, 1892), 12, 103, 106, 114; Skyl., 137; G. Codinus, ‘De Aedificiis CP.’, in Georgii Codini: excerpta de antiquitatibus Constantinopolitanis (Paris, 1655), 37‒64, 38, 39-40; Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae, ed. O. Seeck, Notitia dignitatum (Berlin, 1876), 237; Proc., I. iv. 25, 26; G. Downey, ‘Book Review of Janin’, Spec 28. 4 (1953), 895‒99, 896; idem, ‘The builder of the original church of the Apostles’, 56 n.4; G. T. Armstrong, ‘Constantine’s churches’, Gesta 6 (1967) , 1‒9, 2; Ch. Angelide, Pulcheria, : la castità al potere (c.399–c.455) (Milano, 1998), 68, 73; D. Woods, ‘The church of ‘St’ Acacius at Constantinople’, VC 55.2 (2001), 201-7; A. Berger, Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos (Bonn, 1988), 464‒8; N. Gregoras, Rhomäische Geschichte, Germ. tr. J. L. van Dieten, 5 vols (Stuttgart, 1973‒2003), V, A. 153; V Laurent, Fasc. IV, Les Regestes de 1208 a 1309 (Paris, 1971), N.1692, Crit. 1; D. Woods, ‘La chiesa di Sant’ Agazio a Constantinopoli’, Vivarium Scyllacense 16 (2005), 93‒100; D. N. Angelova, ‘The Life and afterlife of Pulcheria’s buildings’, in L. Jones (ed.), Byzantine images and their afterlives (Ashgate, 2014), 83‒103, 98n.58; P. Magdalino, ‘The maritime neighborhoods of Constantinople: commercial and residential functions, sixth to twelfth centuries’, DOP 54 (2000), 209–26, 221; M. Angold, Nicholas Mesarites, His life and works (in Translation) (Liverpool, 2017), index.
Mon. of St Michael en tois Promotou [3](14thc.)
Located at Arnavutköy or Kuruçesme on Bosphorus. Founded by the emperor Constantine. Feminine monastery where the wife of the emperor Julian the Apostate (361‒3) named Anastasia became nun. Rebuilt and extended by the emperor Justinian. The church is mentioned in the Chronicon Paschale in the context of the Avar attack in 624: the Avars pillaged the environs of Constantinople and carried their destruction up to St. Michael breaking up the holy altar of the church. A daughter of the emperor Basil I was buried there. Mentioned on the occasion of the removal of the church to the church of Virgin at Blachernae of precious metals and the casket with the Virgin’s robe. Restored by the emperor Isaac II. Patr. Joseph I (1266‒75, 1282‒3)[4] retired there. Mentioned in a patriarchal act of 1337. Janin identifies it with Michaelion of Anaplous.
CP, 165, n. 451; Armstrong, ‘Constantine’s churches’, 2; Janin2, 344‒5, 444-5; Berger, Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos, 704‒6; E. Zachariadou, ‘Ὁ ναός του Αρχαγγέλου Μιχαήλ (Djan Alıcı) της συνοικίας του Προμότου’, [The church of Archangel Michael (Djan Alıcı) of the district of Promotou’, in Ευφρόσυνον, Festschrift of Manolis Chatzedakes, 1 (Athens, 1991), 193–6; Proc., I. v.1, viii. 2, 6, 17; A. Cameron, ‘The Virgins robe: an episode in the history of early seventh-century Constantinople’ B 49 (1979), 42‒56; Cod., 46; Annals of Niketas Choniates, 243; Laurent, Fasc. IV, Les Regestes 1208 a 1309, N. 1426; J. Darrouzès, Les regestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople. I/5: Les regestes de 1310 à 1376 I/6: Les regestes de 1377 à 1410. I/7: Les regestes de 1410 à 1453. (Paris, 1977‒91), N. 2179; F. Miklosich–J. Müller, Acta et diplomata Graeca Mediiaevi Acta Patriarchatus Constantinopolitani 1315‒1402, vols 2 (Aalen, 1968), F. Miklosich–J. Müller, Acta et diplomata Graeca Mediiaevi Acta Patriarchatus Constantinopolitani 1315‒1402, vols 2 (Aalen, 1968), 1, LXXIV (6845‒1337), 168; P. Hatlie, The monks and monasteries of Constantinople, ca. 350‒850 (Cambridge, 2007), 469; Constantine Porphyrogennetos: The Book of Ceremonies, translated by Ann Moffatt and Maxeme Tall, with the Greek edition of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (1829), [Byzantina Australiensia 18, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies], 2 vols (Canberra, 2012), 649; K. Linardou, ‘A resting place for ‘The first of Angels’: the Michaelion at Sosthenion’, in A. Simpson (ed.) Byzantium, 1180–1204: ‘The sad quarter of a century’?(Athens, 2015), 245–59.
Mother of God at Sigma[5]
According to the patriographers, this church was constructed by the emperor Constantine. It was rebuild by the emperor Justinian and fell, 338 years later, by an earthquake (869), the day of St. Polyeuctus (9 January) (BHG 1568D) in the beginning of the reign of the emperor Basil, crushing all those who were inside. This is because this place was called seisma, sima or sigma. The attribution to the emperor Constantine must be rejected. It may be that the emperor Justinian built or repaired the church.. Rebuilt from the foundations by the emperor Basil I stronger and more beautiful. This event left its traces in the Byzantine calendar. The SynC gives the date for 9th January or 10th. Nothing is known about the church after the work made by the emperor Basil I.
Janin2, 230‒1; A. G. Paspates, Byzantinai Meletai Topographikai kai Historikai (Konstantinoupolis, 1877), 378-81; Patria Konstantinoupoleos, Scriptores originum Constantinopolitarum, ed. T. Preger (Leipzig, 1907, repr. 1989), iii, 182; A. Mordtmann, Equisse topographique de Constantinople (Lille, 1892), 136; Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum [CFHB 5] ed. H. Thurn (Berlin, 1973), 136; P. Gilles, tr. The antiquities of Constantinople (London, 1729) repr. (1986), 94; C. E. Arseven, Eski Istanbul, Abidat ve Mebanîsi. Şehrin Tesisinden Osmanlı Fethine Kadar (Old Istanbul. Monuments and Foundations. From the Foundation of the City to the Ottoman Conquest) (Istanbul, 1328/1912), 149; Cod., 60; Berger, Untersuchungen, 644‒5; P. Magdalino, ‘Medieval Constantinople: built environment and urban development’, in The economic history of Byzantium: from the seventh through the fifteenth century (D.O., 2002), 529‒37; idem, Studies on the history and topography of Byzantine Constantinople (Aldershot, 2007), 27‒8, n. 65.
Mon. of Archistrategus in Sosthenion[6] (Istinye) (15thc.?) *
The patriographers and certain chroniclers attribute the construction of the church to the emperor Constantine. This attribution is certainly an invention to give the sanctuary a great prestige, to compete with the one in Anaplous which appears to date back to the emperor Constantine. The legend was probably put in circulation at early time, because we find it in the historian Malalas at the end of the sixth century. The chronographers Cedrenus, and Theodosius of Melitene transmit this tradition, but in more obscure terms. The church was in ruins in the sixth century. Emperor Justinian demolished it and erected a new one on this site probably between 536 and 552. It is there that Vitalian established his general quarter when he tried to take the capital in 515; it is there also that the emperor Anastasius went in procession with the court to give thanks after the defeat of the rebel. The church enjoyed a great prestige in the 6th century, judging from an epigram of Agathias Scholasticus (536‒82). The Vita Basilii says that in the ninth cenrtury the church fell in ruins. The emperor Basil I reconstructed it and adorned it beautifully. He turned the site into a monastery dedicated to Archangel Michael and gave its Typikon. Restored by the emperor Isaac Comnenus as the historian Choniates’ detailed account informs us. During the Latin occupation, it fell to the hands of the west, as John Vatatzes bought it at the same time as others. Visited by the pilgrim Anthony. Theodoros Laskaris fled from Constantinople and in his effort to escape to Asia Minor he saved himself from the Crusaders who wanted to capture him, in the church of the Archangel Michael. Last mentioned in 1337, in an act of donation of the patr. John XIV Calecas[7] to hieromonk Ignatius Calothetus[8]. Mentioned in the patr. act of 1337 in which patr. John Calecas concedes the monastery to John Calothetus with the two names Anaplous and Sosthenion. Probably destroyed on the eve of the Turkish conquest when in 1451/2 sultan Mehmed II demolished it in order to erect the fortress of Rumeli Hisar. A monastery of Theophylactus of the Pegadion was located in the area. The church and the monastery which in later byzantine time is often called in Anaplous, are most likely to be identified with the church and monastey in Sosthenion.
Patria, iii, 163; Skyl., 138; Cod., 57; Janin2, 346‒50; idem, ‘Les sanctuaires byzantins de saint Michel’, EO 33 (1934), 28‒52, 43‒6; Armstrong, ‘Churches’, 2; Berger, Untersuchungen, 707‒8; Angold, ‘Dossier of the Patriarchate’, in idem, Nicholas Mesarites, 210n.34; Miklosich-Müller, Acta et diplomata Graeca Mediiaevi, 168; Ebersolt, 101; Das Register des Patriarchats Von Konstantinopel, ed. H. Hunger O. Kresten, vols 2 (Wien, 1981), II, 107; A. Failler, ‘Note sur le monastère de la laure de l’ Anaplous’, REB 67 (2009), 165‒81; G. Tsantilas, ‘O Ioannes Mauropous kai he apeikonise ton autokratoron sto nao tou Arhaggelou Mihael sto Sosthenio ton 110 aiona’, DchAE 26 (2005), 327‒38; D. N. Angelova, ‘Stamp of power the Life and afterlife of Pulcheria’s buildings’, in L. Jones (ed.), Byzantine images and their afterlives (Ashgate, 2014), 83‒103’, 98n.58; O. Lampsidis, ‘Wunderbare Rettung des Theodoros Laskaris durch den Erzengel Michael’, JÖB 26 (1977), 125‒7.
Mon. of the Abramites or Virgin Acheiropoietos (15th c.) in Triton[9] *
Legendary attribution of its foundation to the emperor Constantine. Attested in the end of the 5th or beginning of the sixth century. The monastery of tes/ton Abramiou or the mone tu en hagiois Abramiu is attested in the acts of the council of 518 and 536. The abbot of the monastery participated in the 787 council. The name of Abramius (mid 5th c.) appears in a list of abbots but his monastery is not mentioned. Berger says that it bore his name later. The monastery appears first for the time of Marcian. Under Theophilus the monks suffered from the iconoclast percecution. The monastery is mentioned again in the 890s. Since the tenth century there was an icon allegedly not made by human hands which gave the monastery its new name, Acheiropoietos. The Acheiropoietos icon of the Virgin of the monastery was said to have been painted by St. Luke. It was a stational church in imperial triumphal entries in the capital. Was under the patronage of Theotokos to which the emperor Basil I offered thanksgiving prayers before his triumphal entry through the Golden Gate in 879. Headquarters of Nicephorus Phocas on his operations to come to the city as emperor. Emperor stopped here during his triumphal entry into the city in 963. The old name appears with a new lastly in reports of Nicephorus Phocas triumphal entry in the city in 963. In the eleventh century it is mentioned under the name Acheiropoietos. Probably destroyed under the sultans Murād in 1422 or Mehmet II in 1453.Located before the Golden Gate in the proteichismata of the city wall.
Janin2, 4‒6, 156; idem, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins ( Paris, 1975), 441; Prosopographie der mittel-byzantinischen Zeit, Erste Abteilung (641‒867), 6. Band; Abkürzungen, Addenda und Indices. Nach vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt von Ralph‒Johannes Lile, Cladia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Ilse Rochow, Beate Zielke (Berlin, 2002), Pmbz, # index, 327; Mordtmann, 22, 51; Ebersolt, 66; J. F. Haldon, Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Three treatises on imperial military expeditions (Wien, 1990); tr. 141, 143; EPLBHC. 1, ‘Abraham or Abramios’, 21‒2; Leo the Deacon, Engl. trans., A. M. Talbot and D. F. Sullivan, The history of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine military expansion in the tenth century. Introduction, translation, and annotations by A. M. Talbot and D. F. Sullivan (Washington DC, 2005) [DOS 41], 49, 97 n. 62; Berger, Untersuchungen, 679‒81; H.-G. Beck, Kirche und Theologische Literatur im Byzantinischen Reich (München, 1959). 214; H. G. Thümmel, ‘Kreuze, Reliquien und Bilder im Zeremonienbuch des Konstantinos Porphyrogennetos’, BF 18 (1992), 119‒26, 125; J. Pargoire, ‘Les débuts du monachisme’, RQH 21 (1899), 67‒143, 93‒100; P. Hatlie, The monks and monasteries of Constantinople, ca. 350‒850 (Cambridge, 2007), 89, 111‒2, 457, 129‒33, 188, index, 544; Moffatt, The Book of Ceremonies, 438, index, 852; Sullivan et al., index, 797.
St. Irene the Old= Attributed
- St. Irene (‘Holy Peace’) or patriarchate northeast of St. Sophia
General view. The north flank
General view –the north flank
Situated in the 2nd Region. In the third courtyard of the Topkapı Palace complex, south of Hagia Sophia. It was situated to the east of the emperor’s palace separated by the ‘Hospice of Sampson’.[10] Chroniclers and patriographers attribute its foundation to the emperor Constantine the Great. Socrates says that the emperor gave it the name of Peace. However this historian implies elsewhere that the church existed before him; it was small and the emperor enlarged it and embellished it. A ‘Life of St. Paul the Confessor’ (BHG 1472a) reproduced partly by patr. Photius[11] (d. 891) in his Bibliotheca, said that it was emperor Constantius (340‒61), who made the enlargement. It is probable that the church served the cathedral during the construction of St. Sophia. It is there that the successor of St. Alexander, St. Paul the Confessor, was consecrated bishop in 337. Played a principal role until the consecration of St. Sophia in 360 and served as a bishop’s church. In the period from Constantine to Justinian the church of St. Irene was considered as the most important one in Constantinople. The ‘narrative’ of the construction of St. Sophia mentions that bishop Nectarius (381‒97)[12] was forced to transfer his see to and stay in St. Irene when in 397 the Arians burned the roof of St. Sophia. The church probably served the seat of the patr. during ten years in the beginning of the 5th century, since the fire of St. Sophia in September 404 by Christians protesting against the second banishment of John Chrysostom (d. 407)[13]. until its complete restoration in 415. In January 438 the relics of St. John Chrysostom, were brought from Asia Minor and deposed in St. Irene before they were transferred to the church of Apostles. The patriographers say that the usurper Basiliscus (d. 476‒7), was dethroned by the emperor Zeno and took refuge in St. Irene with his wife and children in 477. Burnt by fire in the revolt of Nika in 532, and rebuilt by the emperor Justinian; in 564 a new fire destroyed the atrium and the narthex, which were immediately restored. The ‘Life of S. Gregorii Agrigentini’ says that a council was held there in 588. In 740 the church was severely damaged by an earthquake and restored probably by the emperor Constantine V sometime after 753. In 867 a council was convoked by patr. Ignatius (BHG 817)[14] against patr. Photius. Mentioned also in two undated protocols in the ‘Book of Ceremonies’. Then it disappears almost completely from sources despite its dimension and central location. There is hardly a trace of St. Irene in the Byzantine documents after the 10th century exept for the patriographers. Restored by the emperor Manuel I. Mentioned by the English pilgrim and Stephen. The church survived until the conquest of 1453. The patriographers call it patriarcheion[15], because the patr. officiated there except for the major ceremonies which took place in St. Sophia and the other churches, so that one could consider St. Irene as a patr. chapel. It is also called old [palaia] or ancient [arhaia] to be distinguished from the one in Perama[16] built by the emperor Marcian in the 5th c. It was never converted into a mosque. In Ottoman times it was incorporated in the Topkapı Palace and served as an arsenal. In 1846 it became a museum of antiquities and from 1869 it was called ‘the imperial museum’ (Müze-i Hümayun). It was included in the administration of Hagia Sophia in 1939. In 1946 archaeological excavations begun. Remains of two ancient temples, dedicated to Apollo and Aphrodite, have been discovered within and around the church. The plan is that of a basilica with dome after the model of St. Sophia. The column capitals have preserved the monograms of emperors Justinian and Theodora. The synthronon has survived along the semicircular wall of the apse. On the half-dome of the apse, the outline of a large cross on a three-stepped base has survived from the Iconoclast period. Two sixth century inscriptions with verses from the Psalms of David on the triumphal arch survive. The basic lay-out of the atrium is that of the 8th century and has been studied by Grossmann. Paspates reports that there was a holy well in the church. Repaired in 1955 and 1956 by the ministry of pious foundations. In 1992 it was damaged by a fire and rebuilt in two years under the directorship of Hagia Sophia Museum.
Janin2, 103‒6; Paspates, 336‒8; Proc., I. ii, 13; T. Mathews, The Byzantine churches of Istanbul. A photographic survey (Penn State, 1976), 102‒22; A. van Millingen, Byzantine churches in Constantinople. Their history and architecture (London, 1912), 84‒105; E. A. Grosvenor, Constantinople (Boston, 1899), ii, 474‒85; Berger, Untersuchungen, 452‒4; Mamboury, Constantinople, 216‒7; Theoph., ed. De Boor, 181, 240; K. Ciggaar, ‘’Une description de Constantinople traduite par un pèlerin anglais’, REB 34 (1976), 211‒67, 52.15; Eversolt, 13; Majeska, 361; Eyice, Istanbul, 11‒2; Life of Paul the Confessor (BHG 1472 a): ed./It. tr. R. Fusco, La vita premetafrastica di Paolo il Confessore (BHG 1472a), un vescovo di Constantinopoli tra storia e leggenda (Rome, 1996), 83‒142; A. Taddei, ‘Remarks on the decorative wall-mosaics of saint Eirene at Constantinople’, in M. Ahin, (ed.), Proceedings of the XI international AIEMA Mosaic Symposium, Bursa 18‒20 October 2009 (Istanbul, 2011), 883–96;..Freely-Çakmak, 136‒43; De Cer. Bonn, 179, 186, 801, 806; FDİ, 22; W. S. George, The church of Saint Eirene at Constantinople (London, 1913); Ebersolt-Thiers, Les eglises, 55‒72; M. Ramazanoğlu, ‘Neue Forschungen zur Architekturgeschichte der Irenenkirche und des complexes der Sophienkirche’, Atti del VIII congresso di studi bizantini 2, Studi byzantini e neoellenici, 8 (Palermo, 1953), 232‒5 and plts, 64‒73; idem, ‘Neue Forschungen zur Architekturgeschichte der Irenenkirche und ds Komplexes der Sophienkirche’, in Actes du VIe CEB (Paris, 1948), (1951), II, 347‒57; idem, L’ ensemble de Ste. Irène et des diverses Ste. Sophie: sentiren ve Ayasofyalar manzumesi (Istanbul, 1946); F. Dirimtekin, ‘Les fouilles faites en 1946‒47 et en 1958‒60 entre Sainte – Sophie et Sainte‒Irene à Istanbul’, CA 12 (1962), 161–85; idem, ‘Le skeuophylakion de sainte-Sophie’, REB 19 (1961), 397‒400; idem, Saint Sophia museum (Istanbul, 1964); P. Grossman, ‘Zum Atrium der Irenenkirche in Istanbul’, IM 15 (1965), 186‒207; Mathews, The early Churches, 77‒88; C. Strube, Die westliche Eingangsseite der Kirchen von Konstantinople in justinianischer Zeit (Weisbaden, 1973), 106‒17; U. Peschlow, ‘De Baugeschichte der Irenenkirche in Istanbul new betrachtet’, in C. L. Striker, (ed.), Architectural Studies in memory of Richard Krautheimer (Mainz, 1996), 133‒6; idem, Die Irenenkirsche in Istanbul. Untersuchungen zur Architektur (Tübingen, 1997); idem, ‘Byzantinische Keramik aus Istanbul. Ein Fundkomplex bei der Irenenkirche’, IM 27/8 (1977/78), 363-414; C. Mango, Byzantine architecture (New York, 1976), 154‒57; DO Bibliographies, I, 1, 255‒6. Arseven, İstanbul, 131‒2; Müller-Wiener, 112‒7; Annals of Niketas Choniates, 117; A. Erder, ‘The Byzantine cistern south-east of St. Irene’, AASM 2 (1960), 47‒8; S. Tansuğ, ‘First restoration of mosaics in the church of Saint Irene’, AASM 4 (1962), 66–7; Bardill, Brickstamps, i, index, 416; J. Sasaki, ‘Aya Irini seido no hozon kankyo ni kansuru chosa hokoku’, Hozon Kagaku 53 (2013), 177‒94; B. Laourdas, ‘Treis omiliai tou patriarhou Fotiou en to en K/polei I. Nao tes Agias Eirenes’, Greg. Palamas 39 (1956), 139‒45; M. Ramazanoglu, L’ensemble de Ste-Irène et des diverses St.-Sophies (Istanbul 1946); idem, ‘Die Baugeschichte der Sophien-Kirche Justinians’, in: Atti VIII Congr. Studi Biz. (1951) II [= SBN 8 (1953)], 224‒31; A. M. Talbot, ‘The restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII’, DOP 47 (1993), 243‒61, 251‒2; D. N. Angelova, Sacred founders: women, men, and gods in the discourse of imperial founding, Rome through early Byzantium (Berkeley, 2015), index, 424; P. Grossmann, ‘Zum Atrium der Irenenkirche in Istanbul’, IM 15 (1965), 186‒237; A. Dilsiz, ‘The Byzantine heritance of Istanbul:resource or burden? A study on the surviving ecclesiastical architecture of the historical peninsula within the framework of perception, preservation and research in the Turkish Republican period’, MA (Koç Univ., 2006), 83‒6; P. Üre, ‘Byzantine heritage, archaeology, and politics between Russia and the Ottoman empire: Russian archaeological institute in Constantinople (1894‒1914)’, (D.Phil, LSE, 2014), 101‒2; B. Ar, ‘Osmanlı Döneminde Aya İrini ve Yakın Çevresi (Hagia Eirene and its surroundings through Ottoman era)’(Ph.D, Istanbul Technical Univ., 2014); idem, ‘Aya İrini’de Dâr-ül Esliha Düzenlemesi” [Dâr-ül Esliha (House of Weapons) Arrangement in Hagia Eirene]’, İstanbul Araştırmaları Yıllığı, Istanbul, (2014), 3. 143‒50; Bogdanovic, The framing of sacred space, index. Cod., 38; Angelova, ‘Stamp of power’, 98n.58
Theotokos ta Kontaria[17]
According to the patriographers, the emperor Constantine destroyed a pagan temple which was built there by Gallienus (260‒8) and constructed at its place a church in honour of Theotokos. Berger and Janin doubt the historicity of the report. The emperor Justin II dedicated the church to St. Thecla.
Janin2, 191; Patria, iii, 35, 66; Cod., 43; Berger, Untersuchungen, 564‒6.
St. Emilianus he Rhabdos[18] in Psamathia close to the Emilianus Gate[19]
Legendary attribution to the emperor Constantine by the patriographers. The name Rhabdos is attributed by the them to the rod of Moses, which was brought and laid down there by Constantine. The church cannot be attributed to the emperor Constantine’s time since the saint suffered his martyrdom under the emperor Julian. The only safe terminus ante quem for the church is its mention about 630 by the Chronicon Paschale. Restored by the emperor Basil I. The patriographers of 989/90 mention the church of the Mother of God Rhabdos in its place. The latter was situated near that of St. Aemilianus. The Rhabdos and the gate of Emilianus were located in the Chronicon Paschale in the southernmost terminus of the Constantinian land walls.
Cod., 51; Patria, iii, 88; Skyl., 136; tr. Wortley, 157; Ebersolt, 22; Berger, Untersuchungen, 607–8; Janin2, 12-3, 229‒30; Mordtmann, 108.
Church and mon. of St. Mocius (end of 14th c.)*
Attributed to the emperor Constantine in the Patria and chronicles. He replaced the temple of Zeus. St Mocius was the city’s main local saint. A church is attested in the period between 324‒37. Rebuilt either by the empress Pulcheria and emperor Marcian or by the emperor Justinian, before his accession. Existed as a station on the day of the dedication of the church of Theotokos of Sigma. On the day of the feast of Mocius in 902 n attack on the emperor failed. The procession of the emperor here as the ‘Book of Ceremonies’ describes in detail was subsequently abolished. The church is described in the context of the ceremony on Wesdnesday in the fourth week of Easter and the emperor’s proeleusis to the church. An attempted assault on the emperor Leo VI took place in the church. Doubt has been cast over the historicity of the emperor’s alleged discontinuance of the practice and the clergy’s discontent at this decision leading to the story of the steward’s prediction of the emperor’s 10 year duration of his reign .Restored by the emperor Basil I after the earthquake of 869. In the aftermath of this renewal sources speak of a mon. of St. Mocius, which was perhaps added similar to the case of the mon. of the church of Euphemia to Petrion. A monastery is attested in 976‒1025. The mon. is mentioned by its abbot in 1056 and 1094. Mentioned by Anthony and English Anonymous. Lartly mentioned by Choniates. A martyrium of St. Lucian (BHG 998) existed inside St. Mocius. The emperor John Palaiologus utilised the ruins in the end of the fourteenth century to repair the walls of the city close to the Golden Gate. No trace has been left of it today. Remains were seen by Gillius reportedly near a large cistern on the top of the seventh hill. Situated between the walls of Constantine and the Theodosian, west of the cistern of Mocius.[20] All its pillars were standing bearing the name of Mocius.
Janin2, 354‒8; Pmbz, # index, 397; Cod., 37, 37‒8; Ebersolt, 74, 76; Mordtmann, 114; Skyl., 136, 152; Theoph., 24; Berger, Untersuchungen, 635‒8, index; Van Millingen, 136; Proc., I. iv. 27; Patria, ii, 110, iii, 3; ODB, 2, 1389‒90; De Cér., ed. A. Vogt, 127‒8; on the monastery, see Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 52; Gilles, Antiquities, 204; F. Halkin, ‘Une passion de saint Mocius, martyr à Byzance’, AB 83 (1965), 5‒22; Vita Euthymii =P. Karlin-Hayter, Vita Euthymii patriarchae CP (Brussels, 1970), 16; Haldon, Three treatises, 289-90; Magdalino, 62, n.67; ‚ J. Bury, ‘The Ceremonial book of Constantine Porphyrogennetos. II. The ecclesiasical ceremonies of Book I’, EHR lxxxvii, July (1907), 417‒39, 421‒2; Guilland, i, 229ff..; A. Berger, ‘Mokios und Konstantin der Große. Zu den Anfängen des Märtyrerkults in Konstantinopel’, in V. A. Leontaritou, K. A. Bourdara, E. S. Papagianni (eds.), Αντικήνσωρ. Τιμητικός τόμος Σπύρου Ν. Τρωιάνου (Athens, 2013), 165-85; R. H. Dolley, ‘The date of the St. Mokios attempt on the life of the emperor Leo VI’, in Pagkarpeia. Mélanges Hénri Grégoire pt. 2 (1950), 231‒8; Angelova, ‘Stamp of power’, 98n.58.
Kilisesi‘,Sanat Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi 13(1995-96)s.46-49.
St. Agathonicus in Kainoupolis[21] (13th c.)
Attributed to the emperor Constantine by the patriographers and chroniclers of whom none is however writing before the eleventh century. It had the form of basilica and resembled the first St. Sophia. Restored by the emperors Anastasius and Justinian. In this church patriarchs practiced fifty years of their office, and emperors were crowned there. Mentioned by Anthony. A chapel of St. Thalelaius existed in the interior.
Janin2, 7‒8; Cod., 37, 38; Patria, ii, 107; iii, 1, 18; Berger, Untersuchungen, 583‒6; Mordtmann, index, 83; Proc., I. iv. 30; on the martyr see, EPLBHC. 1, 84; W. Müller-Wiener, ‘Eıne neuentdeckte Kirche aus der Gründungszeit Konstantinopels: Hagios Agathonikos?’, in Studien zur Spätantiken und Byzantinischen Kunst, herausgegeben in Verbindung mit Otto Feld und U. Peschlow, Teil I, (Bonn, 1986), 13‒20; F. Halkin, Saints de Byzance et du Proche-Orient (Genève, 1986); Berger, 584-6; Magdalino, 62, n. 61; Bardill, Brickstamps, i, index, 419; ‘Martyrdom’ (BHG 39z)=Ed./Fr. tr. F. Halkin, ‘Saint Agathonique’, in idem, Saints de Byzance et du Proche-Orient (Geneva, 1986), 49–64.
St. Procopius in Cheloni[22] *
Doubtful attribution. Restored by Alexius Caballarius[23] domesticus of the imperial table [24]and governnor of Thessalonike (d. 1273/4) in late thirteenth century. The mid fifth century remains found in Vefa Kilise Camii were perhaps part of the church. Mentioned by the Syn C, the Typikon, the English Anonymous and Anthony. Berger identifies it with the church of Procopius to Kondylion mentioned in the Patria with the Vefa Kilise mosque.
Janin2, 444; idem, ‘Les processions’, 82; Cod., 39-40; Patria, iii, 18, 115; Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 39; Berger, Untersuchungen , 460‒3, index; V. Kidonopoulos, Bauten in Konstantinopel 1204‒1328 (Wiesbaden, 1994), 120‒1.
Prodromus in palaia porta[25]
This church is only known by the Patria. According to the description of the Constantinian wall in its history of the foundation it rested on the land wall in the vicinity of the monastery of Dius and the quarter ta Ikasias. The attribution is highly unlikely and is probably explained by its attachment to the wall of Constantine.
Patria, iii, 191; Janin2, 420‒1, Berger, Untersuchungen, 640.
St. Stephen in Sigma
Doubtful attribution in the Patria who say that Leo VI took the materials to build All Saints and he built a smaller in honour of St. Stephen. Probably identical with en Aurelianais in which St. Isaac, founder of the monastery called ta Dalmatou, was buried in 408 according to his Life. Its actual founder was Aurelianus, consul in 400.
Patria, iii, 209; Janin2, 477; Berger, Untersuchungen, 361‒3; G. D. Gordini, ‘Stefano protomartire’, BS 11 (1969), 1381‒2; Gilles, Antiquities, 94; Cod., 62.
Hagia Triada (close to St. Emilianus) ; Virgin of the Rhabdos[26] *; Holy Trinity at Exakionion= St. Apostles[27] ; St. Gregory at Heroon
Doubtful attribution.
Patria, iii, 115, 210 /Ebersolt, 22; Patria, iii, 88; Cod., 51; Mordtmann, 108; Berger, Untersuchungen , 607‒8; Janin2, 229‒30; Gilles, Antiquities, 14, 94 / Janin2, 487, idem, ‘Les sanctuaires de Byzance sous la domination latine (1204‒1261)’, RÉB 2 (1944/5), 134‒84, 167; Cod., 63; Gilles, The Antiquities,170; De Cér., ed. Vogt, 38‒9; Angelova, ‘Stamp of power’, 98n.58./ Cod., 59.
St. George of Hierion[28]
Attributed to the emperor Constantine in the Patria, a clearly legendary attribution. The church is perhaps known for a second time. As Berger says the church is not located in ta Hieriu but in Galata could be identified with the church of George en Sykais which is mentioned in a treaty of 1303.
Patria, iii, 178; Janin2, 69, 258; Berger, Untersuchungen , 692.
Church of Our Lord in the palace
According to a tradition of the patriographers it was the emperor Constantine himself who built it. Had an important ceremonial role in the tenth century.
Janin2, 511‒2.
St. Menas in Acropolis – (15th c.)
According to ps.-Codinus and Nicephorus Callistus this church was constructed by the emperor Constantine. Berger rejects this as an early attribution. Ps.-Codinus says that the empress Pulcheria and the emperor Marcian completed the building. Existed in the early 5th century. Replaced the temple of Poseidon or Zeus. Mentioned in the Notitia in Regio IV. According to the story of the translation of the relics of St. Olympiada (BHG 1376) the monastery which was founded close to St. Sophia was destroyed by the fire of the Nika revolt in 532. The nuns were established in St. Menas and remained for six years. In the ninth century the church was rich in relics. It possessed a chapel dedicated to St. Procopius where the Anonymous English traveler in 1190 saw the head of St. Menas and other relics of Victor and Vincent and the relics of St. Procopius?. Visited by the anonymous English pilgrim in 1093. An oratory located in the church of St. Menas on acropolis housed some relics. Close to St. Sophia. Existed until the end of the empire.
FDİ, 31; Gilles, Antiquities, 120‒1; Patria, iv, 2; Cod., 37; Janin2, 333‒5, 443-4; idem, ‘Processions’, 75; Notitia, 233; Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 8; H. Delehaye, ‘L’ invention des reliques de saint Ménas à Constantinople’, AB 29 (1910), 117–50; Berger, Untersuchungen, 391‒4; ‘Vita of Olympias of Constantinople’ (BHG 1375), ed. H. Delehaye, in ‘Vita Sanctae Olympiadis’, AB 15 (1896), 409‒23; E. A. Clark, Jerome, Chrysostom and friends (New York, 1979); H. Delehaye, ‘L’invention des reliques de saint Ménas à Constantinople’, AnBoll 29 (1910), 117‒50.
Mon. of Florentiou and Kallistratou[29] (8th c.) =ton Phlorou[30] *
Attributed by ps.-Codinus to the period of the emperor Constantine. He said that it was the house of a certain Florus, brother of Callistratus, and after his death his house was transformed in a convent under Constantine. This was a legendary attribution to its origin. Mentioned before the end of the seventh century. Among those who pushed emperor Leontius (d. 706) to overthrow the emperor Justinian II and assured him of the empire in 695 it was Gregory Cappadoces, abbot ton Florou. Its total destruction by the emperor Constantine V is fictitious as in other cases. In which of the two monasteries patr. Paul IV (780‒4) withdrew in 784 is not clear in the Patria. His body was deposed in the church of Theotokos which was possibly part of the monastery. The church was mentioned in the SynC. and the Typikon to have been en tois Kallistratou. Both monasteries were represented in the council of 787. The monastery of Phlorus was founded in Anaplous in 618 and was still prosperous in 695. While ta Phlorou disappears from the sources ta Kallistratou survives. It is mentioned several times in the ninth century, it is testified through a seal in the eleventh century and was seen still in 1300 in ruins.
Janin2, 495‒6; idem, Grands centres, 431, 438; Cod., 59; Patria, iii, 172; C. Mango, Nikephoros Patriarch of Constantinople. Short History (Washington DC, 1990), 40.8. 10; Theoph., ed. De Boor, 457, 368; 443; Berger, Untersuchungen, 677‒9; Nikephoros, Antirrhetika, 3, PG 100: 493D.; The Life of the Patriarch Tarasios by Ignatios the Deacon (BHG 1698), ed./tr. S. Efthymiadis (Aldershot, 1998), 214; ‘Vita Andreae apostoli by Epiphanios, monk of the monastery in Kallistratou’, in PG 120, 216‒60 (BHG 102); on Callistratou, and Paul monk of Callistratou, see Hatlie, index, 543, 547; idem, ‘Spiritual authority and monasticism in Constantinople during the Dark ages (650‒800)’, in J. W. Drijvers and J. W. Watt (eds.), Portraits of spiritual authority. Religious power in early Christianity Byzantium and the Christian Orient (Leiden, 1999), 195ff., 206; idem, ’A rough guide to Byzantine monasticism in the early seventh century’, in G. J. Reinink, B. H. Stolte (eds.), The reign of Heraclius (610‒641): crisis and confrontation (Leuven, 2002), 205‒26, 220 n. 61 [on Callistratou] 220 n. 60, 221 n. 65 [Phlorou].
St. Michael at Anaplous[31] [Arnavutköy][32] *
The first author who speaks of a church of St. Michael on the European side of Bosphorus is Sozomen about 440 who attributes its construction to the emperor Constantine. Theophanes and other late chroniclers and patriographers also attest that the emperor Constantine built a church in honour of the archangel in Anaplous. Under the emperor Justinian the St. Michael church in Anaplous was rebuilt as octagonal central building similar to the Prodromus in Hebdomon. It was restored by the emperor Isaac II Angelus. Mentioned in documents of 1276, 1305. It continued to exist but its prestige was eclipsed early by its rival church in Sosthenion. It is possible that the ruins of the church served sultan Muḥammad II to built the fortress of Rumelihisarı in 1451. Probably to be identified with the churches of St Michael ta Promotou and en Challais. All later mentions of a church of St. Michael in Anaplous probably refer to the church in Sosthenion which was also at Anaplous. Another church of St. Michael (tou Philemporou)[33] was located where the Michaelion of Anaplous was.
Patria, iii, 158; Theoph., 24; Cod., 57; Janin2, 338‒40; idem, ‘Les sanctuaires byzantins de saint Michel’, EO 33 (1934), 28‒52, 37‒42; R. Macrides, George Akropolites. The history, Introduction, translation and commentary (Oxford, 2007), 376, 378; Ebersolt, 100; A. Papadakis, Crisis in Byzantium. The filioque controversy in the patriarchate of Gregory II of Cyprus (1283‒1289) (Fordham, 1996), 32; J. Pargoire, ‘Anaple et Sosthebe’, IRAIK 3 (1898), 60‒80; Berger, 704‒6; Laurent, Regestes des Actes du Patriarchat, Fasc. IV Les Regestes de 1208 a 1309, N. 1369, 1426, 1632; A. Failler, ‘Note sur le monastère de la laure de l’ Anaplous’, REB 67 (2009), 165‒81; Angelova, ‘Stamp of power’, 98n.58; A. M. Talbot, Faith healing in late Byzantium: the posthumous miracles of the patriarch Athanasios I of Constantinople by Theoktistos the Stoudite (Brookline, 1983), 23.
St. Dynamis (Force of God) (13th c.)
This church was built by the emperor Constantine and dedicated to the Force of God like St. Sophia to the Wisdom and St. Irene to the Peace of God. Firstly mentioned in manuscripts of the 12th century concerning the construction of St. Sophia. Existed at least in the beginning of the sixth century. Basilical form. Certainly existed in the tenth or eleventh century and the beginning of the thirteenth century. Possessed houses and are mentioned in Isaac’s chrysobull of 1192 and the emperor Alexius I’s prostagma and praktikon of 1202 by which he granted the rights along the Golden Horn to the Genoese. Located at the harbour of Neorion.[34]
Janin2, 101; Berger, Untersuchungen, 429; P. Magdalino, Constantinople médiévale (Paris, 1996), 82; idem, ‘Medieval Constantinople’, in Studies on the history, 92, n.213. Mordtmann, 86; Angelide, Pulcheria, 67; T. Julian, Constantine the Great, Christianity, and Constantinople (2005), 63.
St. Metrophanes in Heptascalon (oikos of St.) (13th c.)
Ps.-Codinus and the anonymous of Banduri affirm that the emperor Constantine built the church. This attribution is legendary and aimed to give to the church a prestige founded in its old foundation. Its existence, however, is certain. There were preserved the relics of the saint in addition to those which were in St. Sophia. Close to the church of St. Acacius. The pilgrim Anthony affirmed that the tomb of St. Metrophanes was behind the church of St. Acacius.
Janin2, 336-7; idem, ‘Les processions’, 80; Cod., 62; Ebersolt, 77 n. 7; Berger, Untersuchungen, 463‒4.
Oratory of SS. Peter and Paul
In the ‘Life of St. Andrew the Fool’ (BHG 115) there is a question of an oratory that the emperor Constantine constructed in honour of the Sts Peter and Paul. It is not certain to which building he refers. The only church of Sts Apostles that the tradition attributed to Constantine is that on the fourth hill.[35] It may be that the author spoke of a sanctuary unknown by others ot he refers to those which existed.
Janin2, 401.
St. Nicholas ta Basilidou[36]
The patriographers say that this church was the house of patrician Basilides, questor of the emperor Justinian. Janin suggests to identify it with the one tes Basilidos in the account of miracles attributed to St. Nicholas in the vicinity of St. Sophia. N. Callistos mentions this church in his recounting of the miracles of St. Nicholas to have been situated behind St. Sophia. He attributes the construction to the emperor Constantine and calls the church tes Basilidos. Janin rejects this as legendary. The ‘Book of Ceremonies’ mentions behind the altar a narrow passage named ‘passage of St. Nicholas’, from where the emperor and the patriarch went to the Sacred Well. The church is mentioned in the ‘Dossier on the patriarchate’ by Nicholas Mesarites describing an incident of a dispatch of a group of people by the Latin patriarch to investigate gatherings of Romans in the city aiming to stop priests who performed the liturgy. This church can be identified with the one Anna Comnena mentions in the vicinity of St. Sophia which functioned as asylum. The Anonymous Russian mentions the church to have been behind the altar of St. Sophia. It was destroyed after the conquest.
Janin2, 368‒9; Cod., 62; Berger, Untersuchungen, 430‒2; Angold, ‘Dossier on the patriarchate’, in Nicholas Mesarites, 199, ns.14, 15.
Church and mon. of St. Diomedes *= church of the Virgin Jerusalem or New Jerusalem in the quarter of Jerusalem [37]
Doubtful attribution in the Patria. Located near the Golden Gate in the quarter named Jerusalem. In the acts of the council of 518 and 536 the monastery is called also Jerusalem ( τῆς ἁγίας ἐνδόξου παρθένου καὶ θεοτόκου Μαρίας καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ ἐνδόξου μάρτυρος Διομήδους ἐπίκλην Ἱεροσαλήμ). The reason was probably that the church of the monastery was built on the model of the church of Zion in Jerusalem, as the English pilgrim reports in the eleventh century. St. Diomedes is mentioned in the sixth century in the context of the people visiting it in times of affliction. The monastery of 536 was dedicated to Theotokos and the church too, but because the church was the focal point of the cult of St. Diomedes, the monastery and the church were known under a double name. Over time the designation ‘St. Diomedes’ became more frequent appellation of the monastery. Restored by the emperor Basil. He built a larger church which he embellished and endowed with estates. He found a monastery and called the ‘New Jerusalem’. Possessed its patron’s relics, which disappeared in the 13th c. The monastery was definitely existed ca. 894 until the late Byzantine time. Place of two year banishment of patr. Euthymius[38](906‒11) (BHG 651) by the emperor Leo VI due to his opposition of marrying Zoe. Active under the emperor Andronicus I who imprisoned the widow of his predecessor Manuel, Maria of Antioch. Last time it was visited by a Russian pilgrim in 1425. Place of living for patr. Arsenius after his resignation. Visited by Anthony, English Anonymous, and the Anonymous Russian. The 16th August was an official solemn day, celebrating the memory of a violent earthquake; and since the monastery was near the land walls, the memory of the Arab siege was celebrated and delivery from the Arabs in 718 as well as the Synaxis of the patron. Berger locates it on the very end of the Mese between ta Studiu and the Golden Gate on the right side, i.e. north of the road.
Janin2, 95‒7, 185‒6; idem, ‘Processions’, 83; Ebersolt, 67‒8; Mordtmann, index, 83; The Chronicle of John Malalas, tr. & ed. E. Jeffreys, M. Jeffreys & R. Scott (Melbourne, 1986), 301; S. Tougher, The reign of Leo VI (886-912): Politics and People (Leiden, 1997), 66, 103, index, 259; Akrop., trans., 370, 374; Cod., 51; Berger, Untersuchungen, 365‒7; J. W. Nesbitt, ‘The monastery of Diomedes’, in E. Fisher, S. Papaioannou, D. Sullivan (eds.), Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice-Mary Talbot (Leiden, 2012), 339‒46; Theoph., ed. De Boor, 237; Hatlie, 463; P. Karlin-Hayter, ‘A note on bishops and saints’, in C. Mango and G. Dagron (eds.), Constantinople and its hinterland: papers from the twenty‒seventh Spring symposium of Byzantine studies, Oxford, April, 1993 (Aldershot, 1995), 408. Patria, iii, 29 a, 86; Skyl., ed. Thurn, 134; Pmbz # 3266, 5590; Van Millingen, Churches, 109; idem, Byzantine Constantinople, 265‒6; A. M. Schneider, Byzanz (Berlin, 1936), 96, no 26; Majeska, 313‒4; Cod., 51; Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 57; ‘Vie du patriarche Euthyme’ (BHG 651), ed./tr., P. Karlin –Hayter, Vita Euthymii Patriarchae CP (Bruxelles, 1970); Vita Euthymii, 22, 46, 58; Magdalino, CM, 62, n. 64; Annals of Niketas Choniates, 149; Hatlie, ‘A rough guide’, 220 n. 60; Moffatt, index, 851; C. Rapp, Brother-making in late antiquity and Byzantium: monks, laymen, and Christian ritual (Oxford, 2016), 202, 203, 205‒7.
St. Sophia (attributed) [Cod., 38]; Holy Apostles (cont.) [Cod., 38 with his mother; Kidon., 100 n. 1171] ; mon. of Acheiropoietos (attr. by patriographers); church of John Theologian in Hebdomon[39] * (attr. by patriographers, Cod., 55)
Angelova, ‘Stamp of power’, 98n.58.
Virgin in the Forum of Constantine[40]
Legendary attribution to Constantine. Built or rebuilt by the emperor Basil I. It had a ceremonial function in the time of Basil I commemorating his victories against the Muslims. Escaped the fire in 940 the reign of the emperor Romanus Lekapenus and restored. Nicephorus Phocas arrived at the time of his triumphal entry in 963. Lastly mentioned by Anthony. Situated in the south portico of the Forum of Constantine, or on the portico left on the way to the Hippodrome.
Janin2, 236‒7; Patria, iii, 29 a; Haldon, Three Treatises, tr. 145; C. Mango,‘The Life of St. Andrew the Fool reconsidered*’, RSBS II. Miscellanea A. Pertusi (Bologna 1982), 297-313, 297‒313 at 302‒3; Berger, Untersuchungen, 373, 375‒6; Skyl., 138, 190; Moffatt, index, 852; Magdalino, ‘Medieval Constantinople’, in idem, Studies on the history, 38.
Church of St. Euphemia ta Antiochou[41] (Hippodrome)
Legendary attribution to the emperor Constantine the Great in the Patria. Martyr during Diocletian’s persecutions. The church was round with side apses; it is dated in the sixth century. Built into the palace of ta Antiochou, the possession of the praipositos Antiochus.[42] After its confiscation the palace was an imperial possession and as such was in 603 at a time when its main room had probably become a church. The saint’s relic was transferred to Constantinople from Chalcedon, probably in the seventh century due to the Persian invasions. It was placed in a fifth century building, which was transformed into a church (martyrion) that stood near the Hippodrome. This church was hence named St. Euphemia at the Hippodrome. The site, mentioned in earlier sources and manuscripts was known in the Byzantine period as palace of Antiochus. Restored by the emperor Justin I. The emperor Constantine V used the church as an arsenal and threw the saint’s relic into the sea, where it was allegedly found by two fishermen. Berger, however doutbts the historicity of this report in the Patria and says that the desecration of the saint’s relics is certainly an invention. The empress Irene restored the church after the earthquake of 740 and brought back from Lemnos the saint’s relic. The church was probably destroyed by the fire in 1203. There is nothing known about the person who carried out the restoration in the last quarter of the 13th century. Mentioned by the English Anonymous and Anthony. By the late twelfth century the church had lesser relics including her head and empty tomb witnessed by Anthony; the body was outside the city –in a shrine located between the Pege Gate and the Romanus Gate near the shrine of Daniel- witnessed by Stephen in 1349 and the Russian Anonymous. Mentioned in a synodal act of 1390. In 1454, shortly after the Fall, the patriarch Gennadius transferred the relic of the saint to the patriarchal church of St. George. Excavations undertaken in 1942 by A. M. Schneider and the German School of Archaeology have brought to light the church of St. Euphemia. The greater part of the church was demolished in 1951 to make place for the building of the Hall of Justice. The church was found beneath the ruins of the old prison, 45 m. NE of the Hippodrome. The walls of the west conch have preserved in poor condition 14 wall paintings dated to the ninth and twelfth centuries with scenes from the martyrdom of St. Euphemia, a representation of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia, and portrayals of military saints, a patriarch, kneeling before the Virgin and presenting a model of the church of St. Euphemia. Remains are preserved in the north end of Hippodrome.
Janin2, 12‒4; idem, ‘La topographie de Constantinople byzantine. Etudes et decouvertes (1938–1950)’, REB 8 (1950), 197–214, 198; Mathews, 123‒7; Pmbz, # 304, 401, 3878, 7235, 10244, 10245, 10246; Patria, iii, 9; Cod, 39; Berger, Untersuchungen, 556‒60; MM, Acta et diplomata, vol. 2, 147‒8; CP, 125, n. 365; on her martyrdom, see Consularia Italica, ed. Th. Mommsen, Auctores Antiquissimi ix (Berlin, 1892); Konstantinos of Tios, ‘On the relics of St. Euphemia’, in F. Halkin, Euphémie de Chalcedoine (Brussels, 1956), 84‒106; EPLBHC, 2, ‘Euphemia of Chalcedon’, 428–9; ‘Description of a painting of the martyrdom of St. Euphemia’ (BHG 623), tr. E. A. Castelli, ‘Asterius of Amasea: Ekphrasis on the holy martyr Euphemia’, in E. Valantasis (ed.), Religions of late antiquity in practice (Princeton, 2000), 464‒9; C. Mango, ‘ The relics of St. Euphemia and the Synaxarion of Constantinople’, BBGG 53 (1999), 79‒87; Mordtmann, index, 83; E Akyürek, Khalkedon’lu (Kadiköy) Azize Euphemia ve Sultanahmet’teki Kilisesi (Die Hl. Euphemia von Chalkedon/Kadiköy und die Sultanahmet-Kirche) (Istanbul, 2002); idem, “Euphemia’nın Sultanahmet’teki Martyrion – Kilisesi” [Euphemia’s martyrion – church at Sultanahmet], Toplumsal Tarih 229 (Ocak 2013), 71‒5; G. Tirnanic, ‘Politics of martyrdom and punishment in Byzantine visual culture: St Euphemia at the Hippodrome’, in C. Behrmann and E. Pried (eds.), Eyewitnessing the extreme: early modern martyrdom and the status of the image (forthcoming); Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 15; A.M. Schneider, ‘Das Martyrion der hl. Euphemia bein Hippodrom zu Konstantinopel’, BZ 42 (1943), 178‒85; idem, ‘Grabung im Bereich des Euphemia-Martyrions zu Konstantinopel’, ArA 58 (1943), 256–90; Karlin-Hayter, ‘A note on bishops and saints’, in Mango and Dagron, Constantinople and its hinterland, 403‒7; K. Bittelm and A.M. Schneider, ‘Das Martyrion der hl. Euphemia beim Hippodrom’, AA 56 (1941), 296–315; Y. Plugnan, ‘La localisation du sanctuaire de sainte Euphémie à Kadiköy, l’ ancienne Chalcédoine’, REB 73 (2015), 267‒91; R. Naumann and H. Belting, Die Euphemia-Kirche am Hippodrom zu Istanbul und ihre Fresken IF 25 (Berlin, 1966); A. Grabar, ‘Études critiques: R. Naumann, Die Euphemiakirche’, CA 17 (1967), 251‒ 4; A. Zeren, Following the traces of a female saint in and ou t of Constantinople: the cult of St. Euphemia and a rescue project proposal for the church by the Hippodrome (MA thesis, Koç Univ., 2010) ; D. J. Croquison, ‘Une fête liturgique mystérieuse . Le mémoire de sainte Euphémie de Chalcédoine à la date du 13 avril’, EO 35 (1936), 168–82 ; L. Yazicioglu, ‘Antiochos Sarayi- Euphemia Martyrionu Restitüsyon Denemeleri,’ TAC 2.7 (1987), 8–17; Majeska, 258‒61, n. 121; Freely-Çakmak, 57‒9; H. Grégoire, ‘Sainte Euphémie et l’ empereur Maurice’, Mus. 59 (1946), 295‒302; E. S. Kountoura-Galake, ‘He Hagia Euphemia stes sheseis papon kai aftokratoron’, Sym 7 (1987), 59‒75; ODB, 2, 747-8 Gilles, Antiquities, 93; Müller-Wiener, 122-5; A. Berger, ‘Die reliquien der heiligen Euphemia und ihre erste Translation nach Konstantinopel’, Hell. 39/2 (1988), 312-22; J. P. Sodini, ‘Marble and stoneworking in Byzantium, seventh-fifteenth centuries’, in A. Laiou (ed.), The Economic history of Byzantium (Washington, 2002), 136; J. Pargoire, ‘Les débuts du monachisme’, RQH 21 (1899), 67-143 at 77; Kidon., 106-8; L. Brubaker, J. Haldon, Byzantium in the iconoclast era c. 680‒850: A history (Cambridge, 2011), 212; Γεννάδιος, Ἡ Ἁγία Τράπεζα καὶ τὸ κιβώριον τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς Ἁγίας Εὐφημίας τοῦ Ἱπποδρόμου’, Ο 17 (1942), 216–8; E. A Kyürek, Khalkedon’lu (Kadıköy) Azize Euphemia ve Sultanahmet’teki Kilisesi (Istanbul 2002); A. Zeren, ‘Following the traces of a female saint in and out of Constantinople: the cult of St. Euphemia and a rescue project proposal for the church by the Hippodrome’ (MA Koç University, 2010); G. Tirnanić, Martyrs and criminals in Byzantine vuisual culture: St. Euphemia at the Hippodrome’, in C. Behrmann, E. Priedl (eds.), Autopsia, Blut-und Augenzeugen. Extreme Bilder des christlichen Martyriums (München, 2014), 23‒41; H. Goldfus, ‘St. Euphemia’s church by the Hippodrome of Constantinople within the broader context of early 7th century history’, Ancient West and East 5 (2006), 178‒98; P. Niewöhner. ‘Historisch-topographische Überlegungen zum Trierer Prozessionselfenbein, dem Christusbild an der Chalke, Kaiserin Irenes Triumph im Bilderstreit und der Euphemiakirche am Hippodrom’, Millennium 11 (2014), 261‒88; J. Bogdanovic, The framing of sacred space: the canopy and the Byzantine church (Oxford, 2017), index.
[1] Du Cange, 56; R. Janin, Constantinople byzantine. Développement urbain et répertoire topographique (Paris, 1964), 221 [=Janin, CB]; A. Mordtmann, Equisse topographique de Constantinople (Lille, 1892), 103, 122 ; Guilland, Études, ii, 109‒111; J. Preiser Kapeller, ‘Heptaskalon und weitere Anlegestellen am Goldenen Horn’, in F. Daim, Die byzantinishen Häfen Konstantinopels (Verlag, 2016), 99‒108.
[2] See J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, Barbarians and bishops. Army, church, and state in the age of Arcadius and Chrysostom (Oxford, 1990), 164, 193.
[3] On the European side of Bosphorus. Janin, CB, 477‒8. Janin, CB, 417.
[4] ODB, 2, 1073; J. Darrouzès, Des Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regests de 1410 a 1453 (Paris, 1991), index, 115.
[5] Janin, CB, 424‒6; The quarter was found between the south of the cistern of Mocius and above the monastery of Peribleptos. Not to be confused with the hall in the great palace; Constantine VII, Le livre de cérémoniis aulae byzantinae, ed. A. Vogt (Paris, 1935–9), 31; A. Berger, ‘Tauros e Sigma: Due piazze di Costantinopoli,’ in M. Bonfioli, R. Farioli Companati, and A. Garzya (eds.), Bisanzio e l’Occidente: Arte, archeologia, storia. Studi in onore di Fernanda de’Maffei (Rome, 1996), 19–24 argues that the Sigma was the entrance porch of the Helenianae, which he places on the site of St. Mary Peribleptos; C. Mango, ‘The triumphal way and the Golden Gate’, DOP 54 (2000), 181–6, 180; Constantine Porphyrogennetos: The Book of Ceremonies, translated by Ann Moffatt and Maxeme Tall, with the Greek edition of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (1829), [Byzantina Australiensia 18, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies], 2 vols (Canberra, 2012) , index, 867 [=Moffatt, The Book of Ceremonies].
[6] On the European side of Bosphorus. Janin, CB, 436, 479, 480, index, 529; Berger, Untersuchungen, 707‒8.
[7] Des Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 113.
[8] Des Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 117.
[9]On the suburb of Thrace. Janin, CB, 455; A. Berger, ‘Das Triton von Konstantinopel’, JÖB 40 (1990), 63‒8.
[10] T. S. Miller, ‘The Sampson hospital of Constantinople’, BF 15 (1990), 101‒35.
[11] Des Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regests de 1410 a 1453, index, 138.
[12] ODB, 2, 1451.
[13] Bishop of Constantinople (398‒404); ODB, 2, 1057‒8.
[14] Des Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regests de 1410 a 1453, index, 110.
[15] Janin, CB, 177‒80.
[16] Janin, CB, 406.
[17] Janin, CB, 347, 373-4; Berger, 563‒6.
[18] Janin, CB, 419‒20
[19] Mordtmann, 124; Janin, CB, index, 527 ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople
[20] Mordtmann, index, 82; Janin, CB, 205.
[21] Janin, CB, 362; C. Mango, Le développement urbain de Constantinople (Paris, 1985), n, 18, 45 locates it between Kadırgalimanı and Langa, in Kumkapı.
[22] Janin, CB, 329‒30; Berger, 464-8; Kidonop. mentions a church without locating it to Cheloni.
[23] ODB, 2, ‘Kaballarios’, 1087.
[24] Pseudo-Kodinos, index, 513.
[25] Janin, CB, 402. This is the name of the original Golden Gate of the walls of Constantine. Near to the church of the same name.
[26] Janin, CB, 419‒20, index, 527.
[27] Du Cange, 171‒2; Patria, ii, 56; Janin, CB, 351‒2, index, 520.
[28] Along the Golden Horn. Janin, CB, 459.
[29] Janin, CB, 364.
[30] Janin, CB, 412; J. Pargoire, ‘Anaple et Sosthène’, IRAIK 3 (1898), 60‒97.
[31] On the european side of Bosphorus: Janin, CB,468.
[32] H. Crane, The garden of the mosques: Hafiz Hüseyin al-Ayvansarayi’s guide to the Muslim monuments of Ottoman Istanbul (Leiden, 2000), 435,n.3109.
[33] Janin, CB, 476.
[34] Janin, CB, index, 524; E. Kislinger, ‘Neorion und Prosphorion-die alten Häfen am Goldenen Horn. Mit einem Anhang über die Landeplätze (skalai) in diesem Umfeld bis 1204’, in Daim, Die byzantinishen Häfen, 89‒98.
[35] Mordtmann, index, 82.
[36] Janin, CB, 318‒9.
[37] Janin, CB, 356‒7.
[38] Des Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regests de 1410 a 1453, index, 103.
[39] Janin, CB, 446‒9, 455. A suburb of the city, situated at the seventh mile to the west of the Constantinian city. Du Cange, 172‒4; ODB, 2, 907; Th. K. Makrides, ‘To Byzantinon Hebdomon’, Thr 10 (1938), 137‒98; 12 (1939), 35‒80; Mordtmann, 51; J. Dudek, ‘Hebdomon w ideologii cesarskiej Nowego Rzymu wedlug tekstu kroniki Jana Skylitzesa’, Balcanica Posnaniensia 20 (2013), 25‒9.
[40] The centre of Constantine’s city; Moffatt, The Book of Ceremonies,index, 855.
[41]The palace called ta Antiochou was north-west of the hippodrome; Janin, CB, 310‒1.
[42] Janin, CB, index, 525.