Byzantine churches or monasteries of Constantinople and its suburbs built/rebuilt by high officials, patriarchs and other personalities
(4th‒5th centuries)
By Maria Vaiou
St. Paul the Confessor
First mentioned as epi Paulon by the fifth century church historian Socrates. It was originally built by Paul’s, a former bishop of the city who was exiled after Constantius, successor and rival bishop Macedonius (342-60).[1] The tanslation of Paul’s relics to Constantinople took place by the emperor Theodosius I (379–95). Mentioned by the Notitia to have been in the VII Region. The Goths after the revolt of their chief Gainas (d. before 401) sought asylum there but the church was set on fire and were burnt alive. It was rebuilt shortly after. The church existed until the thirteenth century. The grave of the saint continued to be venerated in a small chapel which had been an annex to the church of St. Paul. The Crusaders in 1204 established a chapter of canons in the church. Mentioned in the Typikon of St. Sophia, and by the pilgrims English Anonymous and Anthony of Novgorod. Anthony indicated that it was close to the church of St. Platon near the Forum of Constantine.
Janin, Les églises et les monastères de Constantinople byzantine, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1969), 394‒5 [Janin2]; K.Ciggaar (ed.), ‘Une description de Constantinople traduite par un pèlerin anglais’, REB 34 (1976), 211‒67, 38; A. Berger, ‚Zur Topographie der Ufergegend am Goldenen Horn in der byzantinischen Zeit‘, IM 45 (1995), 149–65,153 n. 20; Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae, ed. O. Seeck, Notitia dignitatum (Berlin, 1876), 235; C. L. Striker and Y. D. Kuban, Kalenderhane in Istanbul: the buildings, their history, architecture and decoration (Mainz, 1997). 15‒6; on Gainas, see ODB, 2, 814; Ital. tr. of the Life: R. Fusco (with Greek text), La Vita premetaphrastica di Paolo il Confessore (BHG 1472a). Un vescovo di Constantinopoli tra storia e leggenda (Rome, 1996); H. A. Klein, ‘Sacred relics and imperial ceremonies at the Great Palace of Constantinople’, in F. A. Bauer, Visualisierungen von Herrschaft Früh-mittelalterliche Residenzen—Gestalt und Zeremoniell (Istanbul, 2006), 8.
Church of Sts Anargyroi in Zeugma
The patriographers attribute the construction of this church to patr. Proclus (434‒46)[2] in the mid fifth century. Existed until the end of the twelfth century. It is mentioned by the English Anonymous in 1190. Berger says that thchurch he saw was in ta Basiliscou[3].
Janin2, 285; G. Codinus, ‘De Aedificiis CP.’, in Georgii Codini: excerpta de antiquitatibus Constantinopolitanis (Paris, 1655), 37‒64, 47; Patria Konstantinoupoleos, Scriptores originum Constantinopolitarum, ed. T. Preger (Leipzig, 1907, repr. 1989), iii, 65; A. Berger, Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos (Bonn, 1988) [=Berger]; tr. Idem, Accounts of medieval Constantinople: the Patria (Cambridge, MA, 2013), 487‒8.
Church of St. Thyrsus near the Helenianae
One of the oldest churches in the capital. The fifth century historian Sozomen attributes it to Flavius Caesarius, consul and prefect of pretorium, in the fifth century to serve as his wife’s burial place. The empress Pulcheria (d.453) has found the relics of the 40 martyrs of Sebaste located behind the ambon in the year 451 or in the episcopate of the patr. Proclus (d.446).
- Mordtmann, Equisse topographique de Constantinople (Lille, 1892), 133; Berger, 606; on Flavius Caesarius, see See PLRE , I, 171; B. Pottier, ‘L histoire Auguste, le consul Aurelianus et la réception de la Notitia Dignitatum en Occident’, AT 14 (2006), 225‒34; Ebersolt, 92; Janin2, 247‒8; idem, ‘‘Les processions religieuses a Byzance’, REB 24 (1966), 69‒88, 76; on Caesarius, see PLRE, ii, 249; Klein, ‘Sacred relics’, in Bauer, Visualisierungen, 86, ns.50‒1.
Church of St. John the Baptist ton Probou[4]
Allegedly attributed to Probus patricius[5] for the time of the emperor Constantine (306–37). This may have been due to a confusion with the namesake of the consul (371). Janin locates the church on the slope which descended from the west of the Hippodrome to the port. Converted by the emperor Constantine V (741–75) to secular use. Berger rejects this information as ahistorical subject to iconodule propaganda. Mentioned by the Anonymous English in 1190 to have been in the vicinity of the Forum of Constantine.
Janin2, 429; Cod., 53; Patria, iii, 99; 148, Berger, 745‒6.
Church of 40 martyrs tou Cesariou in Troadesioi emboloi (Çifte Fırın Sokağı)[6]
Probably the oldest of all churches dedicated to the 40 martyrs in Constantinople. It was founded for the deposition of the relics of the martyrs. The Chronikon Paschale attributes the foundation to the consul and prefect Cesarius. It gives the year 451 as the date of the invention of the relics. Although the information on Cesarius is doubtful there is no reason to doubt the existence of the church: the Chronicon is well informed of the topography of the capital. Located north-west of the Isakapı.
Janin2, 482‒3.
Church of St. Eudoxius
Mentioned in a manuscript of ps. Codinus (xiii‒xiv c.) to have been founded by Eudoxius, patrician and exarch of the emperor Constantine. It is not attested in any other source.
Janin2, 115‒6; Cod., 39.
Monastery ton Dalmatou[7] or Delmatou
The first to have been constructed in the capital. It played an important role in later centuries. Founded in the year 382 by the Syrian saint Isaac (d. 406) who was succeeded by the abbot Dalmatus (d. 438) or Dalmatius (406 to 438) whose name the monastery took. The emperor Constantine I’s nephew Dalmatios, whose name is mentioned in the Patria to have been the founder was caesar from 337 until his death in 339, and had nothing to do with the monastery. Remained operational throughout the periods. Mentioned in the acts of 448, 518, 536. Place of confinement of political prisoners, the emperors Justinian II (685–95), Leontius (695‒8) and Philippicus (711‒3). Philippicus was buried there after he was blinded. Possessed a chapel of Prodromus. Mentioned by the historian Theophanes to have been among those monasteries being victims of the persecution of 767 because of its support of images, but this is mainly due to iconodule propaganda. Existed in the years after 787. In the late twelfth century it was restored as a nunnery by the empress Theodora, sister of the emperor Alexius III Angelus (1195–1203). Maria, widow of the emperor Manuel I (1143–80) was confined there in 1182. It can still be detected in the time of the Latins. According to the ‘Life of Isaac’ ta Dalmatou was located in the quarter of Xerolophos. Janin locates the monastery in the eastern part of the quarter of Psamathia. [8] Berger locates it it at the place of the Hekimoglu Ali paşa camii.
ODB, 579; Pmbz, # index, 354; Patria, iii, 207; Cod., 62; Skyl., 169; Janin2, 82‒4, 411; H. G. Beck, Kirche und Theologische Literatur im Byzantinischen Reich (München, 1959), 213, 558; Berger, 629‒31, index; G. Grierson, ‘The tombs and obits of the Byzantine emperors (337‒1042) with an additional note by C. Mango and Ihor Sevcenko’, DOP 16 (1962), 3‒63.52; Mordtmann, 133; J. Pargoire, ‘Le début du monachisme à Constantinople’, RQH 65 (1899), 67‒143, 120‒8; C. Mango, Nikephoros Patriarch of Constantinople. Short History. Text, translation and commentary (Washington DC, 1990), 41.33; J. Herrin, Women in purple: rulers of medieval Byzantium (London, 2001), 142; idem, ‘Changing functions for monasteries’ in L. Garland, Byzantine women, varieties of experience AD 800‒1200 (Aldershot, 2006), 2; P. Hatlie, The monks and monasteries of Constantinople, ca. 350‒850 (Cambridge, 2007), 90‒3, index, 543 [=Hatlie]; 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. 60; on Anthimus, Dalmatus, and Faustus, and Hilarion, abbots see, idem, index, 539, 541; idem, ‘The encomium of Ss. Isakos and Dalmatos by Michael the Monk (BHG3 956d): Text, translation and notes’, in Eukosmia: studi miscellanei per il 75. di Vincenzo Poggi S.J., a cura di V. Ruggieri e L. Pieralli (Cantazaro, 2003), 275‒312; P. Karlin-Hayter, Vita Euthymii patriarchae CP (Brussels, 1970), 8, 13; Ch. Angelide, Pulcheria: la castità al potere (c.399‒c.455) (Milano, 1998), 72, 132; T. Matantseva, ‘La vie d’ Hilarion, higoumene de Dalmatos, par Sabas [BHG 2177]’, RSBN 30 (1993), 17‒29; A. M. Talbot, ‘The conversion of Byzantine monasteries from male to female and vice versa’, in C. Scholz and G. Makris (eds.), Polypleuros Nous. Miscellanea Für Peter Schreiner Zu Seinem 60. Geburtstag (Munich, Leipzig, 2000), 360‒4. 360; A. M. Auzepy, La Vie d’ Étienne le Jeune par Étienne le Diacre (Aldershot, 1997), 273, n. 446, index, 353; V. Grumel, Les regestes des actes du Patriarcde Constantinople, vol. 1, Les actes des patriarches, fasc. İi. Les regestes des 715 à 1043 (Constantinople, 1936), N. 375, 376, 1191; F. K. Haarer, Anastasius I, Politics and empire in the late Roman world (Cambridge, 2006), 149‒50; Constantine Porphyrogennetos: The Book of Ceremonies, translated by Ann Moffatt and Maxeme Tall, with the Greek edition of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (1829), 2 vols (Canberra, 2012), 814; E. Mitsiou, ‘Die Netzwerke einer kulturellen Begegnung: byzantinische und la-teinische Klöster in Konstantinopel im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert’, in L. Lieb, K. Oschema, J. Heil (eds.), Abrahams Erbe: Konkurrenz, Konflikt und Koexistenz der Religionen im Europäischen Mittelalter (Berlin, 2015).
Monastery of Abramiou
Founded in the fifth century by a certain archimandrite named Abramius. He is mentioned several times in the acts of the synod held in Constantinople in 448 against the patr. Eutyches[9]. The ‘Life of St. Daniel the Stylite’ says that in the year 475 or 476, Calandion, abbot of the monastery of Abramiou, was one of the deputies to the saint to ask him to get off his column in order to oppose the monophysite policy of the usurper emperor Basiliscus (475–6). This makes the foundation of the monastery a few years earlier as the abbot was already a successor of the founder. Possibly it is the same monastery which the historian Theophanes mentions to record that in the year 766‒7 the iconoclast patr. Nicetas[10] removed or painted the images of the church en to Abramiaio.
Janin2, 4; ‘Vita of Daniel the Stylite’ (BHG 489), in ‘Sancti Danielis Stylitae, Vita Antiquor’, in H. Delehaye (ed.), Les saints stylites (Brussels, 1923), 1‒94 [SubHag 14]; Engl. Tr. E. A. S. Dawes, N. H. Baynes, Three Byzantine saints contemporary biographies of St. Daniel the Stylite, St. Theodore of Sykeon, and St. John the Almsgiver (Oxford, 1948; repr. 1977), 7‒71.
Monastery of Zoso or Zoe in Mokisia[11]=St. John the Baptist (Prodromus) en tois Daniel [12]
The monastery and the church of St. Zoe located at the cistern of Mocius are known only by the Patria. The foundation of the church is attributed to St. Marcian (d. 461) by the patriographers who say that his body was rested in the church. Perhaps the church of Zoe can be identified with the church of St. John the Baptist (Prodromus) en tois Daniel, which belonged to a monastery, built by Marcian and was his burial place. The church of John the Baptist is mentioned in the Syn C. The monastery of Zoe was located close to the church of Mocius and the cistern and probably can be identified with the monastery ta Olympiou. Either churches, that of Zoe or of Prodromus are not occupied after the tenth century. The relics of Marcian were found in the church of St. Anastasia which he had also built. The fact that the church is not mentioned in St. Marcian’s ‘Life’ makes its construction by him doubtful. The attribution to him has been probably due to a tradition founded to give prestige to the monastery. The text which has been edited by Preger shows that the church possessed the body of St. Zoe and not of St. Marcian. If the church of Zoe is identified with the Prodromus church and ta Olympiou then she lay west of the cistern of Mocius because ta Olympiou was in the SynC close ta Anthemiou.
Patria, iii, 187; Cod., 61; Berger, 616, 632‒3; Janin2, 135, 412; Vita of Marcian, Presbyter and oikonomos (BHG 1033), in M. Gedeon, Byzantinon Heortologion (Constantinople, 1899), 271‒7; (BHG 1034), PG 114, 429‒546.
Monastery of Isidorus[13] =see monastery of Metanoias[14] or Theodotes=xenon of Theophilus
The house was first built by Isidore, a patrician from Rome. Later it served as a brothel and turned into a hospital by the emperor Leo III (717–41) and a nunnery by the widow of the emperor Constantine VI (780–97) who lived there after his blinding in 797.
- Garland, Byzantine women.Varieties of experience 800-1200 (Ashgate, 2006), 14-5.
Church and monastery of the Apostles Peter and Paul en Rou phinianais[15](Caddebostan)
Rufinus, prefect of the Praetorium of the Orient (392‒5) built a church in his villa in the village of the Oak, which took later his name. He obtained from Rome the relics of the apostles Peter and Paul and the church became an apostoleion[16] and a martyrium. Rufinus established a monastery in the vicinity of the church. The pseudo-council of 403 took place there. The theologian John Chysostom was condemned and this was the cause of his first exile. The Persian incursions in the seventh century caused considerable damage and the emperor Constantine VII (913–59) restored the church in the tenth century. Existed probably until the year 1078. The church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus, the monasteries of St. Hypatius and St. Michael. and two other monasteries, that of Eumathius and the Romans also existed in this suburb.
- Janin, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Paris, 1975), 37.
Monastery of Saturninus
A certain Saturninus (ca. 382) built a small monastery in a property who possessed in the city outside the wall of Constantine. The name ‘gate of Saturninus’ was in the vicinity of the property of this personality. An abridged ‘Life of St. Isaac’ names it as porta Collaridae, gate of Xerolophos. The monastery of St. Andrew in Krisei was close.
Janin, CB, 422.
Church of St. Thomas en tois Anthemiou=Thomas en tois Kyrou
Known by the synaxaries and the patriographers. The church was allegedly built by the magister Anthemius in the reign of the emperor Marcian (450–7). In reality this Anthemius must have been his grandfather, the prefect who died in 413. Ps. Codinus says that he added a hospice for the old and a bath. The church was situated close to the church of St. John the Baptist en tois Olympiou in the vicinity of the cistern of Mocius.
Janin2, 251, 252, 553; idem, CB, 399.
Church of St. Julian in Psamathia
Mentioned by the patriographers to have been located in the quarter of Psamathia. Allegedly built by the praepositos Urbicius, a personality who, according to the legend, assisted the emperor Constantine in the establishment of the new capital. Du Cange identified the church with the church of St. Julian eis ta Liba which is clearly a mistake.
Patria, iii, 6.; Janin2, 261; Cod., 38; on Urbicius, see J. Bardill, Brickstamps of Constantinople, 2 vols. (Oxford, 2004), v. 1, 77.
Church of St. Philemon en to Strategio[17]
Wrongly attributed by the ps.-Codinus to Eudoxius, patrician and prefect (eparch) of Constantinople in the reign of the emperor Constantine. Berger suggests that the word eparch in this account should stand for the word bishop. Eudoxius could be the bishop of Constantinople who held office from 360‒70. The church was known especially by the two chapels it possessed which were consecrated to the SS. Epiphanius of Cyprus and Anastasius the Persian (BHG 84‒90). The church has not left any traces.
Janin2, 492; Berger, 741‒2; Cod., 39; Patria, iii, 16; Life= B. Flusin, Saint Anastase le Perse et l’histoire de la Palestine au début du VIIe siècle, 2 vols., with Fr. tr. (Paris, 1992).
Monastery ta Eutropiou (Kalamiş)[18]
According to the Patria it was built by Eutropius, protospatharius in the time of the emperors Zeno (474–5 476–91) and Anastasius (491–518) in the end of the fifth century. Ta Eutropiou was lastly mentioned in the mid tenth century as the Stylite Luke the Younger (BHG 994) retreated to a column. Located in various sources in Chalcedon or at Hiereia; it is to be found in the middle of the two locations. Berger identifies the monastery with the monastery ta Kalamiu.
Janin, Les eglises, 34; Patria, iii, 166; Berger, 718; ‘Life of Loukas the Younger’ or ‘of Stiris’ (BHG 994): ed. D. Z. Sophianos, The Life of St. Luke of Stiris (Athens, 1989), text and tr. C. L. and W. R. Connor, The Life and miracles of saint Luke of Steiris (Brookline MA, 1994).
Shrine of St. John Studius = İmrahor İlyas Bey Camii (built patr. Studius in 463) [see JRC no. 277]
Janin2, 430; Cod., 51.
Church of St. Symeon the Stylites in Sosthenion
After St. Daniel‘s (d.493) request, the emperor Leo I brought from Antioch the relics of St. Symeon (ca. 389–459) and built a church to the north of the column on which St. Daniel lived. Mentioned in the Syn C. The ceremony of the translation of the relics of St. Simeon was conducted by the bishop of Constantinople and attended by a great multitude of people. Many healings took place during the translation and large crowds received St. Daniel’s benediction.
Janin2, 479; Vita of Symeon Stylites the Younger (BHG 1689), Fr. tr. P. van den Ven, La vie ancienne de S. Syméon stylite le jeune (521–592), I, II (Brussels, 1962) [Text, I, 1–224]; R. Kosinski, Holiness and power: Constantinopolitan holy men and authority in the fifth century (Berlin, Boston, 2016), 143–4.
Monastery ta Romaiou[19]= ta mikra Romaiou
Ps.-Codinus mentions that it was founded by a patrician named Haimon in the reign of the emperor Leo I, which was his house. Berger says that Haimon is not a historical person and therefore this brings doubt as to the identity of the founder and the date. Probably this is the convent mentioned in the ‘Life of St. Thomais of Lesbos’ (BHG 2454‒2455) called ta mikra Romaiou, close to St. Mociuss where she was buried in the tenth century. This monastery was restored by the empress Theodora Palaiologina between 1282 and 1303 and consecrated to the Saints Cosmas and Damianus.
Janin2, 445–6; Cod., 57; Berger, 628–9; Eng. tr. of the Life: P. Halsall, Holy women of Byzantium, 291–322; (BHG 2455)=ed./Fr. tr., F. Halkin, ‘Sainte Thomaïs de Lesbos’, in idem, Hagiologie byzantine (Brussels 1986), 185–219; A. Effenberger, ‘Die Kirche des hl. Romanos in Konstantinopel und ihr Umfeld ‘, Millennium 14.1 (2017), 191–226.
Monastery ton Aigyption in Blachernae
Attested prior to the year 448. Mentioned in the acts of 518 and 536. This religious house was inhabited by Egyptian monks. The ‘Life of St. Patapius’ (BHG 1427) says that he founded a monastery in the reign of the emperor Theodosius and that he was buried in the church of Prodromus, which was part of the convent. Andrew of Crete (d. 740), wrote the saint’s biography in this monastery in response to the request of some nuns who were guardians of Patapius’ relics and had written material about him. The Anonymous Russian called the Blachernae church a monastery probably due to its proximity to the monastery of the Egyptians.
Hatlie, 190 ff. 197; idem, ‘’A rough guide’, 220 n. 60; Janin2, 11‒2, 410; Majeska, 337.
Church of Theotokos ton Kouratoros[20] =Balaban Ağa Masjid
The building is situated in Şehzadebaşı until the beginning of the twentieth century. Close to the Forum Tauri. Ravaged in the Aksaray fire in 1911 was pulled down in 1930 by the ministry of the Waqfs. At present there is nothing left of it. Mordtmann identified the monument with the church of Theotokos tou Kouratoros, a suggestion that has never been explored properly. The church is mentioned in a number of Synaxaria notices. There is no information about the origins of the church. The patriographers trace this church in the time of the empress Verina (d. 484). It was constructed by a trustee who gave it the form of the Holy Grave. The church existed in the end of the ninth century. It is there that the relics of St. Lazarus and Martha and Maria were found before the emperor Leo VI (886–912) deposed them in the monastery of St. Lazarus which he founded. Van Millingen dates the original construction to the fifth century. The building was converted to a mosque by Balaban Aga, a segbanbaşi of the sultan Mehmed II. He established the waqf which dates to 888/1483. The personnel of the masjid was supported by wages from the waqf of the church of St. Sophia .
Janin2, 191‒2; A. G. Paspates, Byzantinai Meletai Topographikai kai Historikai (Konstantinoupolis, 1877), 385‒6; Cod., 53; S. Kirimtayif, Converted Byzantine churches in İstanbul. Their transformation into mosques and masjids (İstanbul, 2001). 91-3; Ayvansarayî, tr. Crane, 69, n.536; E. A. Grosvenor, Constantinople (Boston, 1899), ii, 470‒1; E. Mamboury, Constantinople Guide Touristique (Istanbul, 1925), 219; S. Eyice, ‘Balaban Ağa Mescidi’, IA 6 (1960), 1946ff; Mordtmann, Equisse topographique,, 112, 113; Berger, 329; A. Van Millingen, Byzantine churches in Constantinople. Their history and architecture (London, 1912), 265‒67; A. M. Mansel, ‘The excavation of the Balaban Agha Mesdjidi in Istanbul’, ArB 15 (1933), 210 – 29; A. M. Schneider, Byzanz (Berlin, 1936). 53‒5; T. F. Mathews, The Byzantine churches of Istanbul: a photographic survey (Penns, 1976), 25‒7; W. Müller-Wiener, Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls (Tübingen, 1977), 98‒9; Öz Tahsin, Istanbul Camileri (Ankara, 1987), 31, n. 38; E. Mamboury, ‘Les fouilles byzantines à Istanbul et dans banlieue immédiate aux XIXe et XXe siècles’, B 11 (1936), 229–83, 267‒8; Bardill, Brickstamps, i, index, 415.
Monastery of Domnina ta Gregorias[21]
The patriographers say that two Roman ladies called Alexandria and Gregoria who came to Constantinople allegedly founded one or two monasteries in the time of the emperor Theodosius I. The two monasteries were dedicated to St. Domnike (BHG 562‒562f) and were called by the names of their founders ta Gregorias or ta Alexandrias.[22] The ‘Life of St. Domnike’ says that it was St. Domnike who came to Constantinople where she was baptised and was given by the emperor land to build a monastery and an oratory in honour of the prophet Zacharias. The fact that the commemoration of St. Zacharias in the monastery of St. Domnike is given in the CP points to the existence of the monastery. Situated in the valley of Lycus .
Patria, iii, 193; Cod., 61 (two monasteries of St. Domnina:ta Alexandrou and ta Mavras); Janin2, 18, 80, 100-1; ‘Vita of Domnika (BHG 562)’, Mnemeia Hagiologika, ed. T. Ioannou (Venice, 1884, Leipzig, 1973), 268‒84; Berger, 651‒2; Hatlie, 73, 458.
Monastery of Phiale[23]
The ‘Life of Auxentius’ (BHG 199) says that the hermit Auxentius (d. 473), after the council of Chalcedon, was summoned by the emperor Marcian. The escort who went to search his residence in the mount Oxeia put him on a cart and stopped in a monastery called Phiale which was dedicated probably to St. John the Baptist. Phiale was situated on the road that led from Oxeia (Asiatic suburb) to the Rouphinianai.
Janin, Les églises, 40.
Church of St. Christopher ta Promotou[24]=plision tou Hagiou Polyeuktou
Occupied the site of the house of Promotus[25] magister militum under the emperor Theodosius I. Mentioned in the SynC, Typikon and the ‘Book of Ceremonies’. It is related in the ‘Book of Ceremonies’ that on Eastern Monday the imperial cortege was received in the church of St. Polyeuctus, then in the marble Lions and finally in the basilica. Upon return, the first reception took place to the Lions in the vicinity of the church of St. Apostles, the second in the church of St. Christopher. The Blues made acclamations to the emperor at the church. Relics, such as the head of St. Christopher possessed by the church were transferred to the West.
- Magdalino, ‘Aristokratikoi oikoi in the tenth and eleventh regions of Constantinople’, in N. Necipoglu, Byzantine Constantinople Monuments, topography and everyday life, (Leiden, 2001), 58; Janin2, 539‒40; ed./ Fr. tr. by F. Halkin, ‘Saint Christophe dans le ménologe impérial’, in idem, Hagiologie byzantine, 31-46; Mordtmann, 110; Moffatt, index, 851.
Church of St. Hadrian in Argyroupolis[26]
Attributed to the bishop Metrophanes (306/7‒314) and preserved the martyr’s relics together with those of Nathaly, Atticus’ and Sissinius. Mentioned in the Syn C and in a miracle of St. Artemius.
Janin2, 9.
Church of St. Notarioi (Martyrius and Marcianus) in the Melantiados pyle[27]
Sozomen attributes the foundation of the church over the tomb of the martyrs to the bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom (398‒404)[28] ; it was completed by his successor Sisinnius (426‒7).[29] The 14th century ecclesiastical historian Nicephorus Callistus has the same version. The patriographers say that the church was built by the emperor Theodosius I where he deposed the relics of the martyrs, probably a confusion between Theodosius II and his grandfather. Mentioned in the SynC . It survived in the fourteenth century as an epigram of Maximus Planudes attests. According to the historian Sozomen it was situated before the Constantinian land walls; the Synaxaria locate it at the Melandesia Gate in Deuteron.
Patria, iii, 188; Cod., 61 (Theodosius); Janin2, 377‒8; Berger, 643; on John Chysostom, see ODB, 2, 1057‒8; D. C. Bulger, A complete bibliography of the scholarship on the Life and works of St. John Chrysostom (Evanston, Ill., 1964); Mordtmann, 137; on Sisinnius, see T. Urbainczyk, Socrates of Constantinople (Ann Arbor, 1997).
Church of Theotokos en tois Eugeniou [30]
Allegedly founded by the patricius Eugenius in the reign of the emperor Theodosius I as is attested by the redactor of the Patria. The church was built in the eighth century by the bishop Andrew of Crete. It is stated in the ‘Life of Symeon the New Theologian’ [31] (BHG 1692) (end of 10th c/ beg. of 11th c.) that Symeon had purchased a metochion.
Patria, iii, 21; Janin2, 178 ; Cod., 40; Berger, 742‒3; R. P. H. Greenfield tr., Niketas Stethatos. The Life of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (Cam.Mass., 2013), 257 [Dumbarton Oaks medieval library 20]; I. Hausherr, (ed.) Un grand mystique byzantin. Vie de Syméon le Nouveau Théologien (949‒1022) par Nicétas Stéthatos, Fr. Tr. G. Horn, OCA 12 (Rome, 1928), 2–228; M. –H. Congourdeau, ‘Il monachesimo a Costantinopoli al tempo di Simeone il Nuovo Teologo’, in S. Chiala, L.Cremaschi (eds.), Simeone il Nuovo Teologo e il monachesimo a Costantinopoli, Atti el X Convegno ecumenico internazionale di spiritualità ortodossa – Sezione bizantina, Bose, 15–17 settembre 2002 (Bose 2003), 25–44.
Church of St. Eleftherius in Xerolophos
Allegedly built by a certain patrician Basil in the time of the emperor Arcadius (395–408). Existed at the latest in the year 464 when a miracle happened in it which is mentioned in a number of sources such as John Moschus (d. 619) for the time of patr. Gennadius (458‒71)[32].
Patria, iii, 192; Janin2, 110; Berger, 640-1; EPLBHC, 2, ‘Eleutherios, St.’, 384.
Church of the monastery of the Virgin ‘Τà Κύρου’ or church of Annunciation Theotokos Cyriotissa=mon. ta Kyrou=Kalenderhane camii (church built by the patrician and prefect Cyrus) [see JRC no. 277]
Janin2, 193; Cod., 54.
Church of St. Theodore Sphoracius[33] =Theodore en tois Staurakiou[34]; Prodromus in Koghi
Situated in the district of Sphoracius on the north side of Mese not far from St. Sophia. Attributed to the patrician Sphoracius[35] consul in the year 452 by contemporary sources of the fifth century. The original structure was destroyed by fire perhaps in 465 and Sphoracius build a grand church on the site of the first. The place where the most important feasts in the honour of the Saint were celebrated.. The anthologia palatina has Sphoracius’ dedicatory inscription. The emperor Maurice (582–602) restored the church after it was damaged by fire. It shared common clergy with the church of St. Sophia. The Theopaschite addition to the hymn of Trisagion was chanted in the church in the year 512. Destroyed in the Nika revolt and restored ca. 535. Mentioned in the ‘Book of Ceremonies’. Visited by the English Anonymous in 1190 and Stephen in 1350. The patriographers mention that the patrician Sphoracius raised the chapel of St. Prodromus in the interior of the church in the beginning of the 5th century. It was a single construction, not mentioned, except in some Synaxaria relating to their liturgical celebrations. It is not known when it disappeared, but like the church of St. Theodore which existed still at about 1350, it is possible that it also existed. Christophorus Mitylenaios in his poems praises the school of St. Theodore and its director Maistor Leon. This school which is mentioned in the ninth and eleventh centuries is probably identical with the Oktagonon.[36] Janin identifies the church with the church of St. Prodromus in the Hippodrome. In addition to its foundation and location the feasts which were celebrated there are also known.
Janin2, 151, 152‒3, 440-1; idem, ‘Processions’, 78, 81, 83; idem, ‘Les églises byzantines du Précurseur. à Constantinople’, Échos d’Orient 37 (1938), 312–51, 328‒30; A. Van Millingen, Byzantine churches in Constantinople. Their history and architecture (London, 1912), 244; Cod., 42; Berger, 280‒2; Ch. Walter, ‘Theodore, archetype of the warrior Saint’, REB 57 (1999), 163‒210, 172; idem, The warrior saints in Byzantine art and tradition (Aldershot, 2003), 63; Mordtmann, 112, 119, 120, 121, 124; C. Mango, ‘Epigrammes honoriques, statues et portraits à Byzance’, in idem, Studies on Constantinople (Aldershot, 1993),, 23‒35; J. Ph. Thomas, Private religious foundations in the Byzantine empire (Washington D.C., 1987), 20; Anthologia Palatina, 1.6‒7, ed. H. Stadtmüller (Leipzig, 1894); Patria, iii, 30; J. Bardill, ‘The palace of Lausus and nearby monuments in Constantinople: a topographical study‘, AJA101 (1997), 67-95, 85, 86; F. Bernard, Wrıtıng and reading Byzantine secular poetry (Oxford, 2014), 191,150 index.
Monastery of SS. Cosmas and Damian at Cosmidion outside the city walls on the Golden Horn (in Eyüp), ta Paulinou or ta Paulines[37]
Located not far from the Blachernae and its St. Nicholas church. The church is attributed in the Patria to the magister officiorum Paulinus around the year 439. The name ta Paulines found in other sources contradicts the attribution to Paulinus. It is also attributed to Paulina, mother of the usurper Leontius (484‒8) ca. 480. Existed in the early sixth century as the abbots of the monastery tu Paulinu or tu Paulu are present in the councils of 516 and 536. Repaired by the emperor Justinian (527–565). It was pillaged in the year 623 and destroyed during the Avar attack of Constantinople in the year 626. It was soon rebuilt as is mentioned in 711. Tiberius, son of the emperor Justinian II (685–95, 705–11) was buried there. Visited by the pilgrims Stephen, Anthony and Russian Anonymous. Used as a base in times of strifes and attacks related to foreign invasions. Mentioned as Cosmidion in 924 on the occasion of the siege by the Bulgars, and in 966 when it was obtained by Agapius the patriarch of Antioch (d. 941/2). The church and monastery were rebuilt in the eleventh century by the emperor Michael IV Paphlagon (1034–41), who was retired there, tonsured and died. Two seals are attested for the 11th/12th centuries and show that the monastery functioned at this time. The head reliquary of St. Acindynus was originally housed in the church prior to the Fourth Crusade. Mentioned in the acts of 1382 and 1401. In a bad state during the siege of the sultan Bāyezīd. Survived until the conquest in 1453. Mango locates the church on a hill outside the Blachernae wall.
ODB, 2, 1151; Janin2, 286‒9; idem, ‘Processions’, 81‒2; Pmbz, # 1830; Cod., 55‒6; Mordtmann, 60‒1;Theoph., 380; Beck, 621; A. M. Talbot, ‘Healing Shrines in late Byzantine Constantinople‘, in eadem, (ed.), Women and religious life in Byzantium (Aldershot, 2001), 1–24, 7‒9; V Laurent, Fasc. IV, Les Regestes de 1208 a 1309 (Paris, 1971). N. 1486 Crit. 1; 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), Reg. 1377 a 1410, 2737, 28873218, 3277, 3283; MM, v. 2, 37, 512‒3; Eversolt, 98; Proc., I. iv. 5‒8; Berger, 670‒73; Patria, iii, 146; Mango, Nikephoros, 45.102‒3; idem, ‘On the cult of saints Cosmas and Damian at Constantinople’, Θυμιαμα στη μνημη της Λασκαρινας Μπουρα (Athens, 1994), 189‒92; The Miracles of Saints Cosmas and Damian: Kosmas und Damian. Texte und Einleitung, ed. L. Deubner (Leipzig and Berlin, 1907); A. –J. Festugière, ‘Saints Côme et Damien’, in: Saint Thécle, Saints Côme et Damien, Saints Cyr et Jean (Extraits), Saint Georges (Paris 1971), 85‒189; N. Bryennios, Histoire, tr. P. Gautier, CFHB (Bruxelles, 1975), 233; E. Morini, „Gratuitamente hanno ricevuto, gratuitamente danno la guarigione“. I santi “anargiri ”e Constantinopli’, in G. Vespignani (ed.), Polidoro, Studi offerti ad Antonio Carile [Collectanea, 29] (Spoleto, 2013); Moffatt, index, 851; E. Lappa-Zizikas, ‘Un chrysobulle inconnu en faveur du monastère des Saints-Anargyres de Kosmidion’, TM 8 (1981), 255‒68; N. Necipoğlu, ‘‘Byzantine monasteries and monastic property in Thessalonike and Constantinople during the period of Ottoman conquests. (Late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries)’, JOS 15 (1995), 1235‒35, 134; Grierson et al., ‘The tombs and obits’, 59; Hatlie, 166; on Paulinus, see J. B. Bury, A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene [HLRE], vol. 1 (London, 2005), 133, 134; McGeer, Catalogue of Byzantine seals ,82‒3; E. Morini, ‘Gratuitamente hanno ricevuto, gratuitamente danno la guarigione’. I santi ‘anargiri’ e Constantinopoli’, in G. Vespıgnanı, Polidoro. Studi offerti ad Antonio Carile, vol. 1, 363‒86; I. Csepregi, The compositional history of early Christian Greek incubation miracles: Saint Thecla, Saint Cosmas and Damian, Saint Cyrus and John, Saint Artemios (PhD Central European Uni., 2007), 59‒61.
Church of St. Stephen of Navatianon in Aurelianae [38]
Its foundation is attributed to the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. Built by Sisinnius,[39] priest of the Novatians (395‒407).
Janin2, 476; on Sisinnius, see Th. Urbainczyk, Socrates of Constantinople (Ann Arbor, 1997), index.
Monastery of Theodorou (12th c.)
Attested in the fifth century prior to the year 448.
Magdalino, 94.
Church of Theodore ta Karbounaria=Vefa Kilise mosque (built by patrician Hilarion) [see JRC no. 259]
Janin2, 148.
Church ta Dexiocratous[40]= St. Euphemia in Petrion[41]=convent of Petrion=St. Theodosia [see JRC no. 277 ]
The church of Euphemia of Petrion is known as the church ta Dexiocratous (408‒50). The latter was allegedly built by the patrician Dexiocrates under the emperor Theodosius II in the fifth century. The church existed in the seventh century as a seal attests. According to the late chronicler Ephraim, Patr. John V (669‒75) before taking office, he was the head of the old people’s home in ta Dexiocratous. The church of the old people’s home referred to in the Patria has probably nothing to do with the church of Euphemia even though it is mentioned in the SynC as mone ton Dexiocratous.
Cod., 48; Janin2, 88, 397; Berger, 475-6; Mordtmann, 129; Moffatt, 648; Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 46.
Chapel (martyrion) of St. Isidorus in Balıkpazarı
Built in the mid fifth century by Marcian, economus[42] of St. Sophia, where he brought a part of the relics of the martyr to depose them there as is attested in his ‘Life’. The chapel was in the enclosure of the church of St. Irene of Perama.
Janin,2 262.
Church of St. Theodore in Tenetro
‘The Life of Marcian’ says that it was built by Marcian. Unknown location.
Janin2, 153.
Church of St. Irene in Perama opposite Sykai (Eminönü)
Situated in the Balıkpazarı/Zindankapısı area between Neorion and Zeugma, somewhat north west of today’s Rüstem Paşa Mosque. Rebuilt in the second half of fifth century by the economus Marcian as a replacement of a smaller, but earlier church of the same name. It was consecrated to the Holy Peace in the older lives of Marcian and to a legendary holy Irene in more recent editions. The construction of the previous building is unknown. The Notitia lists it in the year 425 in the Region VII and other sources mention it in the years 431 and 443. Verina, wife of the emperor Leo I, completed the work on the church after the death of Marcian. The building fell, the earliest, on the 60th year of the fifth century. Mentioned often in the Synaxaria as he pros thalassan or similar. It is probably the church of Irene mentioned in the Pisan concession in 1136. After a fire under the emperor Manuel I Comnenus a restoration started but was never completed. No longer mentioned after the second great fire of 1203. It was probably destroyed and not rebuilt. Near the ‘Mitaton’ ton Saracenon.[43]
- Ebersolt, Sanctuaires de Byzance. Recherches sur les anciens trésors des églises de Constantinople (Paris, 1921), 15; Patria, iii, 44; Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae, ed. O. Seeck, Notitia dignitatum (Berlin, 1876), 235; Janin2, 106‒7; Mordtmann, 80, 86; C. Mango, ‘The shoreline of Constantinople in the fourth century’, in N. Necipoğlu (ed.), Byzantine Constantinople: monuments, topography and everyday life (Leiden, 2001), 17‒28, 19 n. 8; idem, ‘Le terme antiforoset la Vie de saint Marcien économe de la Grande Église‘, TM 15 (2005), 317–28, 323; Berger, 447‒9, index; Kidon., 105‒6; vita by Symeon Metaphrastes (BHG 1034b), ed. and Fr. tr. F. Halkin, ‘Vie de saint Marcien l’économe BHG 1034b’, in idem, Le ménologe impérial de Baltimore (Brussels, 1986), 99-124; ‘Vita of Marcian (BHG 1034)’, in PG, 114, 429–56 P. Magdalino, ‘The maritime neighborhoods of Constantinople: commercial and residential functions, sixth to twelfth centuries’, DOP 54 (2000), 209‒26, 213, 220; A. M. Talbot, Holy women of Byzantium: ten saints‘ lives in English translation (Washington DC, 1996), 44, n.79.
Church of Anastasis (reb. Marcian) [see JRC no. 259]
Cod., 45; Janin2, 20‒2, 22‒5, 298.
Church of St. Stratonikes in Rhegion[44]
Gedeon thinks that the church mentioned in the Syn. C is the same with the one built by St. Marcian in Rhegion in the mid fifth century and fell during an earthquake in the year 557. Janin thinks that the church was in the immediate environs of the capital. Anthony of Novgorod saw the head of St. Stratonikes in St. Sophia.
Janin2, 478‒9.
Church ton Isidorou
According to Ps. Codinus a church was built by Isidorus, brother of Euboulus (beg. of 6th century). However it is not reported to whom the foundation was dedicated. The church is possıbly the one in the asylum for the old founded by the same personality. However, the two individuals were not brothers but they held the office of the praetorian prefect of the Illyricum in 430s. Situated north of St. Irene.
Janin,2 262.
Church of the Mother of God ton patrikias[45]=ta Ouaranas
Mentioned only in the Patria. The name ton Patrikias designates nothing more that the foundress was a patrikia. Berger says that it could be the same as the church of the little convent which was said in several texts to have been situated behind the altar of St. Sophia in the East and founded by a certain Varanes consul in 410 and 456. Since the name of the founder was forgotten with time the original name of the monastery became deformed. In 479 it is mentioned as ta Ouaranu, in the seventh ta Ouaranas or ta Euaranas, later in the SynC en Eouranois and finally in the fourteenth century tes Euouraniotisses or tes Barangiotisses.
Patria, iii, 204; Cod., 62; Janin2, 184, 184‒5, 217; Berger, 422‒3; F. Miklosich–J. Müller, Acta et diplomata Graeca Mediiaevi Acta Patriarchatus Constantinopolitani 1315‒1402, vols 2 (Aalen, 1968), vol. 2, 410‒2, 414‒5.
Louma ton Athemiou
Attested in the fifth century.
Magdalino, 94; Berger, 507‒8.
Church of St. Photeini at Chalkoprateia
Probably founded in the fifth century and was located near to St. Sophia, ca. 150 meters to the northwest. Attested in the Inventio et Miracula (11th or 12th c.) which recounts miracle stories. According to the Inventio the church was originally dedicated to the Virgin and took the name of Photeine after the discovery of her relics in a nearby well. Her relics and head performed miracles and cured eye problems. Mentioned by Anonymous English in 1190.
- M. Talbot –A. Kazhdan, ‘The Byzantine cult of St. Photeini’, in eadem, Women and religious life in Byzantium, 103‒12, 107f.; eadem, ‘The posthumous miracles of St. Photeine’, in eadem, Women and religious life in Byzantium, 85‒104 at 93‒4 n.24.
Mone close tou Exakioniou
An abbot of the monastery is mentioned as part of the delegation of the leaders of the convent whom the patr. Acacius sent to St. Daniel the Stylite to request to support his action against the usurper Basiliscus in 475. Mentioned in the acts of 518 and 536.
Janin2, 112.
Church of St. Gregory in Xerokepion[46]
The ps.-Codinus traces the construction of a church in St. Gregory the Theologian’s[47] honour to a certain patrician in the time of the emperor Theodosius. This date is false because St. Gregory died in 389 and his cult could be established before the end of the reign of Theodosius (395). His relics were discovered under the emperor Constantine VIII and were deposed partly in the church of the Apostles and partly in the church of St. Anastasia. A church of St. Gregory of Nazianzus (BHG 723) is mentioned in the 9th century ‘Life of St. Ignatius’, which is the one of Xerokepion. The ‘Life’ says that the patr. being attached to the quarter ta Poseos[48], in a house he inherited from his mother, went to St. Apostles to appear before a synod composed by bishops devoted to Photius. He was joined by the patrician John Coxes, close to the church of St. Gregory. The quarter was probably found close to St. Apostles around the Çukurbostan of the sultan Selīm. Close to the monastery of St. Nicholas of Kafsalon.
Janin2, 80–1; Cod., 49; Patria, iii, 78; Mordtmann, 127; Berger, 743–5 ; Hatlie, 472, 471; Greek ed./Fr. tr. X. Lequeux, Gregorii Presbyteri Vita sancti Gregorii Theologi (Turnhout, 2001); ‘Vita of Ignatius, patr. of Constantinople (BHG 817)’, by Nicetas the Paphlagonian, PG 105, 488–574; I. Tamarkina, ‘The date of the Life of the patriarch Ignatius reconsidered’, BZ 99 (2006), 615–30.
Church of St. Thomas ta Amantiou[49]
Attributed to Amantius[50] (344‒45) eunuch and prepositos under the emperor Anastasius. In 438 the relics of St. Chrysostom were deposed provisionally in the church. A series of chronicles report of the fire of 461 that spread in the south of the city of St. Thomas ta Amantiou up until the church of St. Sergius and Bacchus. Destroyed by fire in the reign of the emperor Leo VI and was later rebuilt. Mentioned in the seventh century by contemporary sources. The emperor Basil I restored it. Functioned as a stational church in the procession of the translation of the relics of John Chysostom to the church of the Apostles. Mentioned by the historian Zonaras in second half of the twelfth century. Visited by Anthony of Novgorod. Located probably west of the port of Sophia. Probably the one in ta Augoustes.
Pmbz, # 10688, 10690; Janin2, 248‒50; idem, ‘Les processions religieuses a Byzance’, REB 24 (1966), 69‒88, 74, 77‒8; Mordtmann, 100, 105; Theoph., 112; Patria, iii, 96; Berger, 86, 596‒7; Cod., 52; R. Guilland, Études de topographie de Constantinople byzantine, 2 vols. (Berlin and Amsterdam, 1969), 2, 83‒4.
Church of St. Stephen in Aurelianae
Existed in the end of the fifth century. Situated near the palace of Helenianae[51], close to the monastery of Peribleptos south of the monastery of St. Isaac. Theodore the Lector attributes it to Aurelian (d. 416)[52], high- ranking official under the emperors Theodosius and Arcadius. Isaac, the founder of the monastery ta Dalmatou was buried in this church, according to his Life. Rebuilt from the foundations by the emperor Basil I. Restored by the emperor Isaac, son of the emperor Alexius I and attached it to the monastery of Theotokos Kosmosoteira which he had founded in Vera (Pherrai) in Thrace. The church because of its lack of relics of its patron saint never played a major role and is not mentioned in the Synaxaria.
Janin2, 472‒3; Skyl., 136; Theoph., 149; Mordtmann, 133.
Church of St. Thomas of Anthemius[53] near the cistern of Mocius
Allegedly built by Anthemius[54], magister in the time of the emperor Marcian. Janin says that he must be the grandfather of this personality the prefect of 413, and is an unfounded attribution. Mentioned twice in the Chronicon Paschale whose place is given as ta Boraidiou.[55] A louma is attested in the fifth century. St. Matrona built her first establishment close to this church. Janin identifies it with that at the suburb of Boradion[56] on the eastern shore of Bosphorus near Kanlica.
Janin2, 251; idem, Les églises, 17; Patria, iii, 106; Magdalino, CM, 94, n. 31; Berger, 507‒8.
Monastery ton Steirou or Tzerou= = The Maḥmūd Paşa[57] camii =mone ton Steirou=Archangel Michael ta Steirou[58] or Tzerou[59]or Michael in Arcadianai[60] =ta Sinatoros[61] =Archangels in Neon Palation
Located in the Maḥmūd Paşa quarter in Alemdar, near the Nuruosmaniye mosque[62]. Possibly built on the ruins of the church of Archangel Michael of the monastery ton Steirou by the vizier Maḥmūd Paşa in 1464. Ps.-Codinus says that two sanctuaries ta Steirou were dedicated to Sts Michael and Gabriel, and the cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 657 (xiiie s.) states that there was also a monastery and probably inder the vocable of Michael. Ta Steirou was founded by a patrician in the time of the emperor Leo I. The emperor Justinian built two large churches, which were restored by Basil I. In later sources the emperor Basil I is credited for having constructed the two churches in ta Steirou. Ta Tzerou points to a foundation by a person named Tzeros, perhaps the sixth-century general Theodore Tzerus. The ‘Life of Basil’ mentions a renewal of a church in ta Tzerou. The emperor Basil dedicated a church to St. Michael together with a hospice for the poor. The church of St. Michael ton Steirou and probably the monastery are mentioned in the end of the twelfth century. Place of burial of patr. of Jerusalem Leontius I (1184 or 1185). His successor Dositheus I (1187‒9) also resided there. Probably served as a habitual seat of the patr. of Jerusalem. Papadopoulos-Kerameus suggested that it was the allocated pied-a terre by the emperors to the patriarchs of Jerusalem who were forced to quit the holy city during the Latin occupation. But this hypothesis is unlikely true. A monastery in this location is lastly mentioned in 1186. The church of St. Michael in Arkadianai is probably identical with that of St. Michael ta Steirou. Magdalino identifies the church with the Archangels in Neon Palation in the Great Palace. Ta Steirou was served by a diakonia and it probably possessed a bath house. The English anonymous mentions instead of the church ta Steirou a monastery of Cyrus and John in which their relics were kept. It is therefore likely, as Berger says, that in ta Steirou the relics of the saints were kept and then later the church was named after them.
Janin2, 345‒6, 471‒2; Patria, iii, 24; Ayvansarayî, tr. Crane, 212‒3, n. 1665; M. Angold, Church and society in Byzantium under the Comneni, 1081-1261 (Cambridge, 2000), index, 592; Berger, 311, 386‒8, index; Paspates, 398; E. Mamboury, Constantinople Guide Touristique (Istanbul, 1925), 343‒4; D. Tsougarakis, The Life of Leontios, Patriarch of Jerusalem (Leiden, 1993), 153, 211, n.100, 246; P. Magdalino, ‘Basil I, Leo VI, and the feast of the Prophet Elijah’, JÖB 38 (1988), 193‒6, 194.n.5; repr. Studies in the history and topography of Byzantine Constantinople (Aldershot, 2007), no. VI.
Monastery of St. Bassianus (13th c.) =monastery of Elegmoi or Elegmon in Bithynia
Attested in the fifth century. Founded by Bassian[63] who came from Syria, under the emperor Marcian. The monastery was influential in the period between the 5th and 6th centuries. Matrona entered the monastery in disguise not before the year 455. Possessed houses and mentioned in an act of 1203 of the emperor Alexius III to the Genoese. Became the metochion of the monastery of Elegmon. Mentioned in Theophanes, CP, the ‘Life of St. Matrona’. Situated in Deuteron probably in the west of the cistern of Aspar, between Fatih and the Adrianople Gate. In the tenth century it was renovated by the ascetic St. Luke the Stylite (d. 979) with assistance from the patr. Theophylact (931–56). Theophanes mentions a certain John Vincomalus [magister officiorum, 451–2], a monk with Bassian. Romanus Saronites[64], the uncle of the emperor Romanus II (959–63), retired in the convent having distributed his fortune among his children and the poor.
Janin2, 60‒1; ‘Vita of Matrona’ (BHG 1221), AASS Nov. III (Rome, 1910), 790‒813; Holy Women, 13‒64; ‘Vita of Bassianos’ (Syn. C.), 127-8; Magdalino, 75, n. 152; E. Katafygiotou-Topping, ‘St. Matrona and her friends: sisterhood in Byzantium’, in Kathegetria: essays presented to Joan Hussey on her eightieth birthday, ed. J. Chrysostomides (Camberley, 1988), 211‒24; Berger, 526f.; Mordtmann, 83; Theoph., AD 464/5. 114, AD 498/9, 141; Hatlie, index, 539, 543; idem, ‘Spiritual authority and monasticism in Constantinople’, in H. W. Drijvers and J. W. Watt, Portraits of spiritual authority: religious power in early Christianity, Byzantium and the Christian Orient (Leiden, 1999), 203, 204; Haarer, Anastasius I, 141; P. Magdalino, ‘Medieval Constantinople’, in idem, Constantinople médiévale (Paris, 1996), 83‒4, n.165; 92, n.212.
Church of the Prophet Elias en to Petrion[65]
The patriographers attribute the foundation of the church to the soldiers of the emperor Zeno when they returned from an expedition against the Persians. Berger doubts the historicity of the report and argues that the building should date to the period after his second reign. When the saint appeared to the soldiers they agreed to raise a church for him. The emperors Zeno and Ariadne assisted them so that they were able to build a grand building. In the 9th century the church was in ruins. Rebuilt by the emperor Basil I. The Synaxaria mentions it to have been located en to Petrio. Mentioned by the English Anonymous in 1190, who venerated the mantle of the prophet. The church was possibly destroyed during the Latin occupation but no text can prove this. Located by Mordtmann in the vicinity of the mosque of the sultan Selīm. The English pilgrim locates it in the place of Antiochus (locus Antiochi) and as such was near the churches of St. Euphemia and Laurentius.
Janin2, 137‒8.; Patria, iii, 66; Cod., 47; Skyl. 137; Mordtmann, 129; Ebersolt, 88; Berger, 488‒9.
Martyrium of St. Christopher
An inscription found in 1877 relates the foundation (May 450) and the dedication of an ancient church dedicated to St. Christopher; it was discovered in the construction of a railway which nearly reaches Kartal Kartalimen.[66]
Janin, Les églises, 57, ns.6‒8.
Monastery of Baras
Allegedly built under the emperor Zeno by an Egyptian monk named Baras, companion of Raboulas and Patapius. It was close to a church of St. John Baptist. Identified with the monastery of Maras mentioned in the acts of 518 and 536.
Janin2, 56; Berger, 610. On Baras see, M.-F. Auzépy, L’ hagiographie et l’ iconoclasme byzantin Le cas de la Vie d’Étienne le Jeune (Aldershot, 1999), 133 n. 9; X. Lequeucx, Jean Mauropous, Jean Mauropodès et le culte de saint Baras au monastère du Prodrome de Pétra à Constantinople. (L’Encomion de S. Baras doit être attribué à J. Mauropodès)’, AB 120 (2012), 101‒9; J. Mauropous, ‘Encomion de Baras’ (BHG 212): A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus, Anekdota ellenika (Constantinople, 1884), 38‒45.
Church of Prodromus at Illus
Mentioned only by the patriographers. They affirm that it was constructed in the oikos of the magister Illus,[67] the consul of 478, who revolted against the emperor Zeno in 480. They also claim that there was in the past an imperial treasury, which was guarded by a dragon whom St. Hypatius had killed. The church was built in the house of Illus, but only after his death. Berger does not reject the historicity of this report, but he also notes the use of the stereotype oikos-formula. It may have taken the name of the quarter without being on the site of this house. It was not far from the Forum of Constantine because according to the patriographers St. Hypatius dragged the dragon in this location where it was burned. Probably the one mentioned by the English Anonymous on the way from the St. Euphemia to St. Sergius church located in Hippodrome.
CP, 110; Cod., 43, 63; Patria, iii, 33, 211; Mordtmann, 8; Janin2, 416; idem, ‘Les églises byzantines du Précurseur..’, 333‒4; Berger, 559‒62; Bardill, ‘The palace of Lausus’, 79n.51.
Oratory of Theotokos ta Armatiou[68]
Attributed to Armatius (d. 478)[69] magister under Zeno, who gave his name to the quarter. Mentioned in the SynC. This church which was an oratory or eukterion probably had no great importance.
Janin2, 157–8; Berger, 497–9.
Martyrium of Thyrsus in the Embolou Markianou
Mentioned in the ‘Life of Andrew the Fool’ (wr. 10th c.). The church existed in the fifth century when the saint lived. Situated below the Bazaar towards the Golden Horn.
Janin,2 248; ‘Vita of Andrew the Fool’ (BHG 115; with Engl. Tran.) by Nicephorus the Priest, in The Life of St. Andrew the Fool, 2 vols ed./tr. L. Ryden (Uppsala, 1995).
The church of Theotokos of Urbicius[70] in Strategion
The church was built before 500 AD. It was allegedly named after Urbicius, commander and military writer in the reign of the emperor Anastasius I. Mentioned as station on the feast of the beginning of the indiction. The church existed in the seventh century; in the tenth there was a diakonia. Mentioned in the ‘Life of Eutychius’ (BHG 657) and the SynC. It is there that the future patr. Eutychius, when he came to Constantinople in 524 to study, was installed by his protector, the metropolitan of Amaseia; he was tonsured there (ca. 532), before he came back to his country. A deacon[71] named Theodore, is mentioned in the ‘Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon’ (BHG 1748) in the seventh century.
Patria, iii, 22; Janin2, 207; idem, ‘Processions’, 73; Cod., 40; Berger, 404-6; Mordtmann, 112; C. Mango, ‘Constantinople as Theotokoupolis’, in M. Vassiliaki, Mother of God representations of the Virgin in Byzantine art (Athens, 2000), 20; on Urbicius, see PLRE, II 1190; The chronicle of pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, tr. with notes and introduction by F. R. Trombley and J. W. Watt (Liverpool, 2000), 107 n. 499; Berger, 404-6; Moffatt, index, 852; Vie de Théodore de Sykéôn, I: texte grec, II: traduction, commentaire et appendice (Brussel, 1970); Vita of Eutychius patr. of Constantinople (BHG 657) by Eustratius the presbyter, in Eustratii Presbyterii Vita Eutychii Patriarchae Constantinopolitani, ed. C. Laga (Turnhout, 1992).
Monastery of the Akoimetoi (‘Sleepless ones’) in Gomon[72]
Existed in the fifth century. Allegedly founded by the archimandrite Alexander (BHG 47) in 405. It was ceded because of the emperor Zeno’s Henotikon. Originally located in the vicinity of St. Menas close to Acropolis. The Akoimetoi suffered persecution and were moved and established in Gomon, on the Asiatic shore of Bosphorus. In the mid 5th century they settled at Eirenaion (Çubuklu) on the eastern shore of Bosphorus, opposite Sosthenion.[73] Marcellus (BHG 1027z) was probably the most remarkable personality in the middle of the 5th century mostly in the fight against monophysitism. Signed the deposition of the patr. Eutyches in 448. It is attested in the 518 and 536 lists of synods; and in 787 in the signature list of the second council of Nicaea. The first monastery which under the influence of its abbot Marcellus possessed a serious scriptorium. It also possessed houses as mentioned in the chrysobull of the emperor Manuel of 1148 in the concessions to the Venetians. A church of the Akoimetoi existed in Constantinople in the ninth century. Mentioned in the ‘Book of Ceremonies’. Anthony visited the monastery within the walls. It is unlikely that it survived the Latin occupation.
ODB, 1, 46; Pmbz, # 3444, 4861; Janin2, 16‒7; idem, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins, 30; H. G. Beck, Kirche und Theologische Literatur im Byzantinischen Reich (München, 1959), 126, 213; Theoph., 141; H. Crane, The garden of the mosques: Hafiz Hüseyin al-Ayvansarayi’s guide to the Muslim monuments of Ottoman Istanbul (Leiden, 2000), 466, n.3301 locates the monastery in the village of Çubuklu, on the Asian shore of upper Bosphorus, between Paşabahçe and Kanlıca; J. Pargoire, ‘Le début du monachisme à Constantinople’, RQH 65 (1899), 67‒143, 133‒43; Hatlie, 96, 106ff, 112, index, 539; idem, ’A rough guide’, 222 n. 66; Haarer, Anastasius I, 141; Reg. 715 a 1043, N. 49 crit. 2; Reg. 1208 a 1309, N. 1204; Magdalino, 80; H., 458, on Alexander, see EPLBHC. 1, 141‒2; on Alexander and Marcellus, abbots of the Akoimetoi, see Hatlie, index, 539, 543; ‘Vita of Alexander of Akoimetoi (BHG 47)’, in Vie d’ Alexandre l’ Acéméte, texte grec et traduction latine (PO, 6:5), ed. E. de Stoop (Paris, 1911), 658‒704; Engl. Tr. D. Caner, Wandering, begging monks. Spiritual authority and the promotion of monasticism in late antiquity (Berkeley, 2002), 249‒80; ‘Vita of Marcellus of Akoimetoi (BHG 1027z)’, ed. G. Dagron, in ‘La vie ancienne de saint Marcel l’ Acémète’, AB 86 (1968), 271‒86; E. McGeer, Catalogue of Byzantine seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg museum of art (Washington DC, 1991), 119?; Moffatt, index, 851; V. Deroche and B. Lesieur, ‘Notes d’ hagiographie byzantine. Daniel le Stylite-Marcel l’ Acémète-Hypatios de Rufinianes-Auxentios de Bithynie’, AB 128 (2010), 283‒95.
Church of Sts Peter and Mark in Blachernae
Attributed in the SynC to the patrices Galbius and Candidus[74] in the year 458. Under the emperor Leo I it preserved the sacred tunic of the Virgin which they had taken from a Jewish woman in Jerusalem. This was taken afterwards to St. Mary of the Blachernae.
Van Millingen, 192; Mamboury, Constantinople, 233‒4; for the story see A. S. Jacobs, The remains of the Jew: imperial Christian identity in the late ancient Holy Land’, Journal of medieval and early modern studies 33.1. (2003), 23‒45.
Monastery of Matrona in the Severianai[75]
Dated probably in the second half of the fifth century. Matrona (BHG 1222) a rich and noble lady from Perge in Pamphylia built it on the advice of Bassianus to whose monastery she lived for some time disguised as a eunuch. By the end of the 5th century it was considered one of the principal of the capital. Her first monastic establishment was close to the church of St. Thomas eis ta Anthemiou. Matrona a supporter of the council of Chalcedon of 451 opposed the emperor Anastasius’ support of Monophysitism which lasted from 491 to 518. The emperor Zeno obliged the foundress to subscribe to Henoticon in 491. Matrona was commemorated in her convent until the twelfth century. Visited by the English Anonymous in 1190. The monastery of Hypatias was close.
Janin2, 329; Ciggaar, ‘Description’, 48; Theoph., 141‒2; for the ‘Life of St. Matrona of Perge’ by Symeon Metaphrastes, see Holy Women, 14, 15, 51‒64; Haarer, Anastasius I, 141, 149; Berger, 526f.; Eng. Tr. of the ‘Life’: K. Bennasser, Gender and sanctity in early Byzantine monasticism: a study of the phenomenon of female ascetics in male monastic habit (University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, 1984), 118-54; and Eng. Tr., J. Featherstne, Holy Women, 13‒64; Hatlie, index, 543, 466 lists it also in 730‒850 with uncertainty.
Monastery of Severou[76]
Probably built by the wife of Severus, patrician and adopted brother of the emperor Constans II. Berger doubts the historicity of the report and argues that the location of the Severianai was already attested for the middle of the fifth century. In this location the monastery of Matrona was founded in the time of the emperor Leo I, and the monastery of her teacher Bassianus. Before the foundation of the monastery the Severianai could have been a possession of Severus, who is mentioned in the SynC to have been a companion of Bassianus, or of Bassianus, a companion of Severus as his monastery lay in the Severianai area. The rest home of Severus with its church which is mentioned in the Patria is unknown. It perhaps can be identified with the monastery of Matrona or Bassianus which may have been renamed after the place.
Cod., 53; Patria, iii, 108; Berger, 525‒7; Janin2, 556.
Female monastery of Trihanareas
The monastery was a powerful institution which lasted for a long period. Located across the Bosphorus outside Chalcedon. The emperor Constantine V did not destroy the monastery because the nuns accepted iconoclasm. It was under the direction of the hermit Auxentius (BHG 199) and resembled Matrona’s plan. The mother and sister of St. Stephen the Younger retired in the monastery (ca. 750‒60). Its eighth century history is known by the ‘Life of St. Stephen the Younger’. It lasted at least until the end of the twelfth century. At the eleventh century Michael Psellus (d. 1070) said that the tomb of Auxentius was in the monastery where miracles were performed. In 1192 an act of the emperor Isaac II mentions a metochion of Trihanareon at the limit of the concession to the Pisans. The metochion was situated between the mosque Yenivalide and the station of Sirkeci. Remains of the monastery were unsurficed in the nineteenth century.
Janin2, 488; Hatlie, 95‒6, 99 n.29, 292; Life by St. the Deacon (BHG 1666); tr. M. F. Auzépy, La Vie d’ Étienne le Jeune, 15‒8, index, 353; Life by S. Metaphrastes (BHG 1667)= ed. and Ital. tr. F. Iadevaia, Vita di S. Stefano Minore/Simeone Metafraste (Messina, 1984); V. Auxentii (BHG 199); L. Brubaker, J. Haldon, Byzantium in the iconoclast era c. 680–850: a history (Cambridge, 2011), 218; Magdalino, ‘Medieval Constantinople’, 90.
Monastery of Satyros[77]
The biographer of patr. Ignatius (847‒58, 867‒78) Nicetas (BHG 817), says that shortly before he died he built a church in honour of St. Michael and a monastery. The historians Symeon the Magister and George the Monk agree on this. They add that this took place on the 6th year of the reign of the emperor Basil I in 873/4. Patr. Ignatius was buried in it in 877 and many healing miracles took place there. Emperor John II reduced it to the state of a metochion of the monastery of Christ Pantocrator. Satyrus is referred to as having a port where a part of the fleet of the Arab leader Yezid found refuge in 718. Pargoire has argued that the remains of the monastery are found north of the railway line and the route from Baghdad, shortly before Küçük Yali, between Bostanci and Maltepe. Mango identifies it with the palace of Bryas.
Janin, Les églises, 42‒3; Hatlie, 329 n. 59; A. Tsakalof, ‘Peri Satyrou’, BZ 22 (1913), 122‒6; C. Mango, ‘Notes d’ épigraphie et d’ archéologie: Constantinople, Nicée‘. Travaux et Mémoires 12 (1994), 343‒58; A. Ricci, ‘Left behind: small sized objects from the middle Byzantine monastic complex of Satyros (Kucukyali, Istanbul)’, in B.Böhlendorf-Arslan and A. Ricci (eds.), Small finds in Byzantine archaeological contexts (Istanbul, 2012), 147–62; eadem, ‘Küçükyalı’da Bizans mezar kontektstleri ve arkeolojisi: ilk değerlendirmeler/ Contesti funerary Bizantini e loro archeologia a Küçükyalı: considerazioni preliminary’, Arkeoloji ve Sanat, 148 (2015), 189‒203; on patr. Ignatius, see J. W. Nesbitt, Catalogue of Byzantine seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, volume 6: Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Washington DC, 2009), ), 203–4; N. David, The life of Patriarch Ignatius = Vita Ignatii Patriarchae : text and translation A. Smithies, with notes by J. M. Duffy [DOT 13; CFHB 51] (Washington DC, 2013); A. Tsakaloph, ‘Peri Satyrou’, BZ 22 (1913), 122–6.
Monastery of St. Kyriakos
It was situated outside the Golden Gate. Theodore Lector says in his ‘Ecclesiastical History’ (after ca. 518) that it was constructed under the patr. Gennadius (457‒71)[78] by the praepositus Gratissimus (5th c.) under the emperor Leo. He took the monastic habit there after the end of his office as praepositus. In 474 Abramius, archimandrite of the monastery, participated in the deputation which the patr. Acacius sent to Daniel the Stylite to demand his support against the heretical acts of the usurper Basiliscus. Mentioned in the acts of 518 and 536.
Janin2, 292-3; PLRE, 2, Gratissimus, 519; Theoph., 113; Hatlie, 466; C. Mango, ‘The date of the Studios basilica at Istanbul’, BMGS 4 (1978), 115–22, 120; S. Tougher, The eunuch in Byzantine history and society (New York, 2008), 83; ‘Vita of Daniel the Stylite (BHG 489)’, tr. Three Byzantine saints, 1‒71.
Monastery of Raboulas =St. Romanus
Berger says that the church of St. Romanus dates back to the end of the fourth century. Its construction and consecration evolved into a monastic facility. According to John Mauropous, metropolitan of Euchaita (11th c.), it was established after about 490 by Raboulas, an Egyptian monk, who came to Constantinople in the end of the reign of the emperor Zeno, with the approval of the emperor Anastasius. The Gate of St. Romanus[79] took its name from the monastery of Raboulas. Mentioned by the Syn. C. Existed in the eleventh century when the metropolitan of Euchaita John Mauropous pronounced his panegyric of Baras. Majeska has said that the relics of Daniel the Prophet and of St. Nicetas were retained in the church of the monastery. It was probably abandoned by 1422 the year of the attack of the sultan Murad II.
Janin2, 445; Berger, 667‒9; Hatlie, 106; A. Ersen, ‘Physical evidence revealed during the cleaning and the excavations of the outer wall of the land walls of Constantinople at the Porta Romanus’, BMGS 23 (1999), 102‒15, 104; Mordtmann, 137; on Raboulas, see. Auzépy, L’ hagiographie, 133 n. 9; P. Canart, ‘Le dossier hagiographique des SS. Baras, Patapios et Raboulas’, AB 87 (1969), 445‒59; M. Phillippides, W. K. Hanak, The siege and fall of Constantinople in 1453: historiography, topography and military studies (2011).
Monastery tou Diou
Second oldest monastery after the Dalmatou. Allegedly founded by Dius, a Syrian monk under Theodosius. Attested in the acts of 518 and 536. Destroyed by the emperor Constantine V and restored. It is attested in the acts of the second council of Nicaea in 787. Theodore the Studite (d. 826) spoke of the monastery in the early ninth century to have been the oldest in the city. Probably existed at least until the Latin occupation, because Anthony of Novgorod saw it in 1200 where he venerated the head and the relics of St. Dius. The monastery possessed an oratory (Pmbz, # 6900, 7052, 10955) where the relics of St. Stephen the Younger were laid. It was situated probably in the Lycus valley north or northwest of the church of Mocius.
Pmbz, # index, 356; Paspates, 397; Janin2, 97‒9, 478; idem, Grands centres, 431; Mordtmann, 15, 108; Theoph., 132, 158, 443; Cod., 61; Vita of St. Stephen the Younger, PG 100, 1069‒186 (BHG 1666), ed./ tr. of the Life: Auzépy, La vie d’ Étienne le Jeune par Étienne le Diacre, index, 353; Eng. Tr, A. M. Talbot, ‘Life of St. Stephen the Younger’, in eadem, Byzantine defenders of images: eight saints‘ lives in English translation (Washington, DC, 1998), 9‒12; P. Underwood, ‘Notes on the work of the Byzantine Institute in Istanbul: 1957‒1959, with a contribution of Lawrence J. Majewski on the conservation of a Byzantine fresco discovered at Etyemez, Istanbul’, DOP 14, 205‒22; Berger, 652‒3; Haarer, Anastasius I, 141; D. Krausmüler, ‘The Constantinopolitan abbot Dius: his life, cult and hagiographical dossier’, BMGS 31.1 (2007), 13‒31; M. Gil, The life of Stephen the Younger by Stephen the deacon’, OCP 6 (1940), 114‒39; on the ‘Life of Stephen Younger’, see Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era, 226‒7; Hatlie, index, 543.
[1] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453 (Paris,- 1991), index, 123.
[2] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 140.
[3] R. Janin, Constantinople byzantine. Développement urbain et répertoire topographique (Paris, 1964). 319‒40 [=CB]
[4] C. Du Cange, Constantinopolis christiana (Paris, 1680), 177; Janin, CB, 416; Berger, 745‒6.
[5] PLRE I 736‒40.
[6] R. Guilland, Études de topographie de Constantinople byzantine, 2 vols. (Berlin and Amsterdam, 1969), 2, 96‒8. Janin, CB, 437, index, 529.
[7] Janin, CB, 333‒4, index, 519.
[8] Du Cange, 54-5; Mordtmann, 108, 113, 133, 134.
[9] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 104.
[10] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 131.
[11] Patria, iii, 84; Janin, CB,
[12] In the vicinity of the cistern of Mocius. Janin, CB, 334.
[13] Janin, CB, 362.
[14] Janin, CB, 391
[15] Janin, CB, 504-5; small port with an imperial residence see J.F.Haldon, Three treatises on imperial military expeditions (Vienna, 1990), 264n. 701.
[16] G. Marsili,’ L’ Apostoleion di Constantinopoli: stato della questione ed analisi delle fonti per alcune riflessioni di carattere topografico ed architettonico’, RSBN 49 2012 [2013], 3‒51.
[17] In the fifth region of the City; Janin, CB, 431‒2; Berger, 406‒11, index; R. Guilland, Études de topographie de Constantinople byzantine, 2 vols. (Berlin and Amsterdam, 1969), II, 55‒6; C. Mango, ‘The situation of the Strategion’, Appendix to Mango, ‘Triumphal way’, DOP 54 (2000), 173‒88; 187‒8; idem, Le developpement urbain de Constantinople, IVe-VIIe siècles (Paris, 1985), 19 locates it close to the port, around the station of Sirkeci.; N. Westbrook, ‘Notes towards the reconstruction of the Forum of the Strategion and its related roads in early Byzantıne Constantinople’, Journal of the Australian early Medieval Association 9 (2013), 3‒38.
[18] Janin, CB, 497; K. Belke, ‘Tore nach Kleinasien: die Konstantinopel gegenüberliegenden Häfen Chalkedon, Chrysopolis, Hiereia und Eutropiu Limen.’, in F. Daim, Die Byzantinischen Häfen Konstantinopels (Mainz, 2016), 161–71.
[19] Janin, CB, 420.
[20] Close to the Forum of Taurus. Janin, CB, 374‒5.
[21] Janin, CB, 354‒5.
[22] Probably in the Lycus valley. Janin, CB, 307.
[23] Janin, CB, 503.
[24] There were two quarters with the same name. One quarter was found in the city and another in the European shore. The present one was found in the city, a little below of the church of St. Apostles and the Mese. Janin, CB, 417.
[25] PLRE I, 750‒1.
[26] Suburb of Constantinople situated in Tophane. Janin, CB, 468.
[27]Janin, CB, 264-5, 275, 388‒9. Mango, Le developpement urbain, 32; A. M. Schneider, ‘Deuteron und Melantiastor’, BNGJ 15 (1939), 182‒6.
[28] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 112.
[29] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 146.
[30] Janin, CB, 349, index, 520.
[31] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 148.
[32] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 105.
[33] Du Cange, 178; Situated north of Mese, near its eastern end. Janin, 152‒3; Janin, CB, 428‒9, index, 529.
[34] Janin, CB, 430.
[35] PLRE, 2: 1026‒7.
[36] Located in the Mese between ta Basiliskou and the St. Sophia; see Berger, 282ff.
[37] Janin, CB, 463.
[38] Janin, CB, 317.
[39] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regests de 1410 a 1453, index, 146.
[40] Janin locates the quarter in Ayakapı; Janin, CB, 340‒1
[41] Janin, CB, 407‒8.
[42] See J. Darrouzès, Recherches sur les OΦΦΙΚΙΑ de l’ église byzantine (Paris, 1970), index, 596‒7.
[43] Janin, CB, 422.
[44] Suburb to the north shore of the Sea of Marmara; Du Cange, 109‒110; C. Mango, ‘Le mystère de la XIVe région de Constantinople’, TM 14 (2002), 449‒455; A. Müfid Mansel, ‘Les fouilles de Rhegion près d’ Istanbul’, ACEB (1948) i, (1950), 255‒60.
[45] Janin, CB, 404‒5; Berger, index, 773.
[46] Janin, CB, 438‒9.
[47] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 107.
[48] Janin, CB, 414‒5.
[49] Located east of the harbor of Sophia on the seaside on the sea of Marmara; Janin, CB, 307‒8.
[50] PLRE, 2, 67‒8.
[51] Janin, CB, 355‒6.
[52] EPLBHC, 1, 460.
[53] Guilland, Études, 2, 99-101; Berger, index, 765.
[54] PLRE, II,96‒8.
[55] On the Asiatic side of Bosphorus. Janin, CB, 325‒6.
[56] Janin, CB, 484.
[57] On him, see Ayvansarayî, tr. Crane, 212, n. 1666.
[58] Janin, CB, 430‒1. Berger, 386‒9.
[59] The quarter is located in the first hill Janin, CP, 438.
[60] It was located north east of St. Sophia on the slope which descended from St. Irene to Propontis; on the quarter, see Mordtmann, 93; Janin, CB, 311‒2; Berger, 311.
[61] Janin, CB, 426.
[62] S. Suman, ‘Questioning an ‘icon of change’: the Nuruosmaniye complex and the writing of Ottoman architectural history’, METU JFA [Middle East Technical University] 28.2 (2011/2), 145‒66.
[63] He is mentioned in the SC that he was prominent in the reign of Marcian. See Holy Women in Byzantium, index, 336.
[64] The family of Saronitai belonged to the highest aristocracy; on marriage alliances in this family, see A. Schminck, ‘Vier eherechtliche Enscheidungen aus dem 11.Jahrhundert’, Fontes Minores 3 (1979), 240‒51.
[65] ODB, 3, 1643‒4.
[66] Janin, Les églises, 51, 52. In 1930 during the construction of the cement factoryYunus, 1 km east of Kartal the remains of a monastery were uncovered which has not been identified.
[67] PLRE II 586–90.
[68] Situated on the Golden Horn. In the later centuries this locality was known under the name of Plateia. Janin, CB, 314, index, 518. Berger, index, 765.
[69] PLRE, II 148f.
[70] Janin, CB, 400; Berger 404‒5.
[71] Darrouzès, Recherches, index, 595.
[72] Janin, Les églises, 15.
[73] Janin, CB, 486‒7.
[74] Jacobs, ‘The remains of the Jew’, 23‒45.
[75] The quarter was found on the fifth hill, close to St. Bassianus and the cistern of Aspar; Janin, CB, 386, 432; E. C. Topping, ‘St. Matrona, and her friends: sisterhood in Byzantium’, in Kathegetria, 211‒24.
[76] Janin, CB, 423.
[77] On the asiatic side of Bosphorus. Janin, CB, 505.
[78] Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat, v. 1, fasc. VII. Les regestes de 1410 a 1453, index, 105.
[79] Janin, CB, 420‒1.