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| Fragment of a marble relief depicting Saint Euphemia, Constantinople, 14th century, today in the Archaeological Museum. |
At the tip of the 6th Region (district) of Constantinople, on the northern side along the Golden Horn (the Keratios), there was the Neorion harbor and the shipyards. This was the city’s oldest harbor, built by Constantine the Great. From the harbor one could pass outside the walls through the Gate of the Neorion (Bahçekapi).
There appear to have been at least four churches there: Saint Irene at Perama, Saint Mark, Hagia Dynamis, and Saint Euphemia. There was also the Monastery of Kyr Antonios, built by Patriarch Anthony Kauleas, also known as Kaulea Monastery, after the founder.
Saint Irene was probably located very close to today’s Yeni Cami.
On the site of the Byzantine church of Saint Mark, the small Arpacılar Mosque was built in 1453, the year of the city’s conquest. The church may have served the needs of the Venetian, Amalfitan, Pisan, and Genoese Christians who lived in the district before the fall of the city.
Hagia Dynamis is probably the church discovered in 2000 in the neighboring district of Sirkeci.
Saint Euphemia was located in the area of the shipyard, to the right of the harbor, in the place the sources describe as “the old armory” (“he palaia exartysis”). In the year 617, the relics of the Martyr were transferred inside the City from Chalcedon across the water, where they had been kept, because of the advance of the Persian army. Later, the Iconoclasts threw them into the sea, from which they were secretly rescued. The Saint’s church at the harbor may perhaps be connected with some of these events.
Every year on May 16, the Commemoration of the Consecration of Saint Euphemia near the Neorion is celebrated.
There appear to have been at least four churches there: Saint Irene at Perama, Saint Mark, Hagia Dynamis, and Saint Euphemia. There was also the Monastery of Kyr Antonios, built by Patriarch Anthony Kauleas, also known as Kaulea Monastery, after the founder.
Saint Irene was probably located very close to today’s Yeni Cami.
On the site of the Byzantine church of Saint Mark, the small Arpacılar Mosque was built in 1453, the year of the city’s conquest. The church may have served the needs of the Venetian, Amalfitan, Pisan, and Genoese Christians who lived in the district before the fall of the city.
Hagia Dynamis is probably the church discovered in 2000 in the neighboring district of Sirkeci.
Saint Euphemia was located in the area of the shipyard, to the right of the harbor, in the place the sources describe as “the old armory” (“he palaia exartysis”). In the year 617, the relics of the Martyr were transferred inside the City from Chalcedon across the water, where they had been kept, because of the advance of the Persian army. Later, the Iconoclasts threw them into the sea, from which they were secretly rescued. The Saint’s church at the harbor may perhaps be connected with some of these events.
Every year on May 16, the Commemoration of the Consecration of Saint Euphemia near the Neorion is celebrated.
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| Map showing the area of the Neorion. |
