CHAPTER IX
THE CHURCH OF S. MARY DIACONISSA, KALENDER HANEH JAMISSI
Close to the eastern end of the aqueduct of Valens, and to the south of it, in the quarter of the mosque Shahzadé, is a beautiful Byzantine church, now known as Kalender Haneh Jamissi. It was visited by Gyllius, [293] who refers to its beautiful marble revetment—vestita crustis varii marmoris—but has, unfortunately, nothing to say concerning its dedication. Since that traveller's time the very existence of the church was forgotten by the Greek community of Constantinople until Paspates [294] discovered the building in 1877. But even that indefatigable explorer of the ancient remains of the city could not get access to the interior, and it was reserved for Dr. Freshfield in 1880 to be the first European visitor since Gyllius to enter the building, and make its interest and beauty known to the general public. [295]
S. Mary Diaconissa.
View of the North-west Side, taken from the Aqueduct of Valens.
S. Mary Diaconissa.
The North Arm, looking east.
To face page 182.
The identity of the church is a matter of pure conjecture, for we have no tradition or documentary evidence on that point. Paspates [296] suggests that it may have been the sanctuary connected either with the 'monastery of Valens and Daudatus,' or with the 'monastery near the aqueduct,' establishments in existence before the age of Justinian the Great. [297] It cannot be the former, because the monastery of Valens and Daudatus, which was dedicated to S. John the Baptist, stood near the church of the Holy Apostles close to the western end of the aqueduct of Valens. It might, so far as the indication 'near the aqueduct' gives any clue, be the sanctuary of the latter House, in which case the church was dedicated to S. Anastasius.[298] But the architectural features of Kalender Haneh Jamissi do not belong to the period before Justinian. Mordtmann [299] identifies the building with the church of the Theotokos in the district of the Deaconess (ναὸς τῆς θεοτόκου τὰ Διακονίσσης), and in favour of this view there is the fact that the site of the mosque corresponds, speaking broadly, to the position which that church is known to have occupied somewhere between the forum of Taurus (now represented by the Turkish War Office) and the Philadelphium (the area about the mosque of Shahzadé), and not far off the street leading to the Holy Apostles. Furthermore, the rich and beautiful decoration of the church implies its importance, so that it may very well be the church of the Theotokos Diaconissa, at which imperial processions from the Great Palace to the Holy Apostles stopped to allow the emperor to place a lighted taper upon the altar of the shrine. [300]