The Hebdomon enjoyed, moreover, a great religious reputation on account of its numerous churches. The oldest sanctuary of the suburb was the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist,[[1276]] which appears first in the reign of Arcadius,[[1277]] but claimed to be a foundation of Constantine the Great. It is described by the Legates of Hadrian II., after its restoration under Basil I.,[[1278]] as remarkable for its size, “miræ magnitudinis,”[[1279]] and continued to be a venerated shrine as late as the Comnenian period,[[1280]] after which it was allowed to fall into decay. Basil II. was interred in it, according to his dying request,[[1281]] and his grave was discovered among the ruins of the church in the thirteenth century, while Michael Palæologus was engaged in the siege of Galata, in 1260. Some members of the Imperial household, in the course of their exploration of the surrounding country, then visited the Hebdomon, and found the church of St. John the Evangelist turned into a fold for sheep and cattle. As the visitors wandered among the ruins, admiring the traces of the building’s former beauty, they stumbled upon the dead body of a man. It was naked, but well preserved, and in its mouth a vulgar jester had placed a shepherd’s lute by way of derision. As the corpse lay near a sarcophagus upon which was inscribed an epitaph in honour of Basil II., no doubt could be entertained regarding the identity of the body. When the discovery was reported to Michael Palæologus, he commanded the mortal remains of his predecessor to be conveyed in great state to the camp before Galata, to receive once more a tribute of respect, and then sent them with solemn ceremonial to Selivria,[[1282]] for interment in the monastery of St. Saviour.
Another of the sanctuaries at the Hebdomon was the church erected, in 407, by the Emperor Arcadius to enshrine the reputed remains of the Prophet Samuel.[[1283]] Such importance was attached to these relics that their conveyance from Palestine to Constantinople, by way of Asia Minor, resembled an Imperial progress through the country. One might have supposed the prophet himself was moving through the land, so great was the interest and devotion displayed by the population along the route.[[1284]] Nor were the relics less honoured upon their arrival at the capital. The emperor and the highest dignitaries of Church and State did homage to them at the Scala Chalcedonensis and carried them in procession to the Church of St. Sophia, where the sacred remains rested until the church built for them at the Hebdomon was completed.[[1285]] The church fell in the earthquake which shook the city in the thirty-first year of the reign of Justinian the Great.[[1286]]
But the most venerated church in the suburb was that dedicated to St. John the Baptist (τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου),[[1287]] a domical edifice, built by Theodosius the Great[[1288]] for the reception of the head, it was supposed, of the heroic Forerunner of Christ. The Emperor Valens had already sought to obtain the relic. But its possessors, certain monks of the sect of Macedonius, who had taken it with them from Jerusalem to Cilicia, refused to surrender the treasure, and all that Valens succeeded in doing was to bring it as near to Constantinople as Panticheion (Pendik), on the opposite shore of the Sea of Marmora. There, the mules which drew the car conveying the relic refused to proceed any further, and at that village, accordingly, in obedience to what appeared to be an indication of the Divine will, the sacred head was allowed to remain. When Theodosius the Great endeavoured to acquire the relic, its custodians, a woman Matrona and a priest Vicentius, did everything in their power to prevent the execution of the emperor’s design. But the pressure to make them yield was such that at last they gave their reluctant consent. In doing so, however, Matrona cherished the secret belief that Theodosius would be hindered, like Valens, from carrying out his purpose; while Vicentius laid down a condition which he thought could never be fulfilled, viz. that the emperor in removing the head should walk after the Baptist. Theodosius saw no difficulty in the condition. He reverently wrapped the reliquary in his Imperial mantle and, holding the sacred contents in front of him, took them to the Church of St. John the Evangelist at the Hebdomon, and commenced the erection of a church consecrated to the Forerunner’s name as their final shrine. This won Vicentius over to the emperor’s side, and he followed the head to the Hebdomon. But Matrona, with a true woman’s intensity of feeling, maintained her protest, and would never come near the suburb which had disappointed her faith, and purloined her treasure.[[1289]]
It was the possession of this relic that gave the church its great religious repute. This explains why, as we have seen, Theodosius the Great,[[1290]] Epiphanius of Cyprus,[[1291]] Gainas,[[1292]] at important moments in their lives, performed their devotions there; and this accounts for the association of the church with the ceremonies attending Imperial inaugurations and triumphs.[[1293]]
In the course of its history the church was twice restored on a magnificent scale; first by Justinian the Great,[[1294]] and again by Basil I.[[1295]]
Other churches of less note at the Hebdomon were respectively dedicated to St. Theodotè (τὸ Θεδότης ἁγίας τέμενος);[[1296]] SS. Menas and Menaius (Μηνᾶς καὶ Μηναίος);[[1297]] SS. Benjamin and Berius (Ἁγίων Βενιαμὶν καὶ Βηρίου);[[1298]] and the Holy Innocents (τῶν Νηπίων).[[1299]] The first two sanctuaries owed their foundation to Justinian the Great, who did so much for the suburb in other ways; at the last church, the Senate welcomed an emperor upon his return to the capital by land, from the West.
Finally, in days when travellers made the first and last stages of a journey short, the Hebdomon enjoyed considerable importance as a halting-place for persons leaving or approaching Constantinople; its proximity to the city rendering it a caravansary, where a traveller could conveniently make his final arrangements to start on his way, or to enter the capital in a suitable manner. The suburb served that purpose, even in the case of the emperors.[[1300]]
Instances of this use of the suburb, by Theodosius the Great, Epiphanius, and Pope Constantine, have already been noticed, when referring to other matters connected with the Hebdomon. There also the Legates of Pope Hormisdas, in 515,[[1301]] and the Legates of Pope Hadrian II., in 869,[[1302]] rested before entering the city. There the Emperor Maurice halted, upon leaving Constantinople, to join the expedition against the Avars;[[1303]] and there Peter, King of Bulgaria, stopped on his return home, in 927, with the Princess Maria, the granddaughter of the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus, as his bride.[[1304]]
On the last occasion, as relatives and friends, doubtless, often did under similar circumstances, the parents of the princess accompanied her as far as the suburb to take leave of her there. The historian has left a vivid picture of the scene. “When the moment for their daughter’s departure approached, father and mother burst into tears, as is natural for parents about to part with the dearest pledge of their love. Then having embraced their son-in-law, and entrusted their child to his care, they returned to the Imperial city. Maria proceeded on her journey to Bulgaria in the king’s charge, with mingled feelings of grief and joy—sad, because carried away from beloved parents, Imperial palaces, and the society of her relations and friends; happy, because her husband was a king, and she was the Despina of Bulgaria. She took with her much wealth, and an immense quantity of baggage.”
In keeping with such practices, when the Icon of St. Demetrius was transported from Thessalonica to Constantinople, in the reign of Manuel Comnenus, to be placed in the Church of the Pantocrator (now Zeirek Klissè Djamissi, above Oun Kapan Kapoussi), members of the Senate and a vast multitude of priests, monks, and laymen, went seven miles from the capital to receive the sacred picture and escort it with great pomp to its destination.[[1305]]