‘Denique cum ruinam rursum minaretur, illud reædificavit Theodorus Metochita Magnus Logotheta, imperante Andronico Palæologo Seniore.
‘Hæc omnia sic narrat Nicephorus Gregoras, lib. ix.: “Divertit e regione et in vicinia (domus suæ) in sacro scilicet Choræ Monasterio, quod ipse magnis ante sumptibus vetustate ruinosum instauravat. Exstructum enim olim fuerat a Justiniano Imperatore forma oblonga: deinde cum vetustate usque ad ima concidisset, aliud a fundamentis templum, ea qua nunc forma cernitur, Alexii Comneni Imperatoris socrus condidit sed cum rursus ruinam minitaretur, hic medio templo excepto, omnia liberali manu pene instauravit. Metochitam hujus monasterii instauratorem rursus prædicat, lib. viii.”’—Ducange, iv., p. 126.
An inscription over the south door of the church states that the monastery was outside the walls of Constantine; that the church was rebuilt by Justinian; again, from its foundations, in the time of Alexis Komnenos; and again rebuilt by Theodore the Metochite.
SKETCH PLAN
The well-known antiquary, Mons. Texier, describes it thus in a detailed MS. account of ‘Constantinople,’ fol. n. d., in the library of the R. Institute of Architects:
‘Kahrije, corruption du Grec της χωρας.
‘Le premier fondateur de cette église fut Justinian; et Theodore Metochite, grand chancelier des Autels d’Andronice Paléologue n’en fut que le rénovateur. Le cloître est souvent cité dans les auteurs Byzantines comme lieu d’exil pour les religieux, et au dernier temps de l’empire on conserva dans l’église le portrait célèbre de la Madone qui avait été peint par St. Luke.’ A description of it is also given in Salzenberg’s ‘Alt-Christliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel’ (Berlin, 1854), p. 36.
The latest account is given by the Rev. Charles G. Curtis, in the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ 9th edition, s.v. ‘Constantinople:’