E04283: Procopius of Caesarea, in his On Buildings, reports that the emperor Justinian (r. 527-565) built three churches to *Mary Theotokos, Mother of God (S00033) in the suburbs of Constantinople: at Blachernae (built in the reign of Justin I, 518-527), at Pege, and at the place known as Hieron. Written in Greek at Constantinople, in the 550s.

Procopius of Caesarea, On Buildings, 1.3.3-10

3. τὸν μὲν οὖν ἕνα τῆς θεοτόκου νεὼν ᾠκοδομήσατο πρὸ τοῦ περιβόλου ἐν χώρῳ καλουμένῳ Βλαχέρναις· αὐτῷ γὰρ λογιστέον καὶ τὰ Ἰουστίνῳ εἰργασμένα τῷ θείῳ, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν κατ’ ἐξουσίαν αὐτὸς διῳκεῖτο, ἐπιθαλάσσιος δὲ ὁ νεώς ἐστιν, ἱερώτατος τε καὶ σεμνὸς ἄγαν, ἐπιμήκης μέν, κατὰ λόγον δὲ περιβεβλημένος τῷ μήκει τὸ εὖρος, τά τε ἄνω καὶ τὰ κάτω ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ ἀνεχόμενος ὅτι μὴ τμήμασι λίθου Παρίου ἐν κιόνων λόγῳ ἐνταῦθα ἑστῶσι. 4 καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τοῦ νεὼ μέρη κατ’ εὐθὺ ἑστᾶσιν οἱ κίονες, κατὰ δὲ τὰ μέσα ὑποστέλλονται εἴσω. 5 μάλιστα δὲ ἂν τις ἀγασθείη τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦδε εἴσω γενόμενος τὸ μὲν ὑπέρογκον τοῦ σφαλεροῦ χωρὶς τεταγμένον ὁρῶν, τὸ δὲ μεγαλοπρεπὲς τοῦ ἀπειροκάλου ἐλεύθερον.

6. Ἕτερον δὲ ἱερὸν αὐτῇ ἐν χώρῳ καλουμένῳ Πηγῇ ἀνέθηκεν. ἐνταῦθά ἐστι δάσος κυπαρίσσων ἀμφιλαφές, λειμὼν ἐν ἁπαλαῖς ταῖς ἀρούραις τεθηλὼς ἄνθεσι, παράδεισος εὐφορῶν τὰ ὡραῖα, πηγὴ ἀψοφητὶ βλύζουσα γαληνὸν τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πότιμον, ἱεροπρεπῆ ἐπιεικῶς πάντα. 7 ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ἀμφὶ τὸ τέμενος χῶρος· αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν νεὼν οὐδὲ ὀνόμασιν ἐπαξίοις συλλαβεῖν ῥᾴδιον, οὐδὲ διανοίᾳ σκιαγραφῆσαι, οὐδὲ διαψιθυρίσαι τῷ λόγῳ. 8. τοσοῦτον δὲ μόνον εἰπεῖν ἀποχρήσει, ὡς τῶν ἱερῶν κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει ὑπεραίρει τὰ πλεῖστα. 9. ταῦτα δὲ ἄμφω τὰ ἱερὰ πρὸ τοῦ τῆς πόλεως πεποίηται τείχους, τὸ μὲν ἀρχομένου παρὰ τὴν τῆς θαλάσσης ἠϊόνα, τὸ δὲ ἄγχιστά πη τῶν Χρυσῶν καλουμένων Πυλῶν, ἃς δὴ ἀμφὶ τὸ τοῦ ἐρύματος πέρας συμβαίνει εἶναι, ὅπως δὴ ἄμφω ἀκαταγώνιστα φυλακτήρια τῷ περιβόλῳ τῆς πόλεως εἶεν. 10. ἔτι μέντοι κἀν τῷ Ἡραίῳ, ὅπερ Ἱερὸν καλοῦσι τανῦν, τῇ θεοτόκῳ νεὼν οὐκ εὐδιήγητον κατεστήσατο.


‘He built one of the two churches (neōs) of the Mother of God (Theotokos) outside the fortifications in a place called Blachernae. Our emperor must indeed be ascribed also with the works which were carried out under his uncle Justin, for he administered also the latter's government on his own authority. Now this church is coastal, most hallowed and very stately, oblong and of a breadth well-proportioned to its length. In both its upper and lower parts, it is supported by nothing but blocks of Parian stone, which play here the role of columns. And, while in the other parts of the church the columns are set in straight lines, in the central part they bend inwards. When inside this church, one would especially marvel to behold its sheer size being devoid of instability and its grandeur being free from bad taste.

He dedicated to her also another shrine (hieron) in the place called Pēgē [‘the Spring’]. In that place, there is a dense grove of cypresses and a meadow abounding in flowers in its soft land, a park abounding in beautiful shrubs, and a spring bubbling silently forth with a gentle stream of sweet water — all especially suitable to a sanctuary. Such are the surroundings of the sacred precinct (temenos). As for the church itself, it is neither easy to define in appropriate words, nor to muse about its shape, nor to mumble some words about it. It will be enough to say only this: it surpasses most shrines both in beauty and in size.

Both of these sanctuaries were built outside the city wall – the former at the point where the wall starts by the seashore, the latter close to the so-called Golden Gates, near which happens to be the end of the fortifications, in order that both of them may serve as invincible defences to the circuit wall of the city.

Also at Heraion, which they now call Hieron, he built a church to the Mother of God, which it is not easy to describe.'

Text: Haury 1913. Translation: E. Rizos (using Dewing 1940).