Die Kirche des hl. Romanos in Konstantinopel und ihr Umfeld

Abstract

Abstract The church of St. Romanus in the neighborhood of the Gate of St. Romanus of the Theodosian Land Walls was erected during the Theodosian era and existed until the late Byzantine period. Because of its crypt,which included a famous collection of relics (prophets and saints) the church was an important destination of the Christian pilgrimage. In the first part of this article I consider the written sources, liturgical data and the topographical situation regarding the church and the neighboring structures. The second part examines the location and the current state of the Gate of St. Romanus. Herein the unjustifiable assertions of M. Philippides and W. K. Hanak against the correct identification of the gate by N. Asutay-Effenberger are refuted. The third part deals with the crypts of the Byzantine churches and suggests that the crypt of the Church of St. Romanus was a substructure, which supported the building. The fourth part focuses on the cult of the two saints Elizabeth the Wonderworker and Thomaïs of Lesbos and considers the history of the women’s convent τὰ Mικρὰ Ῥωμαίου. This monastery near the cistern of Mokios was restored by the empress Theodora Palaiologina between 1282 and 1303 and consecrated to the Saints Cosmas and Damianus. The last section discusses some other churches and private properties in the vicinity of the Church of St. Romanus,which are mentioned in the late Byzantine written sources. They are all situated on the road leading from the gate of St. Romanus into the city. Today, only the Manastır Mescidi stands on this route, but it cannot be identified with any of these churches, which appear in the written sources.