The era under the rule of the so-called Macedonian dynasty (867-1056) was one of prosperity for the Byzantine Empire. The main characteristics of this dynasty were, among others, the restoration of the Byzantine power over the Balkans and the eastern parts of Asia Minor, the struggle of the emperors against the dynatoi and the evolution of the imperial ideology.

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Manastır Mescidi is located in the western part of Constantinople, near the Topkapı, the Byzantine gate of Romanos, and it was probably part of a monastery. The building has been severely altered. It might have been originally a basilica or a cross-in-square church, with an outer ambulatory surrounding the core from the north, south, and west. The identification with the monastery of Saints Menodora, Nymphodora and Metrodora remains conjectural.

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The Mandylion, a piece of cloth on which, according to the legend, the image of Jesus Christ had been miraculously imprinted, was initially kept in Edessa of Syria as an acheiropoietos (not made by human hands) icon of Christ. On August 15th, 944 it was transferred to Constantinople as a precious holy relic and its cult assumed a political meaning too. The arrival of the relic in the capital became a religious feast and was celebrated each year on August 16th.

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Статья посвящена возникновению и первому периоду истории монашества в Константинополе. Первые монахи и монастыри появляются здесь достаточно поздно — в сер. IV в., однако православное монашество начинает развиваться только со времени правления императора Феодосия I (379-395). В V и VI вв. столичное монашество становится одним из главных оплотов православия и борцом против ересей, в первую очередь, несторианства и монофизитства, эта идея глубоко укореняется в его самосознании.

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