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While walking on the streets between Balat and Ayvansaray we came across a little Eastern Orthdox Church named Panayia Vlaherna,  also known as the Church of St Mary of  Blachernae. The inscription on the brick walls surrounding the iron gate leading to the church yard was also pointing  to an ayazma or holy water and to the Turkish name of the church Meryem Ana (Mother Mary). The first church was erected here on the sixth hill of the city outside the Walls of Theodosius by Empress Aelia Pulcheria in 450, near a spring believed to be holy water. The small church  was enlarged,  added on and restored by several emperores during  the Byzantine history and survived several fires. The last one of these fires  completely destroyed the complex in 1434 and the area stayed as an empty lot until 1867 when the existing small church was built on the same place.

 I  had heard the story of this church which has been a pilgrimage place to  the Othodox Christians because of the ancient icons and a mantle of Virgin Mary it once housed, brought here from Jerusalem. The mantle is no longer there, but during several conquest attempts of the city during Byzantine era by the Avars, Persians and Arabs, the mantel and icons are believed to have saved the city from siege.  During the Avars and Persians combined siege of Constantinople in 626, Constantine, the son of Emperor Heraclius battled and destroyed the fleets of the Avars. The little church outside the Heraclius walls on the sixth hill of the city was the only building not sacked by the invaders and it was believed  that  was  because the Khan of Avars afterwards said that  he had been frightened by the vision of a young woman adorned with jewels scouring the walls of the Blachernae church.*

During the invasion of Arab armies in 717 and 860, and the armies of the  Bulgarian Tsar Simeon the veil of the Virgin along with some icons  were briefly plunged into the waters of the Goldenhorn to invoke the protection of God on the Byzantine fleet. Apparently the mantle helped the Byzantines in winning the battle.  Simeon watching his fleet getting destroyed decided to ask for a cease fire and abandoned the siege. Since this happened on a Friday the church decided from that date on to  hold the Sunday sermons on Fridays. Indeed when we entered the church grounds with my friend on FridayJanuary 10 th of 2020,  there was a sermon being held inside the church. I looked down from the open doors  to the church room from the foyer. The church room were the congregation was seated was  three or four steps lower than the ground level.  I could clearly see the five  holy water faucets lıned  over a long  marble sink and a gold framed picture of Mary and baby Jesus above it. When I tried to take a picture of the fountain from the open door, an official of the church politely asked me not to  take pictures of the sermon room. After checking the colorful  icons, inscriptions, the golden candle holders in the foyer  we walked down through the same gateway we came in, back  to the iron door of the complex  with the cross. Our next stop was going to be the  Kazasker Ivaz Efendi Mosque, built by Master Architect Sinan  in 1585 on the same 6 th Hill of Istanbul.

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