Constantine and Justinian - two names
to conjure with if ever there were! Christian emperors of the earlier Byzantine centuries.
Constantine the Great, of course, the founder of the Christianized Byzantine Empire and of
its fabulous capital - Constantinople, standing to the left of an enthroned Mary holding the
Child, and presenting her with the first major church built in his new capital - the one
used to consecrate and dedicate the city, The Church of the Holy Peace - Hagia Eirene,
still standing today 1670 years later. On her right stands that other great Emperor and
builder, Justinian, whom we must thank for the other magnificent Istanbul edifice - The
Hagia Sophia - the Church of the Holy Wisdom. We must also thank him for at least two
magnificent churches in the Holy Land - The present Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
(although it, too, was originally Constantine's), still recognizably his, in spite of
changes by the Crusaders and repairs throughout the years; and the Nea Theotokos, The New
Mother of God, considered to be the largest church ever built in the middle east but of
which virtually nothing today remains except part of the apses, re-discovered during
building excavations in the seventies at the southern end of the Cardus Maximus in
Jerusalem. This mosaic is taken from the south lunette leading into the narthex. I spent
more than 5 hours alone in the Hagia Sophia, to say nothing of other Byzantine relics in
Istanbul, unable to tear myself away from the magnificent building or the spectacle of
historical figures from across the centuries parading before my eyes from the walls of the
church.
