Hodegon Monastery

{{for|an eponymous monastery in Mystras|Brontocheion}}

File:Byzantine Constantinople-en.png

The Hodegon Monastery (also Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria or Monastery of the Hodegoi) in Constantinople was allegedlyCyril Mango, Constantinople as Theotokoupolis, in: Vassikali, Mother of God, Skira Editore, 2000, pp. 17–25, notes 15 and 58. founded by Saint Pulcheria (399–453), a daughter of Emperor Arcadius. The monastery is considered one of the three main Marian foundations built in the city along with the Blachernai and the Chalkoprateia.{{Cite book|title=Icons and Power: The Mother of God in Byzantium|last=Pentcheva|first=Bissera V.|date=2006|publisher=The Pennsylvania State Press|isbn=0271025514|location=University Park, PA|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SD7sOSsx2JwC&q=hodegon|pages=121}}

The monastery was situated beyond the Chalkoprateia by the sea and served as the counterpart of the Blachernai so that these structures bracket the city of Constantinople as well as the processions such as the weekly Blachernai procession that began at the Theodosian walls and ended at Chalkoprateia.{{Cite book|title=Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204|last=Maguire|first=Henry|date=2004|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|isbn=0884023087|pages=96}} However, the exact location of the monastery is still subject to discussion.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.12681/byzsym.13888| issn = 1791-4884| last = Grotowski| first = Piotr| title = "The Hodegon. Considerations on the location of the Hodegetria sanctuary in Constantinople"| journal = Byzantina Symmeikta| accessdate = 2023-08-05| date = 2017| url = https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/bz/article/view/13888| doi-access = free}} The Hodegon Monastery is believed to be named after the term hodegoi, which referred to the guides who led the blind toward the miraculous well within the structure.{{Cite book|title=Memory & Oblivion: Proceedings of the XXIXth International Congress of the History of Art held in Amsterdam, 1–7 September 1996|last1=Reinink|first1=A. W.|last2=Stumpel|first2=Jeroen|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789401057714|location=Dordrecht|pages=703}}

Tradition states that the monastery held the Icon of the Hodegetria, believed to have been painted by Saint Luke. According to an account by Xanthopoulos, this relic was brought from Antioch. While it was at Hodegon, Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo described it sometime in 1403 to 1406 as a painting with a square panel that was covered with precious stones such as emeralds, sapphires, topaz, and pearls.{{Cite book|title=The Portrait in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts. [Mit Stammtaf.]|last=Spatharákīs|first=Iōánnīs|date=1976|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=9004047832|location=Leiden|pages=46}} When the icon was sent to Pulcheria, she took a vow of chastity.Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford 1997, {{ISBN|0-8047-2630-2}}. The name of the icon, Panagia Hodegetria ("She who shows the Way"), is given through the legend which tells that nearby the church of the monastery was a source where the blind and all who suffered eye disorders came to be healed, since the Holy Virgin would have appeared to two blind people and guided them here where she restored their vision. The sanctuary was rebuilt by Emperor Michael III (842–867) but today only a few ruins are visible near Gülhane Park.Robert Demangel, Ernest Mamboury, Le quartier des Manganes et la première région de Constantinople (Recherches françaises en Turquie, 2), Paris 1939, pp. 71–111.