Monastery of Panagia Odigitrii

The monastery of Panagia Odigitria or Odigon is the main convent of medieval Constantinople . Founded by the sister of Emperor Theodosius II , of sv. Pulcheria , in the middle of the 5th century, after receiving the miraculous icon of Panagia Odigitriya from Jerusalem , the writing of which was attributed to the apostle Luke . The icon has become one of the most revered shrines of Constantinople, thousands of pilgrims flocked to the monastery to worship it. Next to the monastery there was a source that healed the blind, who were taken care of at the monastery. Thanks to him, this place was called ton Odegon (translated from the Greek. "Place of the Guides") ^[1] . The name “Odigon” (“conductor” or “guidebook”) fixed behind the monastery gave the name to the icon itself - Odigitria, which received a different, spiritual meaning: a call to make the Mother of God the guide of her whole life ^[2] . The monastery suffered from the iconoclastic atrocities and was resumed under Michael III . Architectural evidence of the existence of the monastery, although rather insignificant, has been preserved near the Gulhane Park in Istanbul.

Icon of the Mother of God "Odigitria." The first quarter of the XV century Byzantium.