ippers. Being
informed that the room was consecrated by the presence of a chest
containing the robe of the mother of their Lord, the pious men begged
leave to spend the night in prayer beside the relic, and while thus
engaged were seized by an uncontrollable longing to gain possession of
the sacred garment. Accordingly they took careful measurements of the
chest before them, and at Jerusalem ordered an exact facsimile of it to
be made. Thus equipped they lodged again, on their homeward journey, at
the house of their Galilean hostess, and once more obtained leave to
worship in its chapel. Watching their opportunity they exchanged the
chests, and forthwith despatched the chest containing the coveted
treasure straight to Constantinople. They themselves tarried behind, as
though loth to quit a spot still hallowed by the sacred robe. Upon their
return to the capital the pious thieves erected a shrine for their prize
on land which they owned in the district of Blachernae, and dedicated
the building to SS. Peter and Mark instead of to the Theotokos, as would
have been more appropriate, in the hope that they would thus conceal the
precious relic from the public eye, and retain it for their special
benefit. But the secret leaked out. Whereupon the emperor obliged the
two patricians to surrender their treasure, and, after renovating the
neighbouring church of the Theotokos of Blachernae, deposited the relic
in that sanctuary as its proper home.

[Illustration: PLATE LI.
(1) SS. PETER AND MARK, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
(2) SS. PETER AND MARK. FONT OUTSIDE THE CHURCH.
_To face page 192._]

The site of that celebrated church lies at a short distance to the west
of Hoja Atik Mustapha Jamissi, and is marked by the Holy Well which was
attached to it. The well, in whose waters emperors and empresses were
wont to bathe, is now enclosed by a modern Greek chapel, and is still
the resort of the faithful.

_Architectural Features_

The plan of the church presents the simplest form of the domed-cross
type without galleries. The dome, without drum, ribs, or windows, is
almost certainly a Turkish reconstruction, but the dome arches and piers
are original. The arms of the cross and the small chambers at its angles
are covered with barrel vaults, and communicate with one another through
lofty, narrow arches. In the treatment of the northern and southern
walls of the building considerable architectural elaboration was
displayed. At the