Vlaherna Meryem Ana Church

The Church of Saint Mary of Blachernae sits behind a humble, fenced yard in a neighborhood where the city walls once met the sea. It is a small, quiet structure, yet for centuries, this site housed the most sacred relic in the Byzantine Empire, the Robe of the Virgin Mary. Pilgrims traveled here believing the fabric shielded Constantinople from foreign invaders. During the siege of fourteen fifty-three, the city fell, and the church was destroyed, leaving only this modern structure to guard the spring.