Drypia

In his studies on the topography of Constantinople, Raymond Janin identified the site with the locality of Ayazmaderesi, some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of the Theodosian Walls,[1] but this is rejected by Andreas Külzer, who identifies it—via the later corrupted form Grypes—with the modern Istanbul district of Bağcılar.[2]

In early Byzantine times, the settlement was known for its church dedicated to Thomas the Apostle, established in the late 4th century.[2] In late 398, Empress Aelia Eudoxia ordered the translation of the relics of several unnamed saints to Dripya, which was done in a long procession from the Hagia Sophia. This was the occasion for a homily by John Chrysostom, then the Archbishop of Constantinople.[2][3] The church is no longer mentioned in later times, and was probably destroyed in a raid during the 6th century.[2] Thus already in 559, taking advantage of the destruction of parts of the Anastasian Wall during an earthquake two years before, the Kutrigurs raided the suburbs of Constantinople, including Drypia.[2]

The settlement continued to be inhabited as shown by a fragmentary funeral inscription dating to the 8th/9th century,[2] but the site is next mentioned only in historical accounts by George Pachymeres for 1299, when Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos spent a few days in the village during his journey west to Thessalonica,[2] and again for 1304, when Andronikos' son and co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos also stopped there on his return from campaigning against the Ottoman Turks.[2] Finally, a 1323 document of the Hilandar Monastery of Mount Athos mentions two local landowners, John Ktenas and Angelitzes Karyanites.[2]

A church dedicated to St. George, which existed on the site in 1798, probably had a Byzantine antecedent. It also featured a chapel with a hagiasma (holy spring) dedicated to John the Forerunner.[2] Similar springs dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ and to Saint Photini are attested in the vicinity during the 19th century.[2]

• Allen, Pauline; Mayer, Wendy (2002). John Chrysostom. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18252-2.
• Janin, Raymond (1964). Constantinople byzantine. Développement urbaine et répertoire topographique (in French) (Deuxième édition ed.). Paris: Institut français d'études byzantines.
• Külzer, Andreas (2008). Tabula Imperii Byzantini: Band 12, Ostthrakien (Eurōpē) (in German). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-7001-3945-4.