Church of St. Mary of the Spring

Zoodokhos Peges, also known as the Ayazma of Virgin Mary, is a holy spring and church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The name Zoodokhos Peges means “life-giving source”. The history of the ayazma and the church dates back to a prophecy based on a blind and old man whom the future Byzantine Emperor, Leo I, met when he was young and unemployed. The man asked for water and a shaded place, but there was neither water nor shade. Then, a divine voice told him that he would find a water source nearby, and when he washed his face with that water, the blind man’s eyes would open, and he would become the future emperor. This prophecy came true, and when Leo became the emperor in 457 AD, he had an ayazma and a church built in that location called Panagia.

The ayazma became not only a health center visited by Byzantine emperors and their spouses but also a popular destination for the public as a picnic area. After the 18th century, it was called “Balıklı Ayazma” (the fish-filled holy spring) by Muslims because of the fish in the pool.

On the entrance door of the church, there are two fighting rooster figures. These figures represent the resolution of a dispute that emerged during the reconstruction of the church, which was damaged in the 1835 Istanbul earthquake. The dispute was resolved through a cockfight, and the victory of the Greek Orthodox community’s rooster over the Armenian Orthodox community’s rooster is symbolized by these figures. The tombs of the patriarchs who died in Istanbul after 1841 are located in the churchyard.