The Church of Irene,[8] which was next to the great church, and was burnt down together with it, was rebuilt on a large scale by the Emperor Justinian—a church scarcely second to any in Byzantium except that of Sophia. There was between these two churches a hospice for the relief of destitute persons and those in the last extremity of disease, suffering in body as well as in fortune, which was built in former times by a God-fearing man named Sampson. This also did not remain unscathed by the insurgents, but perished in the fire, together with the two neighbouring churches. The Emperor Justinian rebuilt it in a more magnificent fashion, and with a much greater number of rooms, and he has also endowed it with a great annual revenue, in order that the sufferings of more unfortunate men may be relieved in it for the future. Insatiate as he was in his love for God, he built two other hospices opposite to this, in what are called the houses of Isidorus and Arcadius, being assisted in these pious works by the Empress Theodora. As for all the other churches which this Emperor raised in honour of Christ, they are so many in number and so great in size that it is impossible to describe them in detail, for no power of words nor one’s whole life would suffice to collect and to recite the list of their several names: let this much suffice. III. We must begin with the churches of the Virgin Mary, for it is understood that this is the wish of the Emperor himself, and the true method of description distinctly points out that from God we ought to proceed to the Mother of God. The Emperor Justinian built in all parts of the Roman empire many churches dedicated to the Virgin, so magnificent and large, and constructed with such a lavish expenditure of money, that a person beholding any one of them singly would imagine it to have been his only work, and that he had spent the whole period of his reign in adorning it alone. For the present, as I said before, I shall describe the churches in Byzantium. One of the churches of the Virgin[9] was built by him outside the walls, in a place named Blachernæ (for he must be credited with the pious foundations of Justin, his uncle, since he administered his kingdom at his own discretion). This church is near the sea-shore, of great sanctity and magnificence; it is long, yet its width is well proportioned to its length, and above and below it is supported and rests on nothing less than sections of Parian marble which stand in the form of columns. These columns are arranged in a straight line in all parts of the church except in the middle, where they are set back. Those who enter this church especially admire its lofty and at the same time secure construction, and its splendid yet not meretricious beauty.