Panagia Blachernitissa

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The Panagia of Blachernitissa (Gr. Παναγία η Βλαχερνίτισσα, Turkish: Meryem Ana Kilisesi), also known as Blachernae, Vlachernae, or Vlahernon, is a 7th century Byzantine icon from Constantinople preserved in the imperial palace of Blachernai. The icon, according to tradition, was not written; rather, it was made from a composition of wax and the ashes of 6th-century martyred Christians.[1][2] A rare copy of the Blachernitissa icon is also located in Russia at the Tretyakov Gallery.

Contents

Name ambiguity

There are two geographical places named "Blachernae" and "Vlachernae", respectivaly. The first, and recognised as the origins of the Blachernae icon and church tradition, is a district of Istanbul in Turkey and is spelt with a B. The second area, is a municipality in the prefecture of Arta, Greece; it is not so well known and is spelt with a V. The correct spelling for the icon and the Church should therefore begin with a "B".

There are many anecdotes attempting to describe the origins of the name 'Blachernae of Istanbul, Turkey: 1) The first is that the origin of the name is derived from a type of fish pronounced in Greek as Palamyda. This type of fish would be fished from the Bosphorus river. In Latin, the same type of fish is pronounced Lakernai and this anecdote says that the dialect of the region pronounced Lakernai as Blachernai[3]

Churches

Monasteries

References

  1. ↑ Blachernitissa at Wikipedia
  2. ↑ The Eastern Orthodox Church tradition is that there is only one other icon of this type— the icon of the Archangel Michael of Mantamados.
  3. ↑ This opinion was supported by Skarlatos Byzantios who refers to this in Volume I of the Constantinople Theofilakton of 1351.

See also

Sources

External links

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