he patriarch's disgrace and
offered him a refuge in the monastery of Aristina, which stood, as we
have seen, near the church of S. Andrew and in the immediate
neighbourhood of her own residence.[167] It was a fortunate arrangement,
for Gregory soon fell seriously ill and required all the sympathy and
generous kindness which Theodora was able to extend to him.[168] Upon
his death, ten short months after his retirement, Theodora determined to
show again her admiration for the man and his work by honouring his
memory with a funeral befitting the position he had held in the Church.
She was prevented from carrying out her intention only by the
peremptory and reiterated commands of the emperor, that Gregory should
be buried as a private person.[169]

[Illustration: PLATE XXVII.
(1) S. ANDREW IN KRISEI. CAPITAL IN THE OUTER NARTHEX.
(2) S. ANDREW IN KRISEI. CAPITAL IN THE OUTER NARTHEX.
(From a Photograph by A. E. Henderson., Esq.) _To face page 112._]

After the death of Theodora we have only occasional glimpses of the
church and monastery. In 1350 Stephen of Novgorod came 'to kiss' the
relics of S. Andrew of Crete, and describes the convent as 'very
beautiful.'[170] Once, at least, a sister proved too frail for her
vocation;[171] sometimes a devout and wealthy inmate, such as
Theognosia,[172] would provide an endowment to enable poor girls to
become her heirs in religion; or the sisterhood was vexed by the
dishonesty of parties who had rented the lands from which the convent
derived its revenues.[173] Towards the end of its Byzantine period
another Russian pilgrim[174] came to honour the remains of S. Andrew the
Strategos, and bring the Christian history of the church to a close. It
was converted into a mosque by Mustapha Pasha, Grand Vizier in the reign
of Selim I. (1512-1520).[175] The custom of illuminating the minarets of
the mosques on the eve of the Prophet's birthday was introduced first at
this mosque.[176]

_Architectural Features_

On account of the serious changes made in the building and its
surroundings when it became a mosque, and after the earthquake of 1765,
its real character is not immediately apparent. The present entrance is
in the northern side, where a fine Turkish arcade has been erected. The
mihrab is on the south side, a greater change for the correct
orientation of a mosque than is usually necessary in the adaptation of a
church to the requirements of a sanctuary in which the worshipp