nd the proximity of
the House to the great cathedral may be inferred likewise from the
statements of the pilgrim Alexander[184] and of the anonymous
pilgrim.[185] On the other hand, Zosimus speaks of the monastery of
Lips, 'couvent de femmes Lipesi,'[186] as situated in another part of
the city. It was closely connected with the monastery of Kyra
Martha,[187] from which to S. Sophia was a far cry. The distinction of
the two monasteries is, moreover, confirmed by the historians
Pachymeres[188] and Nicephorus Gregoras,[189] who employ the terms
Panachrantos and Lips to designate two distinct monastic establishments
situated in different quarters of the capital.

[Illustration: FIG. 41. S. MARY PARACHRANTOS.
DETAILS OF THE SHAFTS IN THE EAST WINDOWS OF THE SOUTH CHURCH.]

In the next place, the monastery of Lips did not stand at the point
marked by Demirjilar Mesjedi. The argument urged in favour of its
position at that point is the fact that the monastery is described as
near the church of the Holy Apostles ([Greek: plesion ton hagion
apostolon]). But while proximity to the Holy Apostles must mark any
edifice claiming to be the monastery of Lips, that proximity alone is
not sufficient to identify the building. Phenere[190] Isa Mesjedi
satisfies that condition equally well. But what turns the balance of
evidence in its favour is that it satisfies also every other condition
that held true of the monastery of Lips. That House was closely
associated with the monastery of Kyra Martha, as Phrantzes[191]
expressly declares, and as may be inferred from the narratives of the
Russian pilgrims.[192] That being so, the position of Kyra Martha will
determine likewise that of the monastery of Lips. Now, Kyra Martha lay
to the south of the Holy Apostles. For it was reached, says the
anonymous pilgrim of the fifteenth century[193] 'en descendent (du
couvent) des Apotres _dans la direction du midi_'; while Stephen of
Novgorod[194] reached the Holy Apostles in proceeding northwards from
the Kyra Martha. Hence the monastery of Lips lay to the south of the
Holy Apostles, as Phenere Isa Mesjedi stands to the south of the mosque
of Sultan Mehemed, which has replaced that famous church.

With this conclusion agrees, moreover, the description given of the
district in which the monastery of Lips stood. It was a remote and quiet
part of the city, like the district in which Phenere Isa Mesjedi is
situated to-day; [Greek: pros ta tou Liba mer