According to a member of the monastery, who flourished in the eleventh
century, the House was founded by a monk named Bara in the reign of
Anastasius I. (491-518) near an old half-ruined chapel dedicated to S.
John the Baptist, in what was then a lonely quarter of the city, between
the Gate of S. Romanus (Top Kapoussi) and Blachernae. The monastery
becomes conspicuous in the narratives of the Russian pilgrims to the
shrines of the city, under the designation, the monastery of S. John,
Rich-in-God, because the institution was unendowed and dependent upon
the freewill offerings of the faithful, which 'by the grace of God and
the care and prayers of John' were generous. Thrice a year, on the
festivals of the Baptist and at Easter, the public was admitted to the
monastery and hospitably entertained. It seems to have suffered during
the Latin occupation, for it is described in the reign of Andronicus II.
as standing abandoned in a vineyard. But it was restored, and attracted
visitors by the beauty of its mosaics and the sanctity of its
relics.[494]

In 1381 a patriarchal decision conferred upon the abbot the titles of
archimandrite and protosyngellos, and gave him the third place in the
order of precedence among the chiefs of the monasteries of the city,
'that thus the outward honours of the house might reflect the virtue and
piety which adorned its inner life.'[495] Owing to the proximity of the
house to the landward walls, it was one of the first shrines[496] to
become the spoil of the Turks on the 29th of May 1453, and was soon used
as a quarry to furnish materials for new buildings after the conquest.
Gyllius visited the ruins, and mistaking the fabric for the church of S.
John the Baptist at the Hebdomon, gave rise to the serious error of
placing that suburb in this part of the city instead of at Makrikeui
beside the Sea of Marmora.[497] Gerlach[498] describes the church as
closed because near a mosque. Portions, however, of the monastic
buildings and of the strong wall around them still survived, and eikons
of celebrated saints still decorated the porch. On an eikon of Christ
the title of the monastery, Petra, was inscribed. Some of the old cells
were then occupied by nuns, who were maintained by the charitable gifts
of wealthy members of the Greek community.

_Architectural Features_

The building is in two stories, and may be described as a chapel over a
crypt. It points north-east, a peculiar orientation proba