ne of their execution, indeed, was Nicomedia; but friendly hands
obtained possession of the bodies of the champions of the faith, and
taking them to Constantinople, buried them outside the walls of the
city, towards the north, in the place subsequently occupied by the
monastery of the Chora. As will appear, the relics of S. Babylas and his
disciples formed part of the treasures of the Chora in the ninth
century.[503]

[Illustration: PLATE LXXXI.
S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA, FROM THE WEST.]

[Illustration: S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
_To face page 288._]

The settlement of the approximate date of the foundation of the church
depends, ultimately, upon the meaning to be attached to the term Chora
([Greek: Chora]). There are some writers who incline to the idea that in
this connection that term was employed from the first in a mystical
sense, to denote the attribute of Christ as the sphere of man's highest
life; and there can be no doubt that the word was used in that sense in
the fourteenth century. That is unquestionably its meaning in the
legends inscribed on mosaics which adorn the walls of the building.

[Greek:
IC XC MER THY
HE CHORA HE CHORA TOU
TON ZONTON ACHORETOU]

And it is in that sense that the term is employed by Cantacuzene[504]
and Phrantzes.[505] On this view the description of the church as 'in
the Chora' throws no light on the date of the church's foundation. Other
authorities,[506] however, maintain that the term Chora was originally
associated with the church in the obvious topographical signification of
the word, to denote territory outside the city limits, and that its
religious reference came into vogue only when changes in the boundaries
of Constantinople made the literal meaning of Chora no longer
applicable. According to this opinion the church was, therefore, founded
while its site lay beyond the city walls, and consequently before the
year 413, after which the site was included within the capital by the
erection of the Theodosian wall.

Hence, the phrase 'in the Chora' had the same signification as the style
'in the fields' which is attached to the church of S. Martin in London,
or the style _fuore le mura_ which belongs to the basilica of S. Paul
and other churches beyond the walls of Rome to this day.

It is certainly in this topographical sense that the term Chora is
understood by the Byzantine writers in whose works it first appears.