Soon after making Constantinople his new capital, Emperor Constantine I began a major church-and-mausoleum complex later known as the Church of the Holy Apostles. It was planned as both a prestigious shrine for Christian worship and an imperial burial place, tying the new capital to the faith and to the emperor’s dynasty.
When Constantine died in 337, he was buried in the Holy Apostles complex, which became a central imperial mausoleum (a burial church). His son Constantius II completed the unfinished project and formalized its role as the dynastic resting place for emperors and their families.
The church’s religious importance increased as major relics were gathered there, especially those associated with Saint Andrew, Saint Luke, and Saint Timothy. These relics shaped how many later visitors understood the church’s dedication and helped make it a key pilgrimage site in the city.
In 438, the remains of John Chrysostom—an influential preacher and former archbishop of Constantinople—were brought back to the capital. They were placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles, adding a celebrated Church Father to the shrine’s collection and strengthening its status as a center of veneration.
By the 6th century, the original church was seen as no longer grand enough for the empire’s needs. Emperor Justinian I ordered a complete rebuilding on the same site, creating a new, larger cross-shaped domed church and continuing the Holy Apostles tradition rather than replacing it with a new location.
The rebuilt Church of the Holy Apostles was consecrated on 550-06-28. Relics and imperial burials were reinstalled, and a separate mausoleum for Justinian and his family was added, reinforcing the church’s dual role as a major shrine and the empire’s main burial site.
In the 9th century, Emperor Basil I carried out repairs and renovations, probably enlarging parts of the church complex. This work shows the building was still politically and religiously central, and it helped preserve the shrine’s function during a long period of use.
In 874, the remains of Nikephoros I (patriarch and historian) were reinterred at the Church of the Holy Apostles. The church became a place for annual imperial devotion linked to his relics, showing how the building blended dynastic memory with saintly veneration.
In the 10th century, Constantine of Rhodes wrote a detailed poetic description (an ekphrasis) of the Church of the Holy Apostles and dedicated it to Emperor Constantine VII. Because the building was later destroyed, such texts became crucial evidence for understanding its architecture and decoration.
In 950, relics of Gregory of Nazianzus (also called Gregory the Theologian), another major Church Father, were transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles. This added to the church’s “treasures” and reinforced its status as a curated center for revered remains.
The church served as the primary imperial burial place for centuries, but it eventually ran out of space. Constantine VIII’s burial in 1028 is widely cited as the last imperial interment there, after which emperors increasingly used other churches and monasteries.
In 1204, crusader forces captured and heavily looted Constantinople. Contemporary accounts report that the Church of the Holy Apostles and its imperial tombs were plundered for valuables, damaging both the building’s treasury and the integrity of the burial complex.
After 1204, the church’s condition and resources deteriorated, and later authorities struggled to maintain large Byzantine structures. By the 1400s it was widely described as damaged and in disrepair, setting the stage for its eventual removal after the Ottoman conquest.
Around 1461, the Church of the Holy Apostles was demolished, and its site was reused for a new imperial Ottoman mosque complex commissioned by Mehmed II. Construction of the Fatih Mosque began in 1463, marking a clear endpoint for the Holy Apostles as a living Byzantine shrine and imperial mausoleum.
Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople: Construction Phases and Treasures (4th–15th centuries)