The Theotokos Kecharitomene Monastery ( gr, Θεοτόκος Κεχαριτωμένη, ,

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

Kecharitomene , Mother of God, full of grace) was a female convent built in the early 12th century in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

capital,

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, by Empress

Irene Doukaina Irene Doukaina or Ducaena ( el, , ''Eirēnē Doukaina''; – 19 February 1138) was a Byzantine Greek empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. She was the mother of Emperor John II Komnenos and the historian Anna Komn ...

. It survived until the 15th century. The monastery is chiefly known through its extensive charter (''

typikon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite of ...

''), issued by its founder and based on the model of the

Theotokos Euergetis Monastery The monastery of Theotokos Euergetis ( gr, Θεοτόκος Εὐεργέτις, , Theotokos the Benefactress) was a monastery in the European suburbs of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, established in 1049 and surviving until the 13th centur ...

. It was built in the northern part of

, adjacent to the male monastery of

Christ Philanthropos Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, founded slightly earlier (1107) by Irene. The two were separated by a wall, but served by a common water system. According to the ''typikon'', the monastery was initially envisaged to house 24 nuns, but the rules allowed the number to be raised to 40. It was

cenobitic Cenobitic (or coenobitic) monasticism is a monastery, monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a Monastic rule, religious ru ...

, with the nuns sleeping in a common dormitory rather than individual cells. The nuns lived in strict seclusion, and no men were allowed to enter the complex apart from the two priests, the steward, and the nuns' confessor, all four of whom were further required to be eunuchs. The only exception was made for the entry of a physician, who was to be either a eunuch or elderly. As an imperial foundation, it was closely associated with the ruling

Komnenos Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην� ...

dynasty, and Empress Irene built apartments for herself and other women of the imperial family. Irene's daughter

Anna Komnene Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...

was forced to retire there after her husband's death, and it was here that she wrote the ''

Alexiad The ''Alexiad'' ( el, Ἀλεξιάς, Alexias) is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was written in a form of artificial ...

''. The monastery is last attested in the 15th century, when the Russian pilgrim visited it. No known remains survive.

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