statesman Demetrios Kydones retired to an apartment at the monastery of Saint George after having obtained an adelphaton (or the right, granted on payment of a sum of money, to live in a monastery without becoming a monk). The monastery was particularly famous during the 14th century when it contained relics of the Passion of Christ and became a place of pilgrimage for Orthodox faithful from as far away as Russia. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the monastery complex was occupied for a short time by dervishes, before being demolished by the Ottomans to make way for the construction of the Topkapi Palace. References Sources Quarters and suburbs of Constantinople