In connection with the monastery there was a bath, capable of containing six persons, in which the monks were required to bathe twice a month, except during Lent, when the bath was used only in cases of illness.
The home for old men supported by the House accommodated twenty-four persons, providing them with bread, wine, oil, cheese, fuel, medical attendance, and small gifts of money.
The hospital had fifty beds for the poor. It was divided into five wards: a ward of ten beds for surgical cases; another, of eight beds, for grave cases; a third, of ten beds, for less serious complaints; the fourth ward had twelve beds for women; the fifth contained ten beds for what seemed light cases. Each ward was in charge of two physicians, three medical assistants, and four servitors. A lady physician, six lady medical assistants, and two female nurses, took charge of the female patients. The sick were visited daily by a house doctor, who inquired whether they were satisfied with their treatment, examined their diet, and saw to the cleanliness of the beds. The ordinary diet consisted of bread, beans, onions, oil, and wine.[407] Throughout their history the monasteries of Constantinople remembered the poor. (See Plate III.)
[Illustration: PLATE LXIX. S. SAVIOUR PANTOKRATOR. THE EAST END, FROM THE SOUTH.]
[Illustration: S. SAVIOUR PANTOKRATOR. THE EAST WINDOW OF THE CENTRAL CHURCH.]
[Illustration: S. SAVIOUR PANTOKRATOR. THE EAST END, FROM THE NORTH. _To face page 242._]
[358] _De top. C.P._ iv. c. 2, p. 283, 'in supercilio quarti collis vergente ad solis ortum visitur templum Pantocratoris, illustre memoria recentium scriptorum.'
[361] Du Cange, _Const. Christ._ iv. p. 81; _Itin. russes_, pp. 123, 203-4.
[362] Synax., August 13; Cinnamus, p. 9; Phrantzes, p. 210.
[363] Du Cange, _C.P. Christ._ iv. p. 81, quoting Anselm, bishop of Havelsberg, who was in Constantinople as the ambassador of Lothair the Great to the Emperor John in 1145.
[364] MS. No. 85, in the Library of the Theological Seminary at Halki.
[367] MS. No. 85, in the Library of the Theological Seminary at Halki.
[370] Cinnamus, p. 14; Guntherus Parisiensis in Riant's _Exuviae sacrae_, p. 105. The sarcophagus that forms part of a Turkish fountain to the west of the church is usually, but without any proof, considered to be the tomb of Irene. A long flight of steps near it leads to the cistern below the church.