"There was a church at Constantinople, not so large as St. Sophia, but, as they say, much richer, which St. Helena built, desiring greatly to show her power. At the entrance were certain arches which were very dark, and they say that people were found there frequently committing the offence of sodomy, and one day a thunder-bolt fell from Heaven and set fire to the church, and not one of those who was surprised in that sin was spared. The church they called Valayerna, and it is to-day so burnt that it cannot be repaired1."
See:
- Pedro Tafur, Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts, New York, London: Harper & brothers 1926
- https://www.pallasweb.com/deesis/church-of-mary-of-the-blachernae.html