Saint Stephen, Who Organized a Home for the Elderly in Armatios (+ 614)

St. Stephen, Who Organized a Home for the Aged (Feast Day - February 27)

Verses

In old age Stephen presided over the passage of life,
In death he presides over the crowning with crowns.

Saint Stephen served as a courtier of the Emperor Maurice (582-602). After retiring from public service, he founded a hospice for the elderly (gerokomeion), which abutted on a hostel for strangers. It is noteworthy that this is the only home for the aged, out of twenty-seven that existed in Constantinople, which had been operating until the fall of Constantinople (last mention in 1446). It was located on the Golden Horn gulf in the vicinity of the Plateia Gate (today known as Un Kapanı Kapısi), in the Armatios district. Saint Stephen reposed in peace in the year 614.