Orphanotrophos

[1] In Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, there was a particularly large orphanage in the northeastern corner of the city, at the site of the ancient acropolis of Byzantium, which eventually came under imperial patronage.

According to the Patria of Constantinople, it traced its antecedents to a series of charitable establishments founded in the reign of Constantius II (r. 337–361) by the patrikios and protovestiarios Zotikos, for which the latter was canonized by the Church.

Peter and Paul according to Theophanes the Confessor)—probably the church of the same name near the Gate of Eugenios on the sea-wall of the Golden Horn mentioned by Nikephoros Gregoras—and restored the foundation of the first Zotikos, which was possibly converted into a leprosarium.

[5] In the 9th–11th centuries, the orphanotrophos' role seems to have been limited to the imperial orphanage in the capital, while the provincial charitable foundations were under the supervision of two other officials, the chartoularios tou sakelliou and the megas kourator.

[10][14] The De ceremoniis describes the orphanotrophos' role in certain imperial ceremonies, often along with his wards, who were led to the Emperor's presence, sung chants and received gifts from him.

As part of his wide-scale reconstruction of the city following its reconquest in 1261, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282) erected a school "on the grounds of the old orphanotropheion", likely indicating that it had ceased to function for some time by then.