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Blachernae () was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. It is the site of a water source and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the great Church of St. Mary of Blachernae ( Panagia Blacherniotissa), built by Empress Pulcheria in c. 450, expanded by Emperor Leo I (r. 457–474) and renovated by Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) in the 6th century..
It is important to note, however, that Skarlatos Byzantios, in his influential work Constantinople Volume I, mentions the Greek tradition that the district was named after the fish species Lakernai, which the locals fished there in large quantities and called Blachernai.Skarlatos Byzantios9786054640652 ISBN 9786054640652
According to Ilie Gherghel, the word Vlach became known in the Germanic and Slavic world through the Vikings that came in contact with the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine origin of the word Vlach is supported by the historian Stelian Brezeanu who considers that one of the first accounts about Romanians south of the Danube, referred to by the name vlachorynchini (the Vlachs near the Rynchos river), is present in a historical account about the Kastamonitou Monastery which was written in the 17th century but based on a 9th-century Byzantine source.Stelian Brezeanu, O istorie a Bizanțului, Editura Meronia, București, 2005, p. 126
South of the church and situated on the city's Seventh Hill stood the imperial Palace of Blachernae, which was first erected in c. 500. During the Komnenian period, it became the favourite imperial residence, eclipsing the older Great Palace of Constantinople on the eastern end of the city. Although the Latin Empire returned to the Bucoleon Palace, the Palaiologos emperors of the restored Byzantine Empire again used the Blachernae Palace as their main residence. The Palace of the Porphyrogenitus () and the Prison of Anemas are the main surviving structures of the Palace of Blachernae, which was a complex of multiple buildings.
Following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in May 1453, the Sultan's residence was moved to Topkapı Palace on the site of the ancient acropolis of Byzantium, opposite to the original site of the Great Palace, which had by this time fallen into complete ruin, and the Blachernae area (with the exception of the Palace of Porphyrogenitus) fell into disuse.
During the Byzantine Papacy, the portion of the Aventine Hill overlooking the schola Graeca became known as the ad Balcernas or Blachernas.Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752, page 42. Lexington Books.
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