In the “ACTA SANCTORUM”, a book containing the sacred religious events of Christians, an event that took place in Yalova is described.
According to the belief : Three sisters named Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora lived in Bithynia (the land where today’s Yalova is located). When they reached the age of young girls, they converted to Christianity and retreated to one of the hills around the Pythia (today Termal) baths, where they engaged in worship.
After a while, it is believed that these young girls performed some miracles and cured the patients who came to Termal. This increases their prestige and recognition.
At that time, the Roman Emperor was Galerius Maximianus (305-311 AD), a devout pagan.
Learning of the situation, the Emperor appointed Fronto, the governor of the region. Fronto, in turn, sent an Assessor (as it was then called) to the Three Sisters, advising them to renounce Christianity and return to paganism. It also offers them the opportunity to marry nobles.
The young girls rejected this request; the Prophet By stating that they are followers of Jesus, they express that they consider the gifts and rewards offered to them to be worthless.
The Assessor threatens to torture them.
Nymphodora exclaims that even if they gathered all the instruments of torture in the world, they would not be able to frighten them, that death is for them a passage to eternal life.
Then Menodora, the oldest of them all, was beaten to death with an iron rod until there was not a bone left in her body.
Metrodora is then burned with candles until it turns black and beaten with iron bars until it dies.
Nymphodora, on the other hand, is beaten to death with rods and dismembered with iron claws.
According to the Christian faith:
When the Assessor ordered their bodies to be cremated, suddenly a flame from the sky engulfed the martyrs of the saints and destroyed them. Then a rain starts and extinguishes the fire. And the believers bury them with respect.
The local people’s reverence for the Three Sisters or the Three Saints grew and soon their graves (which no longer exist) became a place of pilgrimage.
According to my assessment, it was Emperor Constantine I (312-347 AD) who was instrumental in the recognition of these three sisters and their being called Saints.
Emperor Constantinus I was the emperor who made Constantinople (Constantine’s City) the capital of today’s Istanbul, which he called Constantinople; He was the emperor who raised a village named Drepanum in the vicinity of today’s Hersek Village, because a Saint named Lucianos who died for the sake of religion was buried in Izmit, out of respect for this Saint, and turned it into a city and named it Helenopolis after his mother.
It is known that Emperor Constantinus I suffered from stomach and skin ailments and frequently visited Yalova hot springs.
It is accepted that this emperor may have built the Church of Arhangelosin Termal, mentioned by the historian Procopius.
It is conceivable that an emperor who had adopted Christianity as the official religion heard that the Three Sisters had been murdered on his arrival in Thermal and built their tombs to honor them, just like the Christian Saint Lucianos buried in Drepanum.
Many years ago, Christians used to walk from the Üçkardeşler Gazinosu in Termal into the forest and visit this sacred place.
The grave, which local elders say used to have a kumbet on it in the place still known as Eşkiyapınarı, has been destroyed by treasure hunters. However, just in front of the alleged grave, the remains of a water well and the remains of a wall, also destroyed by treasure hunters, can be seen.
During the research : An oil painting representing the murder of the Three Saints, Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora, was found in the Vatican, and this painting was found in the Biblioteca Sanctorum.
Also, in the (ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH) Orthodox Calendar 2001 September, it has been determined that the day of September 10 is (HOLY MARTYRS MENODORA, METRODORA AND NYMPHODORA).
In order to reveal the true and religious dimensions of the event and to determine the path to be followed in future activities, it was necessary to seek the opinion of the Patriarchate, and for this purpose, the Governorship of Yalova wrote to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, requesting its opinion on the activities to be carried out; the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate responded with a letter stating that the information in its possession coincided with that of the Governorship of Yalova, and that on behalf of these saints He reported that a church was established, known as the Monastery Masjid.
In short, although the local elders’ indication of the location of the grave, which is about 1700 years old, makes us feel the need to approach the issue with caution, the available information and documents prove that the event took place and this is also confirmed by the Patriarchate.