Bishop Alexander of Constantinople (AD 240-337) (Istanbul)

Alexander was born in Byzantium around 240. From a young age, he dedicated his life to God and lived in a monastery where he grew in his spiritual life. He prayed, fasted, saw God-inspired visions, gave up all his luxuries, and even lived naked for four years.

Alexander served as assistant to bishop Metrophanes and represented him at Nicea’s Ecumenical Church Council in 325. After Metrophanes’ death, Alexander served as the bishop of Constantinople for eleven years, from 326 to 337. He died in 337 at the age of seventy-three, the same year that Constantine the Great died. Because Constantinople was officially dedicated by Constantine in 330, both Metrophanes and Alexander are often identified as Constantinople’s first bishops.