Constantine funded church-building projects throughout his reign as a way to encourage Christianity’s growth. Churches were erected at, among other places, Rome, Trier, Nicomedia (Izmit, Turkey), Jerusalem, and Cirta (Constantine, Algeria) as either the direct or indirect result of Constantine’s patronage. Some of his most spectacular commissions were installed in Constantinople, such as the Megale Ekklesia (“Great Church”), which was completed under his son and constructed on the site where the Hagia Sophia would later stand. Constantine also commissioned monumental works less confessional in character, such as the Arch of Constantine in Rome, although some speculate that it too has Christian resonances.
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