The Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font is both the feast day of a historic church in Constantinople and an icon of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) which is venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. Outside the Imperial City of Constantinople, near the Golden Gate (Porta Aurea) used to be found a grove of trees. There was located a shrine which from early times had been dedicated to the Theotokos and a spring of water. Over time, the grove became overgrown and the spring became fetid.