St Isaac's Square. St Isaac's cathedral and the monument to Nicholas
postmarked in 2012 with a Russia stamp
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Saint Isaac the Confessor, founder of the Dalmatian Monastery (died May 30, 383) was Christian monk who is honored as a saint and confessor. He is sometimes referred to as Isaac the Dalmatian, not because he was from Dalmatia, but because of the monastery which he founded.
According to some accounts, Isaac was a Syrian, but this is uncertain. Neither is anything known for certain about his early life. What is known is that Isaac had been a hermit living in a small hut in the wilderness outside of Constantinople. In the year 378, when he heard that the Roman emperor Valens had fallen into the heresy of Arianism and was persecuting the Nicene Christians, deposing bishops, closing some churches, and turning others over to the Arians, Isaac went into the imperial city to confront the emperor. At the time, the emperor was preparing a military campaign against the Goths. After several attempts to dissuade the emperor from his persecutions, Isaac prophesied that Valens would "die in flames" because of his actions. The emperor ordered that Isaac be thrown into prison, vowing that he would punish Isaac and put him to death upon his return from battle. Soon after, on August 9, 378, Valens was defeated at the Battle of Adrianople and died in a fire after taking refuge in a barn.
Valens' successor, Theodosius I, released Isaac, outlawed Arianism and reopened the churches closed by Valens.