Very few people travelled for pleasure in the Byzantine Empire. Most travellers who decided to leave the comfort and safety of their homes were merchants, monks, or ambassadors, while women rarely travelled, since they faced far greater dangers and enjoyed much less freedom than men. Foreign travellers were welcome but most Byzantines did not really exhibit much interest about foreign lands. In the early fifteenth century, approximately 100 years after the construction of this church, a Byzantine traveller named Laskaris Kananos embarked on a grand journey that took him to the Baltic Sea, Germany, Scandinavia, and Iceland, but such an adventurous spirit was rare among his compatriots.