When the pious emperor Justinian built in Constantinople a more magnificent and majestic Church of Hagia Sophia, he sent envoys to Thessaloniki to bring some of the relics of Saint Demetrios from there to adorn and sanctify the newly built church. After arriving in Thessaloniki, the envoys approached the honorable coffin in which the relics of the Holy Great Martyr rested, to carry out the emperor's order; but fire suddenly burst out of the coffin, showering everything with sparks, and a terrible voice was heard from the fire: "Stop, and do not touch!" Everyone present fell to the ground out of fear. The envoys therefore took only a little dirt from that place, then returned to the emperor and told everything that happened to them. Everyone who listened to their story was amazed. Half of the dirt brought by the envoys was handed over to the emperor, and the other half was deposited in the church treasury.
- From the Miracles of Saint Demetrios.