The Church of the Holy Wisdom - Hagia Sophia (???a S?f?

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The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia (???a S?f?a) in Greek, Sancta
Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, is a former Byzantine church and
former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. Now a museum, Hagia Sophia is universally
acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world.
History
Unfortunately nothing remains of the original Hagia Sophia, which was built on this site in the
fourth century by Constantine the Great. Constantine was the first Christian emperor and the
founder of the city of Constantinople, which he called "the New Rome." The Hagia Sophia was
one of several great churches he built in important cities throughout his empire.
Following the destruction of Constantine's church, a second was built by his son Constantius
and the emperor Theodosius the Great. This second church was burned down during the Nika
riots of 532, though fragments of it have been excavated and can be seen today.
Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 under the personal
supervision of Emperor Justinian I.
It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and
marble pillars and coverings. After completion, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, ?e??????
se S????? ("Solomon, I have outdone thee!").
The architects of the church were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, who were
professors of geometry at the University of Constantinople. Their work was a technical triumph,
even though the structure was severely damaged several times by earthquakes. The original
dome collapsed after an earthquake in 558 and its replacement fell in 563. Steps were taken to
better secure the dome, but there were additional partial collapses in 989 and 1346.
Justinian's basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of Late Antiquity and
the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Its influence, both architecturally and
liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and
Muslim worlds alike.
For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople
and a principalsetting for church councils and imperial ceremonies.
In 1204 the cathedral was ruthlessly attacked, desecrated and plundered by the Crusaders,
who also forcibly replaced the Patriarch of Constantinople with a Latin bishop. This event
cemented the division of the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches that began with
the "Great Schism" of 1054. Many of Hagia Sophia's riches can be seen today not in Istanbul,
but in the treasury of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.
Despite this setback, Hagia Sophia remained a functioning church until May 29, 1453, when
Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered triumphantly into the city of Constantinople. He was
amazed at the beauty of the Hagia Sophia and immediately converted it into his imperial
mosque.
Hagia Sophia served as the principal mosque of Istanbul for almost 500 years. It became a
model for many of the Ottoman mosques of Istanbul such as the Blue Mosque, the Suleiman
Mosque, the Shehzade Mosque and the Rustem Pasha Mosque.
No major structural changes were made at first; the addition of a mihrab (prayer niche), minbar
(pulpit) and a wooden minaret made a mosque out of the church. At some early point, all the
faces depicted in the church's mosaics were covered in plaster due to the Islamic prohibition of
figurative imagery. Various additions were made over the centuries by successive sultans.
Sultan Mehmed II built a madrasa (religious school) near the mosque and organized a waqf for
its expenses. Extensive restorations were conducted by Mimar Sinan during the rule of Selim
II, including the original sultan's loge and another minaret. Mimar Sinan built the mausoleum of
Selim II to the southeast of the mosque in 1577 and the mausoleums of Murad III and Mehmed
III were built next to it in the 1600s. Mahmud I ordered a restoration of the mosque in 1739 and
added an ablution fountain, Koranic school, soup kitchen and library, making the mosque the
center of a social complex.
The most famous restoration of the Hagia Sophia was completed between 1847-49 by
Abdlmecid II, who invited Swiss architects Gaspare and Guiseppe Fossati to renovate the
mosque. The brothers consolidated the dome and vaults, straightened columns,and revised
the decoration of the exterior and the interior.
The discovery of the figural mosaics after the secularization of Hagia Sophia was guided by
the descriptions of the Fossati brothers, who had uncovered them a century earlier for cleaning
and recording. The Fossatis also added the calligraphic roundels that remain today. They were
commissioned to calligrapher Kazasker Izzet Efendi and replaced older panels hanging on the
piers.
In 1934, under Turkish president Kemal Atatrk, Hagia Sofia was secularized and turned into
the Ayasofya Museum. The prayer rugs were removed, revealing the marble beneath, but the
mosaics remained largely plastered over and the building was allowed to decay for some time.
Some of the calligraphic panels were moved to other mosques, but eight roundels were left
and can still be seen today.
A 1993 UNESCO mission to Turkey noted falling plaster, dirty marble facings,
broken windows, decorative paintings damaged by moisture, and ill-maintained lead roofing.
Cleaning, roofing and restoration have since been undertaken; many recent visitors have
found their view obstructed by a huge scaffolding stretching up into the dome in the center of
the nave.


Holy Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of the Vlatades


In a letter of Patriarch Matthaios, from the year 1400, to the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, Gavriil, the Monastery in
mentioned for the first time, under the name of the Monastery of the Pantokrator (=Christ the Lord of All), and
reference is made to "Lord Dorotheos, who also indeed, established the monastery of the Pantokrator in the
beginning". Other sources also mention that the Monastery is dedicated to Christ the Lord of All. The name which
has predominated, however, has the founders in the plural: "Vlatadon" or "Vlat(t)aion", which means that there
were at least two. In the oldest metropolitan document, which is kept in the Monastery Archive (1488), it is termed
the Monastery of the Pantokrator of the Vlatadon or Vlataion. Besides, in manuscript no. 92 of the Monastery,
there is another reference, probably from the 14th century concerning the VENERABLE Monastery of the
Pantokrator of the Vlatadon, while elsewhere in the same document, it is called the Monastery of the "Vlataion".
There were, indeed, two priest-monks known at that time who bore the name "Vlat(t)is", Dorotheos and Markos.
They were friends and disciples of Saint Gregory Palamas, whom they followed to Constantinople, when he was
called to appear before the synod which was to deal with the hesychast controversy and his theological
differences with Barlaam the Calabrian. Having witnessed and shared the tribulations of Saint Gregory Palamas
during the years 1341-1350, Dorotheos came with him to Thessaloniki and took up permanent residence in the
city. He later occupied the metropolitan throne of Thessaloniki (1371-1379). Markos, who it seems was somewhat
older, quickly left Constantinople for the Holy Mountain, where he lived as a monk at the Great Lavra. He, too,
then came to Thessaloniki to be with his brother, in 1351.
An inscription set into the wall above the lintel of the west door to the Katholikon states that the Monastery was
established "by the founders Vlateon, men of Crete". This inscription, however, is much later (1801) and there is
no historical evidence to support it, as regards the founders' birth place.
It should be taken as read that the Vlatades were born in Thessaloniki. The Thessalonian patriarch Philotheos
Kokkinos a childhood friend of the two brothers, says of them:" Both Dorotheos and Markos, who were brothers of
the same family as well as being monks of rare worth, sprung from Thessaloniki the great, were the best of
friends with Philotheos from childhood, fellows in spirit and in asceticism".
The Monastery must have been founded immediately after the enthronement of Saint Gregory Palamas, once
the brothers had taken up residence in the town, perhaps in 1351, or even a little later. It was dedicated to the
Transfiguration of the Savior, of which the light was for them, their teacher Saint Gregory and the Hesychasts the
centre of their theological thought and life.
To this day, the Monastery tradition commemorates empress Anna Paleologina as founder, together with her
husband Andronikos III, who had, of course, been dead for some time. Once Anna had taken up residence in
Thessaloniki, in 1351, she remained there permanently as Governess until her death. A gate in the east wall of
the city, close to the acropolis, which was built by her, bears an inscription with her name (1355). It was probably
at this same time that construction work on the Monastery was being carried out.
The Monastery is called royal because it was established by a grant from Anna Paleologina and through a royal
chrysobull, which has not survived, but which must have been issued in 1354, in the name of the emperor
Ioannes Kantakouzenos and the empress Anna Paleologina, during the term as patriarch of Philotheos, friend of
the founder. It is also called patriarchal and stavropegic because a patriarchal sigillium was issued for it, shortly
afterwards, by the Ecumenical Patriarch Neilos, and the cross was places there. Another form of name which was
used during the period of Turkish rule and is still used by many local people even today is Cavus Monastir. The
most likely explanation of this name is that at some time a unit of Turkish troops was billeted there, with a cavus
or sergeant in command. When the Turks captured the city of Thessaloniki for the first time, in 1387, they
established a garrison in the acropolis, with a strong guard-post outside the south wall on the flat platform of the
premises, and to watch the postern-gates which were in the walls at that point. The church was also taken over
and converted into a mosque to meet the needs of the soldiers. After the second capture (1430), a guard-post
must have been established there for the same reasons. The commander of the post, a "cavus", gave his name to
the monastery. The grave of one of these commanders is to be seen in front of the south door of the Katholikon.
Another tradition is of great interest. It maintains that a certain guard commander damaged the church and the
building installations a good number of years after the fall of the city. After this, he became gravely ill. Then, in a
dream, he saw an elderly man who promised to cure him on condition that he repaired the damage to the church.
The commander did so and was cured. From then on he was wont to go there to enjoy the view. He also did the
Monastery a good many kindnesses and because of this the monks buried his remains outside the Katholikon.
All these traditions echo certain historical events, of which particular attention should be paid to the damage done
to the monastery, the burial of his mortal remains outside the church and the privileges later accorded to the
Monastery.
Papageorgiou P., at the end of the last century, expresses another view, which is worthy of note and may be
linked to the above traditions. According to Papageorgiou, the church and the monastery took the name "Cavus"
because they were next to the tower of Cavus Bey, which is part of the fortified walls in the upper town of
Thessaloniki (Yedi Kule). On this tower there is the inscription recording the fact the Cavus Bey repaired the tower
and settled there in 1431, one year after the capture of the city. Cavus Bey was on friendly terms with the
Monastery and granted it a good many privileges, among which was that of immunity in 1446.
Quite apart from what has been written so far on this subject, it ought to be stressed that the Monastery of
Vlatadon, because of its privileged positioning terms of location and security, would hardly have been left unused
by the Turks. For this reason, it should not be linked only with the tower in the fortified walls, which, in any case, is
not so close to the Monastery, but rather to the use of the premises by the Turks. It is this historical relationship
which must be reflected in the tradition concerning the Cavus (commander) who fell ill and was cured after the
Monastery was restored.
When the Turks captured Thessaloniki for the first time, in 1387, the Church of the Savior (Transfiguration), i.e.
the Katholikon of the Monastery, was sequestered, as were the others, according to the testimony of Symeon of
Thessaloniki: "And then, indeed, at that same time, the greatest number of the buildings of the churches fell to
them, of which the first was the holy church of the Savior in the acropolis and as many others as were towards
there and again as many monasteries hard by the acropolis , and these were, alack, trampled underfoot and the
infidels rejoiced in them. Then later most of the religious buildings in the city were despoiled, while altars were
demolished and sacred things profaned".
This passage concerns the Katholikon of the Monastery, and is confirmed by the traces of its conversion into a
Muslim mosque. It seems that the entire monastery was confiscated, together with its lands, because it was a
"royal" monastery, and according to the Turkish practice, every item belonged to the crown - even if only formally
so - in lands which had been captured passed automatically into the possession of the sultan. They avoided
seizing monasteries, although they did take over the churches and turned them into mosques. This sequestration
must have remained in effect until 1403, when the Turkish garrison withdrew from the city, according to the treaty
which followed the battle of Ankara. Despite this, however, two years earlier, in 1401, a document from the
Patriarch Matthaios refers to the presbyter Theodotos as holding the Monastery of Vlatadon: ":the priest
Theodotos, has put forward claim to become abbot in the monastic house of Saint Athanasios, which belongs to
the Monastery of the Pantokrator, of which he is now in charge". This last item of information can probably be
explained by the fact that the Turks canceled the sequestration of the Monastery of Vlatadon before the Treaty of
1403, because it had, in the meantime been proclaimed patriarchal and stavropegic and was no longer
exclusively royal. This monastic house of Saint Athanasios, as a dependency of the Monastery of Vlatadon, had
also been sequestered and then released from sequestration as a result of the freeing of the parent Monastery of
Vlatadon. This is why Theodotos put forward his claims
When Thessaloniki was captured for a second time by the Turks (1430), the status of the Monastery was not
affected, and it continued to function as a monastic foundation throughout the period of Ottoman occupation of the
city. At the beginning of the 16th century, it appears to have housed the holy relics of Saint Gregory Palamas for a
short time. When the church of Aghia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) in Thessaloniki, where the relics of the saint had
been placed, was taken over by the Turks to be converted into a mosque, the relics were taken to the Monastery,
where a small chapel in his name was built to house them. This no longer exists. After a short time the church
was built which is now the metropolitan church of Thessaloniki and the relics were transferred there. The new
church bore the names in common of Saints Demetrios and Gregory Palamas as the two patron saints of
Thessaloniki. It was at precisely this time that the icon was painted representing both of them, which is kept in the
sacristy of the Monastery.
At the time of the decline of the monasteries of the Orthodox Church, which occurred at the end of the 16th and
throughout the greater part of the 17th centuries, the Monastery attempted to re-structure its possessions and
retain its land holdings. The Ecumenical Patriarch Ieremias II, with a sigillium of his dated 1579 which is kept in
the Monastery, stated that he had seen an old imperial chrysobull and had read a sigillium letters of his
predecessors. Patriarch Neilos (1380-1388) and Ioasaf II (1555-1565), through which the monastery was
recognised first as a royal and then as a patriarchal, while its autonomy was recognised and it was offered
donations. With its own sigillium, Patriarch Ioasaf confirmed the title of the Monastery over what it had in its
possession, especially over the dependencies. Despite this, it was unable to ensure a satisfactory level of
functioning, because of the negligence of the monks as is reported in another sigillium published by the
Ecumenical Patriarch Kyrillos Loukaris (1633), through which the Monastery was made subject to the Monastery
of Ivirion on the Holy Mountain. This dependence was not of long duration, however. After fifteen years, Patriarch
Ioannikios gave it back its sovereignty with another sigillium. Since then it has continued to function without
hindrance down to our own days.
It seems that, from the first decadres of Turkish rule, because of the difficulty of maintaining coenobia
(monasteries where the monks lived under a common rule) the system of administration through committees of
wardens obtained in the Monastery of Vlatadon, too, until 1713. In the following years, one of the wardens,
Anthimos Ypsilos, was elected abbot and retained the office for twenty-two years.
During this period, which lasted a hundred and twenty-two years (1714-1836), eight abbots were in charge of the
Monastery. Prominent among them was Ignatios Konstantinou, who was in office for thirty-nine years (1755-1814)
and proved very active, to the benefit of the Monastery. It was in his time that the buildings of the Monastery were
renovated, especially the Katholikon.
The Same period saw the introduction of the system of lay wardens, who helped the abbots in the performance of
their duties. During the period in office of Ignatios, Warden Ioannis Gouta Kaftantzoglou contributed to the
rebuilding of the Monastery after years of stagnation. Members of the Kaftantzoglou family continued to give
benefactions to the Monastery of Vlatadon until recently.
Later, for thirty years (1836-1866), the mechanism of administrating the Monastery through two-men committees
of monks was in place. Since the monks often failed to administer and run the Monastery properly, however, this
was taken over, on the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, by lay wardens, prominent among whom were
Athanasios Papageorgiou.
The Ecumenical Patriarch, in order to restore canonical order, later brought back the institution of the abbacy.
Towards the end of the period of office of the first abbot, Nikeforos Demetriades (1866-1870), the dependency
church of Saint Athanasios was taken over by the people who lived in the neighborhood, and successive abbots
were unable to secure its release. During the time of his successor, Kallinikos Theologides (1871-1892), the
income from the land holdings of the Monastery was granted by the Patriarchade to the Theological School in
Chalke, and a new period of poverty set in.
During the period in office of Abbot Kallinikos Georgiades (1892-1923), it became clear that the building complex
was largely in decay and some rough repairs took place.
The modern period begins with the liberation of Thessaloniki (1912) and found the Monastery with the same
abbot. During the time in office of his successor, Ioakeim of Iviron, a scholarly man (1923-1940), the new building
of the abbot's quarters was constructed, as were the sacristy and the chapel of the Mother of God, the expenses
being met by Professor Anastasios Mysiroglou.
On the other hand, however, the Monastery lost its extensive lands in Kalamaria, which were expropriated to be
given to the landless or to be used for other social purposes. At this time it was a meeting-place for scholars and
academics of the city. During the period in office of his successor. Pangratios of Iviron (1940-1966), the
Patriarchate passed a set of rules for the internal administration of the Monastery, which applied for a short time.
In the last twenty years, the following have occupied the position of abbot:
Stylianos Charkianakis, at present Archbishop of Australia (1966-1975)
Apostolos Papaioannou, Metropolitan of Ainos (1975-1976)
Ezekiel Tsoukalas, Metropolitan of Pisidia (1976-1977)
Nikodemos Anagnostou, at present Metropolitan of Ierissos, the Holy Mountain and Ardamerios (1977-1980)
Theodoretos Tsirigiotis, Bishop of Elaia (1980-1985)
Panteleimon Rodopoulos, Metropolitan of Tyroloe and Serention, Professor and former Rector of the University of
Thessaloniki (1985).


Holy Monastery of Koutloumous, Mount Athos


Dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Saviour, this monastery, the sixth in the hierarchy, was probably erected in
the first half of the l2th century A.D., according to a document dating from A.D. 1169. Its founder was probably a
monk from Africa (koutloumous the saint from Ethiopia). Decimated by the raids of the Catalans, it found a fervent
supporter and generous patron in the person of Ioannis Vladislav, Prince of Hungro-Wallachia (second half of the
l4th century). The monastery acquired prestige and power through its designation as a patriarchal establishment
(A.D.1393), its annexation of the Monastery of Alypios (A.D.1428) and gifts from many emperors.
In A.D. 1497 it was destroyed by a great fire, and again in A.D. 1767 and A.D. 1870. It was supported in its times
of trial by laymen and clerics from many parts of the Orthodox Christian world who made generous contributions.


Holy Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Halki - Holy Theological
School of Halki


The Holy Theological School of Halki (also Chalki) was, until its closure by the Turkish authorities in 1971, the
main school of theology and primary seminary of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It is located on
Halki (in Turkish, Heybeliada), one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara.
The Orthodox Church's activities on the island of Halki are traced back to the Byzantine period when the
Monastery of the Holy Trinity was founded on the island. A date for the founding of the monastery is not known
although the establishment of the monastery has been associated with Photius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (r.
858861 and 878886). Subsequently the monastery fell into ruin during the Turkish period.
The school of theology was established on the grounds of the old monastery after Patriarch Germanos IV visited
the island in 1842. Then, with the approval of the Turkish authorities, the operation of Holy Trinity monastery and
the school of theology began on October 1, 1844 with a special ceremony that marked the occasion.
An earthquake in June 1894 destroyed all the buildings of the monastery and theological school except for the
chapel. This stopped the operation of the school. The present day facilities were built, with financing by Pavlos
Skilitsis Stefanovick, by architect Periklis Fotiadis, and operation of the school and monastery was re-inaugurated
in October 1896. Major renovation of the facilities also took place in the 1950s, including the monastery church.
The Holy Theological School of Halki was established to meet the educational needs of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople as well as of the Orthodox Church in general. Since its establishment in 1844, the school has
passed through a number of organizations. Initially, between 1844 and 1899 the school operated with four high
school grades and three theological grades. During the period of 1899 and 1923 the high school grades were
discontinued and the school functioned as an Academy of five grades. Between 1923 and 1951 the school
reactivated the high school grades as originally established in 1844. In 1951 the educational program was again
modified to consisted of three high school grades and four theological grades. This arrangement continued until
1971 when the school was closed after passage of a law that prohibited operation of privately owned schools of
higher education in Turkey. It has remained closed since although the facilities have been visited and used by
Orthodox friends and faithful.
The theological facilities include the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, sports and recreational institutions, dormitories, an
infirmary, a hospice, offices, and the school's library with its historic collection of books, journals, and manuscripts.
The students at Halki included not only a large number of native born Greeks, but Orthodox Christians from
around the world, which gave the school an international character.
Numerous Orthodox scholars, theologians, priests, bishops, and patriarchs graduated from Halki, including the
current Patriarch Bartholomew I and his immediate predecessors, Patriarchs Demetrius, Athenagoras, and
Maximus V. Many patriarchs, bishops, and former teachers of the school are buried on the grounds.
In 1971, the seminary was closed by a Turkish law that forbids private universities from functioning in Turkey. In
1998, the Turkish government ordered the disbandment of the Halki board of trustees, until international criticism
of Ankara's decision persuaded the Turkish authorities to reverse their order.
Halki has received international attention in recent years. In October 1998, both houses of the United States
Congress passed resolutions that supported the reopening of Halki. The American President Bill Clinton visited
Halki during his visit to Turkey in 1999 and urged Turkish President Suleyman Demirel to allow reopening of the
school. The European Union has also raised the issue as part of its negotiations over Turkish accession to the
EU.
The Patriarchate had hoped that promises from the Turkish government to allow the seminary to reopen would be
enacted, this has not come to pass as of yet.


Patriarchal Church of Saint George (Phanar)

The Patriarchal Church of St George, Phanar (Greek: Kathedriks Nas tou Agou Georgou, ?a?ed????? ?a??
t?? ????? Ge??????; Turkish: Aya Yorgi) is a Greek Orthodox cathedral church in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly
Constantinople). Since the early seventeenth century it has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople, the senior patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox church.
History
After the fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453, the population of Constantinople became
largely Muslim. The Phanar district, which is northwest of the center of old Constantinople, became the center of
Greek Christian life in the conquered city. About 1600, Patriarch Matthew II moved the patriarchate to the church
of the female monastery of St. George in the Phanar district, making it his cathedral church. During the following
years the original church was much modified.
In 1614, Patr. Timothy changed and enlarged the church. In the late seventeenth century Patr. Callinicus II the
Acarnan modified the church again. Early in the eighteenth century the church was severely damaged by fire.
Patr. Jeremias III finally received permission in 1720 from the Turks to begin rebuilding the church. The
reconstruction effort, begun by Jeremias III, was continued under Patr. Paisius II. A major fire in 1738 again
severely damaged the church, and permission to rebuild it was not obtained until 1797.
The reconstruction, begun in 1797 by Patr. Gregory V, largely produced the structure of the church that exists
today. Little remains of the original building. The plan for the church was a basilica with a nave and two aisles with
three semicircular apses in the eastern end. A narthex was built across the western end. The aisles are defined
by colonnades that separated them from the nave. A synthronon is arranged at the back of the altar as a semi-
circle of seats along the curved wall of the apse for the senior clergy, with the patriarchal throne of marble in the
center.
Patr. Gregory VI made further changes to the church in the late 1830s. Principal among these changes was the
raising of the roof to its present height. Also added was the neo-Classical marble doorway that makes the exterior
in front of the church different from the Byzantine style of most Orthodox churches in the region. During the reign
of Patr. Joachim III in the late nineteenth century extensive remodeling of the interior of the church was
conducted. In 1941, the church was again damaged by fire. For political reasons this damage was not repaired
until 1991.
Among the treasures in the church are the marble throne which is believed to date from the fifth century and the
relics of Sts. Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. These relics were among the loot taken from
Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 that were returned to the patriarchate in 2004 by Pope John
Paul II.
With the Greek Orthodox population in Istanbul greatly reduced, the Cathedral Church of St George, while
relatively small for the cathedral of the senior hierarch of the Eastern Church, serves today mainly as the symbolic
center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and a center for pilgrimages for Orthodox Christians.
The address of the cathedral is Fener Rum Patrikhanesi, Sadrazam Ali Pasa Cadesi, Fener 34220, Istanbul,
Turkey.

Church of the Virgin of Vlachernae

The Church of Panagia Blachernae (full name in Greek: Te?t??? t?? ??a?e???? (pr. Theotkos tn
Blachernn); Turkish name: Meryem Ana Kilisesi) is located in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih, in the
neighbourhood of Ayvansaray, along Mustafa Pasa Bostani Sokak. It lies a few hundred meters inside the walled
city, at a short distance from the shore of the Golden Horn. The building is protected by a high wall, and preceded
by a garden.
The church is near the northern tip of the walls of Theodosios built by the Empress Pulcheria (ca. 450-453), and
her husband, Emperor Marcian (450-457). They had the church built on the site of a sacred spring, which was a
place of pilgrimage near the shore of the Golden Horn (known as Ayvansaray today). Inside is now the best
known and most celebrated sanctuary to the Virgin Mary in Constantinople. Emperor Leo I (457-474) completed
the church by adding the "Hagiasma". He also built the "Hagion Lousma"
Emperor Leo I also built the circular pareklision Hagia Soros (chapel), next to the church to contain the holy robe
and girdle of the Virgin Mary, brought from Palestine in 458 (or 473). The chapel of the Virgin's robe was covered
in silver and considered a "reliquary of architectural dimensions." Lay people were not allowed inside but could
pray in the main church.[4] This very shrine housed the miracle-working icon of the Blachernitissa.
In 625-626, Constantinople was attacked by the Avards. Emperor Heraclius (575-641) campaigned against the
Persians, however, the icon was carried in a procession along the city walls and so the saving of the city was
attributed to the intervention of the Theotokos. In order to protect the sanctuary, and the city from such a siege,
Leo I added the famous quarter of Blachernae in 627, with its VENERATED church, whose image was now
considered the palladium of Constantinople. The circumference of the walls were then, and still are, eleven to
twelve miles. By this stage, the church of Blachernae had around 75 endowed clerics.
During the iconoclastic period, and according to tradition, the icon disappeared and was then found hidden behind
a wall during renovation works in 1030.
The church was burnt down in 1070 and rebuilt by the year 1077 either by Romanos IV Diogenes (1067-78) or
Michael VII (1071-87) and then destroyed again by fire in 1434. The church, at this stage, was connected to the
Palace of Blachernae by a stairway. After the fire, nothing remained of the fire apart from the Sacred Spring.
In 1867, the modern church was built and further additions have since been made to the structure. It is said, that
the Akathistos was first chanted at this location and a special marble plaque, inscribed with the Akathistos verse,
a celebrated Byzantine hymn, to the Theotokos, has now been placed above the Hagiasma. In addition, there are
four wall paintings by the famous painter Eirenarchos Covas (1964)
To this very day, the spring is reputed to have therapeutic powers.


Church of the Dormition of the Virgin, Mouchlion

The church of Panagia Mouchliotissa is located at the Phanar quarter, between the Megale Schole and the
Joachimian Girls School, not far from the Metochion of the Holy Sepulchre. In older days the origin of the church's
name had given rise to a minor philological argumentation. S. Kugeas maintained that the name derived from
Mouchlion, at Mystra, the inhabitants of which had settled in this area of the Phanar quarter in 1242. H. Gregoire,
M. Lascaris and Gennadios Metropolitan of Heliopolis, believed that it is the Greek rendering of the Slavonic word
mogyla. Indeed, the church was known by the names St. Mary of the Mongols or Mougouls and more
commonly Panagia of Mouchlion or Mouchliotissa (Paspatis).
The history of the church provides the answer. Maria Palaeologina, daughter of Michael VIII Palaeologus (1261-
1282), was given in marriage to the Khan of the Mongols, Hulagu or Abagu (Pachymeres). After the death of her
husband she returned to Constantinople and founded the convent and church, probably in 1285. The founding of
the convent is mentioned in the Paris Codex Gr. 2625.
According to written sources, the convent of Mouchlion was built on the site of an earlier monastery dedicated to
the Theotokos Panagiotissa, which had been ruined, apparently by the Latins (Pasadaios). Maria Palaeologina
bought the grounds with the vineyards and whatever structures existed, repaired some of them, erected new
ones, and organized the women's convent. She endowed the monastery with relics, valuable vessels,
manuscripts, lands in Constantinople and Rhaedestus, spending all her fortune. This information is obtained from
a synodical document of 1351 (Miklosich and Mller, vol. I, 312-15), according to which the Ecumenical
Patriarchate decreed the restitution to the monastery of the entire fortune seized by the usurper brother-in-law of
Maria Palaeologina, Isaac Palaeologus-Asen. Asen, whom Maria had appointed by a chrysobul trustee of the
monastery's properties after her death, used the revenues to his own advantage and the convent was facing dire
poverty.
After the Conquest, Mehmet II made a present of the church to the Greek architect Christodoulos, as a reward for
the construction of the Mosque of the Conqueror (Fatih Camii) at the site of the demolished church of the Holy
Apostles. The firman issued by Mehmet the Conqueror saved the church from being converted into a mosque
under Selim I, and the Panagia Mouchliotissa has remained an Orthodox church to this day.
The church, of irregular plan, stands within an enclosure with a small courtyard. Its most remarkable architectural
feature is the elegant dome supported by four piers, though its size is rather disproportionate to the dimensions of
the building. The apse to the east has survived, while traces of a second apse to the north reveal the old
triconchial plan of the sanctuary. The entire south side was enlarged in later times to create a rectangular
chamber with a cross-vaulted roof. Some traces from a representation of the Last Judgment are the only
remnants of the old painting decoration of the church. An annotation on the manuscript of Suidas's Lexicon (Paris
Codex Gr. 2625) informs us that the church was painted by Modestus in the late 13th century.
In addition to the mosaic icon of Panagia Mouchliotissa, dated by Soteriou to the late 13th-early 14th century,
another four post-Byzantine icons are notable: St. Paraskeve (1.35x0.40 m.) St. Euphemia (1.35x0.40 m.), the
Three Hierarchs (1.25x0.60 m.) and the Sts. Theodoroi (1.27x0.54 m.). The belfry in the courtyard is of later date.


Holy Shrine of the Virgin Vefa

The Church of the Mother of God and the Aghiasma known as Vefa stand opposite the Comnenian monastery of
the Pantocrator. In Byzantine times the quarter was called Ta Sophrakiou, but later it became Vefa Meidan,
taking the name of a distinguished Turkish poet, Seyh eb ul Vefa.
According to legend, Constantine Palaeologus, the last emperor of Byzantium, is buried in Vefa Square in an
"invisible and insignificant" grave, besides which is the grave of the Arab who killed him. Tradition relates that as
he fell Constantine cried out "' ?fa?e?!" ("You've done for me!"), the name 'Mepha' and thence 'Vefa' deriving
from his last words.
The church was demolished after the Fall in 1455 and a garden was laid out on the site. In 1750 the garden was
bought by an Epirote one of many thousands who left the craggy mountains of continental Greece to seek their
fortune in the City. His daughter had a dream that there was an Aghiasma on the property and followed her father
to Constantinople to persuade him to search fork. Excavations in 1755 revealed the passage-way and reservoir
as well as a marble icon dated 1080. On the death of the Epirote and his daughter the Aghiasma passed to his
heirs. Over the years it was purchased from them by the Macedonian Educational Brotherhood of Constantinople,
which carried out extensive repairs and alterations. Twelve steps lead down from the church to the Aghiasma. It is
said that in addition to a number of ex-votos preserved there, the marble icon, now broken, is kept there in a
bronze casket.
Here too, as at Blachern, on the first day of every month Turks, both men and women, wait patiently in line with
Christians to collect some holy water which they sprinkle about their homes and shops. On New Year's Eve the
queue stretches to even a kilometre in length.


Church of Saint Nicholas Tzivaliou

The earliest known references to the church complex, consisting of the Church of Saint Nicholas, the Chapel of
Saint Charalampos and the Aghiasma, occur in Turkish documents of 1724 and 1837. Writing about these
sultanic enactments, Gedeon states they are proof that a church stood on the site at a time prior to the Fall of the
City.
A typical example of the manner in which the Christian communities of Constantinople are organised -the church
standing in an enclosure protected by tall courtyard walls and surrounded by school buildings, meeting-rooms and
philanthropic and cultural associations- the Saint Nicholas complex, renovated in 1998 by the Nikolaos
Vardinoyannis Foundation, is in a fine state of preservation.
The approach from the north is down a stairway, for the level of the coast road has been raised. The church
covers the greater part of the north-eastern area of the enclosed space, while the Aghiasma is situated in the
south-eastern.
The Chapel of Saint Charalampos stands in the southern sector. The walling and the architecture, which
incorporates Phanariot stonework, stem directly from Byzantine styles. The exterior on the Keratios (Golden Horn)
side is of unusual interest since it is one of the few examples of a building that links late Byzantine with post-
Byzantine architecture.


Church of the Virgin Paramythia - 'Vlach Saray'

The most beautiful ruins in the City, if one takes the liberty in speaking of ruins to call them beautiful.
The entire district that includes the church, close by the Metochi of the Holy Sepulchre in the Phanar, was once
owned by the rulers of Wallachia. Their palaces, the "Saraya of Vlachia ", stood in the same quarter and so the
church became widely known as Vlach Saray. The Constantinopolitan Ghikas, Soutsos and Cantacouzinos
families used to attend this church, among them omnipotent individuals like Michail Cantacouzinos 'Seitanoglou'
(Son of the Devil). The latter was a close friend of the Grand Vizier Sokoli (1560-1575) and holder of the salt
monopoly. Cantacouzinos was destined one day, when his fortunes were in decline, to be hanged on the order of
Mural I?? from the great gate of the palace he owned at Anchialo.
The church has a long and tragic history, undergoing frequent destruction and restoration. It was burnt down in
1640 and again in 1729. Rebuilt in 1730 it was saved, as if by a miracle, from another conflagration at the end of
the 18th century. It was again rebuilt in the mid 19th century only to be wholly destroyed by fire in 1970.
The visitor who manages to penetrate the ruined area, now that the level approach from the rear is no longer
feasible because the neighbourhood grocer has turned it into a storage space for his wooden crates, will feel his
heart miss a beat as he reflects that for a decade at the end of the 16th century the Patriarchate was established
here and the local Synod of 1595 met in this place.
Leaving the site for the Golden Horn, the thought crosses the mind that it would be a blessing indeed if
thisvenerable ruin were restored from its very foundations.


Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God Valinou

Following the sea-walls along the shore of the Golden Horn, before reaching the Church of Saint Demetrios
Xyloportas one arrives at the Church of the Mother of God Valinou.
Built and rebuilt like many others after the great fires which devastated the district, it is in an abject condition
today. Externally the building is in urgent need of conservation, while the interior is slowly but steadily being
destroyed by damp.
The attribute Balinou takes one back lo Magister Pavlinos who held office under Theodosios fl. nicknamed 'the
Small' (409-450).
The church, whose finances were in a pitiful state, was on the point of being sold when Meletios Pigas, Patriarch
of Alexandria, rescued it by settling its debts in 1597. Later it came under the protection of the rulers of Wallachia.
Nonetheless, its economic well-being, though at one time it did take a turn for the better, can never have been on
a sound footing, for Gedeon notes that "the church treasury gave meagre sums to works of public benefit".
There is no mention t? be found of a school, he continues, and attributes this to the likelihood of the children of
the parish attending classes at the adjacent school of Saint Demetrios at Xyloporta.


Church of Saint Demetrios Xyloportas


The Church of Saint Demetrios Xyloportas, "known as 'tou Kanavi'," writes A.G. Paspatis, "was an ancient church
with a dome, its interior decorated with mosaics. This church was destroyed and the present timber-roofed
building was erected in the early years of the 18th century".
Notwithstanding, no other source mentions a Byzantine church -"it is never mentioned in Byzantine writings"- and
the only connection which can be made is through the attribute 'Kanavis', linking it with the patrician Nikolaos
Kanavos who was living at the time of the first conquest (1204).
Renovated successively in 1730, 1835, 1933 and I960, as evidenced by inscribed tablets on the walls, it was
restored most recently in 1995, at the expense of G. Vassilopoulos.
The church is of considerable historical importance as it accommodated the Patriarchate for three years. For a
period of about one hundred and forty years after the Fall of the City in 1453 the Patriarchate had no fixed abode.
Once Aghia Sophia had been converted into a Muslim shrine the scat of the Great Church of Christ was for a
while at the Church of the Holy Apostles, but it was later required to abandon that noble Byzantine church and to
be received at the Church of the Virgin Pammakaristos. About a century afterwards it moved from there to the
district of the Golden Horn. It left the Church of Saint Demetrios Xyloportas for the Virgin Paramythia to end up
eventually, in 1601 or 1602, at the Monastery of Saint George (in the Phanar district) where it has remained ever
since.


Church of the Virgin of Souda, Egrikapi

The Church of the Virgin of Souda Egrikapou, a timber-roofed basilica built on the same site where once the 13th-
century Byzantine Church of Saint Nikitas had stood, close to the Palaces of Blachern and the Egri Kapou Gate,
was renovated in 1999 by Ioannis Andropoulos. However, the wooden building and the entrance to the complex
on one side of the church had already been totally destroyed by fire.
We know that the church was set fire to in 1640 and again in 1728. An official Ottoman document refers to the
latter event and permits repairs to be made on the grounds that "since the conquest this church has remained in
the possession of the Orthodox Greeks ".
There used to be a Greek school and a medical centre and asylum within the enclosure of the Church of the
Virgin of Souda.
Beneath the altar of the church is an Aghiasma, approached down fourteen stone steps. It is a space with a
vaulted roof and marble floor and contains a marble reservoir. According to Gedeon it is a remnant of a Byzantine
ablutionary.
The asylum in the church complex, described in an inscription as
serving indeed as a free hospital
a new Siloam for all who attend it,
was resorted to by the unfortunate insane, but ceased its mission in February 1839.


Church of Saint George Antiphonitis, Phanar

Of impressive size, this three-aisled, stone-built and timber-roofed basilica is a handsome building of 1830. It has
a very fine narthex and an iron bell tower. The Church of Saint George Potiras, recently restored by two brothers,
Christos and Ninos Elmacioglou (1998), once belonged to the family of "the Logothetis (Chief Secretary) of the
Great Church, Georgios Potiras".
The church stands at the far end of a delightful garden with shady trees. The courtyard is protected by an
enclosure wall of particularly line workmanship.
Gedeon confirms there is no earlier mention of the church than one dating to 1648. Nevertheless, it is possible it
served briefly as a patriarchal dwelling when the Patriarchate was evicted from the Pammakaristos.
The attribute 'Antiphonitis', which should be 'Christ Antiphonitis', arises from a delightful legend. In bygone times,
it is said, there was a usurer who insisted that another Christian owed him money. The poor man attempted in
vain to prove it was not so. In the end, despairing, he made a proposal: "Let's go to the icon of Christ. If your
conscience allows you to, repeat those lies there ". The usurer went along with him, and when the icon heard him
it contradicted him ('antiphonise') and the poor man was vindicated.
There are some fine marble reliefs and some inscriptions. An enormous earthenware jar is embedded in the right-
hand wall of the narthex to receive offerings of olive oil. Next to it is an inscription with an exhortation:
Christian, whenever you bring an offering lo the altar
Your pious hand should pour the olive oil herein
In Photira 1.12.1883


Church of the Virgin of the Heavens, Salmatobruk

The level of the kalderimia, the stone-paved streets of Constantinople rises whenever they are repaired, for the
new layer of flag-stones is laid over the old. That is why the doorway into the courtyard of the Church of the Virgin
of the Heavens, whose feast day is 15 August, is now half-buried.
Regrettably, both the church itself and the school and other buildings within the enclosure, like the 'Romaic' or
Greek school opposite, are now in bad repair.
The attribute Kyria ton Ouranon, Queen of the Heavens, may be explained as a Greek rendering of the
Armenian word 'Takavor' or 'Takouaran'. These are names by which Armenians refer to the Virgin, and as the old
church had once belonged to a noble Armenian family its dedication was changed first to 'Ta Koronia' and later to
'Kyria ton Ouranon'.
The church complex is cared for by Vassilis Trapzanoglou and his wife Marianthi. Born in Trabizond,
Trapzanoglou has been a church-warden for forty years on end and remembers the times when the parish
consisted of forty families, of which only one remains today: his own.
The church is timber-roofed and the nave or central aisle is tunnel-vaulted. It possesses a fine templo and, in the
north aisle, an Aghiasma. The sacred fountain-head is of marble and has two spouts, it is incised with a cross and
the inscription "Aghiasma of Saint Kyriaki", below which are the words "Dedicated by L. Toptsoglou 1959".


Church of the Virgin Hadzergiotissa, Tekfursaray

On the Sixth Hill, the highest in the City, at the centre of one of the most destitute quarters and only a stone's
throw from breath-taking Chora Monastery is the church complex of the Virgin Hadzergiotissa. Gedeon states that
"it suffered the well known fate of neighbouring churches, being destroyed by fire and rebuilt at the same time as
they were. The present-day building, begun in 1836, was completed in January 1837".
Having passed through the entrance one descends a few steps to reach the level of the paved courtyard in which
the church stands. Inserted in the west facade is a marble relief with an icon of the Virgin and the date 1837.
Immediately behind the sanctuary is the Aghiasma of Saint Paraskevi in a vaulted underground chamber.
The property is now in a distressing state of disrepair. If it were not for the constant efforts of the verger and
parish priest, whom the Patriarch honoured with the dignity of Syngelos on 10 June 1999, and the few remaining
parishioners, matters would be far worse.
Damp, a sly adversary, is rotting the timbers; that the plaster is cracking and peeling is all too evident on the wall
next to the stairway up to the gyncium, the women's gallery.
The unheated, locked-up buildings are doomed so long as they lack the constant presence and warmth of human
beings. Nonetheless, here, as with almost all the churches in Constantinople, irrespective of whether the
congregation is large or small, everything is spotless and cared for, and the OIL lamps are kept burning.


Church of Saint George, Edirnekapi

The Church of Saint George Edirnekapou lies close to the Adrianoupolis Gate (Edirnekapou) and only a short
distance from the shrine of Mihrimah, daughter of Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent.
In one sense the church is the successor of an earlier Byzantine monastery destroyed by the Ottomans in 1555 in
order to make way for the shrine of Mihrimah. The church was erected by special permission of the Sultan.
"Permission having been granted", wrote Skarlatos Byzantios, "twelve years later [...] they built the still extant
timber-roofed Church of Saint George which they named a Monastery in memory of the one that first stood there
[...J".
Inscriptions inform us that the church was repaired in 1726 and completely rebuilt in 1836.
As Gedeon tells us, at one time the church was remarkably prosperous because only a short distance beyond the
Adrianoupolis Gate there used to be windmills owned by Greeks and Bulgars. The guilds of all those who had
anything to do with flour, such as millers and corn merchants, bakers, bread-roll sellers and Rusk-makers, in one
way or another took the church under their protection.


Church of Saint Kyriaki, Kontoskaliou - Kumkapi

Among the populous Greek neighbourhoods of Kontoskali, Vlanga and Hypsomatheia close to the Propontis, the
Sea of Marmara, there are about ten church complexes that still have a life of their own.
As we know it today, the Church of Saint Kyriaki was built in the late 19th century to the design of Pericles
Photiades, who was the architect also of the Zographeion School. The earliest reference to the Church of Saint
Kyriaki Kontoskaliou was made by the representative of the Russian Czar, who visited it in 1583.
The church survives in fairly good order though damp has caused damage here, too, especially in the dome and
the sanctuary where there are also cracks in the masonry.
The imposing octagonal building with its dome and belfry belongs to that bygone age in which Greeks of
Constantinople enjoyed the status of "equality before the law". Wealthy Greek communities were able to erect
magnificent Houses of Prayer and the buildings that so often clustered around them - the schools, assembly-halls,
and association premises were no less splendid.
The neo-classical, stone school house opposite the church is falling into ruin, while the building that was once the
community centre is now a repository. Behind the stacks of merchandise one can make out the stage of a small
theatre with fine woodcarved decoration.
The scene in the adjacent buildings is, however, quite different. There the priest-in-charge, Meletios Sakkoulidis,
has his offices. A tireless collector of books printed on Constantinopolitan presses, a scholar of ecclesiastical and
community history, and faithful to the traditions observed by a deeply religious cleric, he ministers to the churches
the Phanar has entrusted to his care (Saint Kyriaki, The Virgin of Hope and Saints Theodore Vlangas) and assists
visitors in their contacts with the spiritually vibrant capital of the Pan-Orthodox world.
Here on Sundays and great feast-days the most recent migrants - Georgians, Romanians and Ukrainians -,
settled in the densely populated districts around the Church of Saint Kyriaki, participate in the Communion
service. They live in old middle-class residences with woodcarved ornamentation on their impressive facades, but
now on the point of collapse.


Church of the Virgin of Hope, Kontoskaliou

Of the four large churches in the Kontoskali district which burnt down in 1660, Saint Nicholas' and Saint John's
were wiped out and never rebuilt, but the Church of the Virgin of Hope was not only rebuilt in 1680 through the
intervention of the Russian ambassador Nikita Alexievich, but also was provided by the Russian government with
an annual grant of money (M. Gedeon).
In 1719 it was again reduced to ashes. It is not known if that church had already been replaced before the great
fire of 1762, only to be destroyed once more. What is certain is that another church was consumed by fire in
August 1865, and for the next thirty years the parishioners observed their religious obligations in a timber-built
chapel erected within the church enclosure.
On 4 January 1895, as soon as the special firman or permit allowing its rebuilding had been issued by the Sultan,
the foundation-stone was laid of the present church, considered one of the most beautiful of the extant churches
in Constantinople. It lies only a few paces distant from the similarly impressive Church of Saint Kyriaki.
A typical example of the architecture of its time, it is a fine building with staid and severe baroque features, a
structure erected by the hands of Thracian craftsmen living in the parish. The church asserts its presence, its
mere size and the harmony of its composition, its outstanding decoration and the distinction of its overall
conception evoking a response from the onlooker.
In all probability the Virgin of Hope stands on the same site once occupied by the 14th-century Monastery of
Certain Hope, a foundation associated with great Palaeologan families such as the Philanthropinos.
Sadly, the present slate of the church is far from satisfactory. Dilapidations, chiefly through damp, are
considerable, as photographs of the Pantocrator and wall-paintings clearly illustrate. Judging also from the
condition of the exterior, the sum required for the church 'a restoration will be a large one.


Churches of Saint Menas and of the Divine Ascension, Hypsomatheia

The Church of Saint Menas, built on an eminence close to the railroad track, used to hold its annual feast on the
name-day of Saints Papylos and Karpos, names conflated to read Papylokarpos and then corrupted to
Polykarpos. It is probable that a church stood on the site as early as the 10th century. A subterranean chamber of
the church, built in 1833 by the architect Giosigmazis, as recorded in an inscription on marble, contains the
Aghiasma of Saint Menas, the origin of the change in the name of the church from Saint Polykarpos to Saint
Menas.
The church is triple-aisled, timber-roofed and stone-built; it is in a fair state of preservation, except for the belfry
which is in danger of collapse. The surrounding area is choked with weeds, but the church courtyard is always
clean-swept and neat, with flowering plants in garden pots; and the sanctuary lamps are kept lit. Access to the
Aghiasma is from the east side of the narthex. The marble fountain has three spouts.
The timber-roofed basilica of the Divine Ascension, surrounded by a high enclosure wall, lies in the same
neighbourhood. The fate of churches in the City of Constantine is a shared one. The Church of the Divine
Ascension is a typical example: it has been built and rebuilt over and over again.
Formerly the church celebrated on the name-day of the Virgin Chrysalithini. The earliest written evidence of the
church is a patriarchal letter dated 1566. The church was burnt down in 1660 and rebuilt, only to be reduced once
more to ashes in 1782. It was erected yet again and kept in repair until 1832. At the time of Patriarch Constantios,
the church, according to a marble inscription over the main doorway, acquired its present form through the desire,
zeal and eagerness of Christ-worshipping believers. There is an Aghiasma behind the sanctuary with a raised
marble well-head and a basin, also of marble, with two spouts. Both the church itself and the caretaker's house
are in need of maintenance.


Church of Saint Nicholas, Hypsomatheia

The ancient Byzantine city is conjured up as one walks around the wails of Hypsomatheia wherever one meets
them or down the narrow streets, particularly in this district where they are part of the layout of a city that has
scarcely changed over the centuries.
Saint Nicholas' is a small church and merely a hundred or so metres separate it from Saint Menas'. It stands on
the lower side of the main street.
The outbreak of the 1821 Greek War of Independence and the hanging of the patriarch in Constantinople were
followed by appalling expulsions that lasted almost a decade and inflicted enormous harm upon the Greeks of the
City. This explains why it is that one so often reads of churches being rebuilt in the years immediately after 1830.
They are the churches destroyed during those ten years when it was impossible to repair them so long as the
terror lasted, one of the harshest periods of persecution.
We know from inscriptions that this church of Saint Nicholas was among those renovated in 1834, as ever
through the love and zeal of the Christian community.


Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, Hypsomatheia

During the first years that followed the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 the district of Hypsomatheia was populated
by Christian Karamans or Karamanlides from Cappadocia. The church complex is situated close to the famous
but now ruined Monastery of Studion, founded in 463. This monastery was occupied by the order of the Akoimitoi
(Acoemetac) monks, 'the sleepless ones', an austere order which exercised a strong influence over ecclesiastical
affairs in the fifth and sixth centuries and later during the period of Church controversies. The Akoimitoi introduced
'continual worship' in the form of 'perpetual psalmody', professing that hymns chanted to God must never be
disrupted.
The church is the focal point of the parish. For this reason there are within its enclosure other buildings such as
administrative offices, soup kitchens, refreshment rooms, and the Photiades School. Photiades was the uncle of
Constantine Cavafis, the Alexandrian poet, who lived for a time in his relatives house close to the church.
With its vast narthex, wall-mounted reliefs and beautiful templon, the church edifice is relatively well preserved,
but in this instance, too, damp is causing problems. Yet everything shows signs of being cared for and the
courtyard is spotlessly clean. The chairman of the parish council is always ready to offer visitors tea with bread-
rings from the adjacent bakery.


Church of Saint Nicholas, Topkapi

Close by the Saint Romanos Gate is the Church of Saint Nicholas built over the ruins of earlier churches which
probably date to the Macedonian dynasty (867-1059). Inscriptions state that the church was erected in 1831.
One is tempted to venture that if a future historian had no other evidence to go by than the marble inscriptions so
frequently found on the walls of Constantinopolitan churches - inscriptions of which most refer to rebuildings and
repairs and few to the dale of a church's foundation - he could perhaps reconstruct, not so much the history of
each church, but rather the history of the Greeks in the City.
These inscriptions, misspelt though they are, tell us of the "desire and zeal of the parishioners and of kyr
Sophronios head priest of the church'' and, elsewhere, of "the parishioner gardeners and superintendent grocers".
They are a revelation to those seeking knowledge of the remarkable communities of Greeks in Constantinople.
On the left side of the narthex is the Aghiasma of Saint George. The well-head and sacred water basin are
marble.


Church of Saint Dimitrios, Tatavla

One of the largest and most beautiful of churches, the Church of Saint Demetrios is in Tatavla, the most Greek of
all the districts of Constantinople; the Turks used to call it Giaour Tatavla ('Giaour' being a term of reproach for
Christians).
Skarlatos Byzantios notes that the name of this "most lovely and most salubrious" district used to be Saint
Demetrios, but Tatavla prevailed because the country villas and stables (stavloi) of the Genoese residents of
Galata were situated there.
The district was first settled during the reign of Suleyman I. The earliest inhabitants must have been the
shipwrights who worked in the Tarsana, the sultan's dockyard, at Keratio; they were mainly prisoners from the
Mani, Aegean islands and Crete.
When the Turks converted the first Church of Saint Demetrios into a mosque, the people of Tatavla removed the
icon and placed it in the small Chapel of Saint Athanasios at the top of the hill. It was then that the chapel was
renamed Saint Demetrios.
The chapel was enlarged and in 1726, the date given in a marble inscription on the south wall of the church, it
was renovated from the foundations up.
An enormous five-aisled basilica with a domed central aisle or nave, a templon and pulpit of elaborate
workmanship, and an episcopal throne with lions at its base, the Church of Saint Demetrios is a striking edifice.
There are office buildings around the edges of the courtyard, while the schoolhouse is prominent behind the
church.
Opposite the church complex lies the 'Heracles Sports Club of Tataoulon ', the first sports club founded in the
Ottoman Empire. It includes vast halls and courts, a reading room, dining-room, offices and the 'Zacharopheios
Basketball Court'. In places where the plaster work has peeled from the wall one can make out traces of wall-
painting. To the right and left of the entrance are two large marble plaques inscribed with the names of the
benefactors of Greek descent. They provide evidence of the history of the locality.


Church of Saint Athanasios, Tatavla

Till the mid 18th century Tatavla was one of the most distinctly working-class neighbourhoods - a legendary
neighbourhood nonetheless, known indeed as 'legendary Tatavla'. It was remarkable for its dashing young men
(Bishop Pamphilos Melissinos dubbed them "spirited and mettlesome "), young men who would not hesitate to
take on the gendarmes who overstepped the bounds and became excessively oppressive, and for its famous fire-
fighters and renowned housewives: 'a Tatavlian housewife' was high praise for the mistress of a house.
As the years passed Tatavla's composition changed. Gradually it became the most influential and bustling
community in the City, for in 1793 the people of Tatavla, through the mediation of Kapudan Pasa, succeeded in
obtaining a firman which prohibited persons of other nationalities and religions from settling on the Hill.
In 1929 a fire, whose origin is still obscure, swept through the neighbourhood. It was only then that the prohibitive
edict was violated. The new settlement was named Kurtulus, a Turkish word meaning liberation, but the Greek
population stayed on: until 1964 it numbered around twenty thousand.
When the Hatti Humayun was promulgated in 1856 the right to religious tolerance was strengthened. Thereupon,
in 1858, this flourishing community, which now included merchants, intellectuals and tradesmen, inaugurated the
second church in Tatavla, the Church of Saint Athanasios, which stands on the far side of the hill.
Built on the hill slopes, the stone church is of fine workmanship. As Skarlatos Byzantios observes, it was the first
church permitted since the Fall of the City to be erected with a dome and bell-tower. Till then the architectural
norm was a basilica without a dome, while bell-towers were forbidden.
There is an Aghiasma in the Chapel of the Virgin Zoodochou Pigis (Fount of Life) situated below the church.


Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God Propodon Tataoulon

The parish of the Virgin Evangelistria Propodon was created in 1857, having first been detached from the parish
of Saint Demetrios. It lies in a poverty-stricken and rather ill-famed district on the lower slopes of the hill, close to
the water-course of Kasimpasa fed by both surface and sewage waters.
The Church of the Annunciation is built where an earlier wooden chapel, known as Tahta Kilise, used to stand.
The new church with its lead-covered dome and two belfries "was completed in 1893 and consecrated the
following year".
On the wall above the lintel over the west door is a marble plaque inscribed:
Through the liberal contributions of all Orthodox Christians,
from both the City and elsewhere, and Societies,
the most VENERABLE Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God
was completed to the design of Petrakis D. Meimarides in the year 1893
and consecrated in the year 1894 in the reign of Patriarch Neophytos VIII.
Attached to the north aisle and situated in a stone-built chapel is the Aghiasma of the Nativity of the Mother of
God. On the right of the templon in the chapel is the stairway leading down to the Aghiasma. The marble basin
fills through four spouts.


Church of the Twelve Apostles, Ferikioy

Before the district had been settled and attached to Pera, a mansion stood here belonging to Madame Feri to
whom lands, then unoccupied, had been granted in recognition of the services rendered by her late husband, a
Frenchman and a palace doctor.
The Greek community came into being only in the mid 19th century. Once the essential sultan's permit had been
obtained, the foundation-stone of the Church of the Twelve Apostles was laid. The date of this event is not known,
but it must have been several years before the building's completion in 1868, for the church is a large one.
There is a marble inscription (the only one that has been found) above the lintel over the west door of the church.
It reads:
This church of the wise Apostles
has been erected where no church stood before
and from its very foundations
through the generous gifts of the faithful
during the patriarchate of Gregorios VI
In the month of May 1868
The Aghiasma in an old building in the gardens at Tsendra lay at a distance of about two hours journey on foot. It
used to celebrate on 26 July, the name-day of Saint Paraskevi, and "was adorned by sacred and most ancient
icons displayed here and there". (N. Atzemoglou).
The renovated building within the church enclosure now houses the Cultural and Arts Association of Feriky and
the Amateur Drama Club, whose members are exceptionally keen.


Church of Saint Paraskevi, Pikridion

The work of rebuilding the Church of Saint Paraskevi at Hasky, a church of Byzantine origin according to
Skarlatos Byzantios, was begun in 1724 at the expense of Konstantinos Vrangovanos, hospodar of Hungaro-
Wallachia, and of other wealthy Phanariots. It was completed in 1752 during the patriarchate of Cyril V.
The inscription recording the event is on the wall of the gyncium and reads:
This church was made resplendent at the expense of
Konstantinos Semantor of Hungaro-Wallachia Brankovanos
out of reverence for God Champion and Martyr Saint Paraskevi
In the year 1692.
The Aghiasma is on a hill lying among Greek, Turkish and Jewish cemeteries. Gedeon insists it is part of an
ancient aqueduct. It is built of stone, and to reach it one has to cross a vaulted cave twenty-five metres deep.


Church of the Presentation of the Virgin, Stavrodromion

At Stavrodromi in the most central part of the so-called European city, the part we all know as Pera ('Yonder'), an
entire block is occupied by the Church of the Presentation of the Mother of God and the cluster of buildings
around it: offices, priest's house, assembly halls, places of refreshment.
Outside the enclosure, with the party wall between them and the ecclesiastical buildings, are rows of shops.
Throughout the day the place is overrun by noisy crowds - shopkeepers, workers and shoppers. The large iron
gates leading into the church complex are kept open in daytime to assist the movement of the populace, but they
close in the evenings.
When Galata and other neighbourhoods at the foot of the hill were no longer able to absorb the thousands of
Christians who swarmed into the City from all around it was only natural that they should expand to the higher
ground and new residential districts should gradually be established there. The church ministering to this densely
populated and wealthy parish was built in 1804, some years after the end of the Russo-Turkish war of 1787. The
foundation stone was laid by Prince Dimilrios Mourouzis. The first building, a modest chapel, was erected in just
one night with the help of parishioners, both men and women.
It is said that in order to obtain the permit for the buildings, since no church had previously stood on the site,
Mourouzis concocted a ploy. He paid two Turks to begin a quarrel. When they were seized and led away to the
karakol, the local police station, and were asked where it was they had been spoiling for a fight they replied, as
agreed, "There where the church of the Greeks used to be". The same ruse was resorted to a short while later
with the help of other puppets and thus, on the strength of the evidence given in both incidents, the Sultan's
permit to 'rebuild' was secured.
The church acquired its present form in as late as 1893. It is a huge, imposing five-aisled basilica with a
magnificent baroque templon, while the subject matter of its iconography is borrowed from the Palaeologan
Monastery of the Chora.
The scale and grandeur of this, the earliest of the 19th-century churches built in Constantinople (it is associated
with the Zographeion School) will impress the present-day visitor. This is especially true if he is fortunate enough
to be in the church on its feast day, the 21st of November, when the cream of the Greek community is gathered
there to attend the service at which the Patriarch officiates in person. Surrounded by wonderful woodcarvings,
purple velvet hangings and silver candelabra of the finest workmanship he will perhaps begin to understand the
meaning of the phrase "the Hellenism of the City", that is, the spirit and the legacy of the Greek communities of
Ottoman times.


Church of the Holy Trinity Taksim

With its splendid mansions, grand houses and palaces occupied by embassies, Pera, where wealthy Greeks used
to live, was once a prosperous district. After the founding of the Church of the Presentation of the Mother of God,
yet another church was founded, one that is now the largest still functioning.
This last was the Church of the Holy Trinity in Taksim, a vast western-style building whose foundation-stone was
laid in 1867 by Patriarch Gregorios VI.
Leading members of the Greek community, among them the Imperial Architect Vassilakis Efendi Ioannides,
George Zarifis, E. Eugenides, P. Stefanovic Skylitsis and G. Koronaios, secured the loan required to complete so
large a building.
Millas states that during the consecration of the church thirteen years later Skylitsis, Eugenides and Zarifis, rather
than make any other donation, placed the promissory notes, which they had redeemed, in the collection plate.
Apart from the churches built in Pera there were founded schools. City and Greek schools, girls schools and
foreign language and commercial schools and, in addition, literary associations for women 'a education, student
clubs and charitable societies.
Two of the schools, the Zographeion and the six-storey Zappeion Girls School, attended by the Greek youth of
Constantinople, set the standard and gave evidence of the strength, both economic and cultural, of the Greek
community in the City.
Reference must be made to the Aghiasma of Saint George, with its marble basin fed by three spouts, in the south
part of the narthex of the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Unfortunately this stately church is now much damaged and work on its conservation must begin very shortly.


Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, Stavrodromion

The Church of Saints Constantine and Helen has been repaired and restored by the Commercial Bank of Greece
and was reconsecrated on the saints feast-day, 21 May 1999.
This, too, is a large and richly embellished church. Completed in 1861, the ceremony of Thyranoixia, the Opening
of the Portals, was held on 9 April of that year.
The Aghiasma of the church is at Kasimpasa and lies in a vegetable garden belonging to private owners. Manouil
Gedeon mentions that its feast used to be held on 26 July and that on that day the parish priest would bless all
visitors.
The keys of the Aghiasma are kept by a Muslim neighbour who obligingly opens it to pilgrims.


Church of the Dormition of the Virgin, Diplokionion - Besiktas

Wherever you be in Constantinople you are aware of the sea holding everything in its embrace: the Sea of
Marmara, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus in its serpentine course, bays and inlets and small headlands; and
huge trees, lofty trees, features of Thracian territory, and shrubs and hydrangeas everywhere - and surrounding
them all is water.
Sailing up the Bosphorus one passes Dolmabahe Palace before reaching Byzantine Diplokionion at Besiktas.
The Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God at Besiktas was rebuilt in the late 17"' century, but in May 1730
it was renovated "at public expense" by the Christian community of Diplokionion "through the mediation of a
notable, a doctor of great repute, Kyr Thomas of Testambouza from Kydonia in Crete ". These and other details
are recorded in a wall inscription above the left door of the narthex "in perpetual memory of all". The church was
rebuilt for the third time in 1833.
As in nearly all the parishes, there were educational establishments and schools here, too. In 1906, for instance,
a seven-form City School for Boys and a seven-form Girls School were active at Besiktas.
The church is now surrounded by a market-place, but within enclosure walls. The courtyard is pebbled and the
church is fairly well maintained.


Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God Palaiou Baniou, Diplokionion -Besiktas

On leaving the Church of the Dormition Diplokioniou - Besiktas and taking the road to Mesachoro we come to
another church which, though small and humble, has an interesting history.
It seems that it was here, in bygone times, that the katergaroi used to attend services. They were the slaves who
laboured in the naval dockyards and, chained to the benches, rowed the galleys. The etymology of the attribute
'Baniou' must be sought in this fact: in French 'bagne' means katergos, one condemned to penal servitude.
Skarlatos Byzantios writes that the church offers the right to asylum "and for this reason most undesirable
marriages were performed by the priests officiating there ".
The church was last renovated probably around 1864.


Church of Saint Phokas, Mesachori - Ortakioy

Mesachoro: an historic place. It was here that Basil the Macedonian built the renowned Monastery of Saint
Phocas, a monastery razed at the time of the Fall to make way for the awesome fortress of Laimokopias (the
Cutthroat), now Roumeli Hisar.
The Church of Saint Phocas is a building of 1856. An official Turkish document preserved in the church archives
permits its erection by Greeks and suggests that the first church in that locality beside the Bosphorus was
founded in about 1560. The same document defines the site of the burial-ground and the lands that were to
belong to the church.
Enlarged in 1693, the church was destroyed by fire in 1719. A small wooden chapel was built there in 1720 and
replaced by a similar structure in 1819 and finally in 1856 by the stately imposing edifice that stands there today.
It should be noted that the first congregation of this impressive church consisted of poor people:
farmers, MARKET gardeners, fishermen and boatmen, in some respect cut off from the outside world. Now
Mesachoro has grown into a rich suburb, chock-a-block with bars and fashionable night clubs frequented by the
youth of the City.
It is regrettable that many of these places have been positioned against the sides of the church and have
damaged its walls, as may be seen in the photographs.
The Aghiasma of Saint Phocas used to be in an underground chamber next to the Jewish synagogue but is now
sealed up.
In the cemetery there is the Church of Saint George, built in 1838 with the imperial sanction of Sultan Mehmet II.
According to a publication by N. Atzemoglou there is a vaulted underground chapel beneath the church and still
lower down, at a depth of eight metres, is an Aghiasma which Skarlatos Byzantios maintains is Byzantine.


Church of Saint Dimitrios, Xerokrini - Kourouchesme

Dating to the mid 15th century, the Church of Saint Demetrios Xerokrinis is built at one of the most enchanting
bends in the Bosphorus over the remains of an ancient sanctuary of Demeter, or perhaps of Isis.
As the years went by the church fell into ruin. Tradition relates that in 1798 Selim HI was so moved one evening
when he saw lights flickering in the dark and learnt that Christians were carrying them in a procession around the
ruined church that he gave his assent to a church being built there. It has been rebuilt twice since then, in 1832
and 1875.
A chapel added on the north side of the church in 1871 was burnt down in 1919 and restored in 1943.
Some very beautiful relief carvings are embedded in the outer walls of the church: a Saint Demetrios, a deer-
symbol of purity-, and an unusual cross.
Like Therapeia, Xerokrini was once a summer resort of Phanariot families. This is borne out by tombstones laid in
the church floor: one bears the coat of arms of the rulers of Moldavia, another is carved with the chi-ro emblem
and inscribed Tomb of the Great Logothetissa Maria N. Aristarchou born Manou 1813-1888, while a third, in the
narthex, belongs to the family of Konstantinos Photiades, ruler of the island of Samos.
The church is furnished with an elaborately carved templon surmounted by the lypitera figures in
pierced WOODWORK of the Mother of God and John at the foot of the Cross and with exquisite lecterns inlaid
with mother-of-pearl.
To the right of the templon is a magnificent woodcarved and gilded double-sided iconostasis.
A holy water stoup in the north aisle is inscribed: This fountain was first installed in 1820 by the eminent prince
Skarlatos Kallimachos and its basin was enlarged in 1910 through the generosity of lovers of beauty and
elegance.
On the left hand side of the same aisle is the doorway leading upstairs to the parish offices and to the side chapel,
and thence to the Aghiasma. In the chapel and below the icon of the saint 'smelling of myrrh' are a holy water
stoup and marble basin fed by three spouts.
Early in the day, particularly on Saturday mornings, a queue begins to form outside the church by the outer
stairway. Till late in the afternoon people wait patiently to collect some of the sacred water and for the priest to
read a blessing over them. The saint is said to have worked many miracles. When we visited the church we found
a crowd of Turkish women and their children and young girls waiting in line.
The sacred waters flow from the back of a tunnel quarried forty metres into the rock. The rock walls drip with
water and the pilgrim is already soaked through by the time he reaches the fountain-head.
A young Turkish girl bent down and bathed her limbs with the sacred water. Now and again she would stop to
strike some metal rings hanging on the walls to the left and right of the point where the water gushes out. The
sound is said to be apotropaic, that is, to avert evil and to keep evil spirits at bay.


The Great Archangels, Mega Revma - Arnaoutkioy

The waters of the Black Sea flow rapidly into the Bosphorus to set up the Mega Revma, the Great Current or the
Diavolorema, the Devil's Current. The suburb previously known as Arnaoutkioy or Arvanitohori (Albanian village)
owes its later name to this phenomenon.
According to Millas, the beautiful well-preserved church was last rebuilt between 1896 and 1899, following the
disastrous earthquake of 1894. Earlier renovations were carried out in 1677 by kyr Manuel of Kastoria and after
the destructive fires of 1796 and 1799.
According to Gedeon, the school of Mega Revma was the oldest of the schools of the Bosphorus and there is
evidence that it already existed in 1750.


Cemetery Chapel of Prophet Elias, Mega Revma

Built in 1869, the chapel walls are of stone and tile and reminiscent of a Byzantine style. The chapel lies within a
high enclosure wall opposite the cemetery which looks out to sea.
The Patriarchate's concern for this property is evident in its neat and tidy appearance, but this chapel too is
nevertheless in need of further conservation.
It was All Souls day when these photographs were taken and people in the cemetery at the time, relatives of the
deceased, were greeting one another and distributing kollyva, a commemorative dish.


Church of Saint Haralambos, Vevekion

Bebeki. Lofty tree-tops reach into the heavens, flowering hortensias, abundant fresh water and, below, the sea: a
riot of vegetation which suggests that any seed falling on the blessed plot must take root. The prominent
cosmopolitan suburb was developed in the early years of the twentieth century and still retains something of its
former character. A few of the salons in its timber-built mansions once boasted even two pianos and were the
scene of evening balls and musical soirees.
The earliest reference to the Church of Saint Charalampos occurs in 1796 in a letter in which it is mentioned that
the monks of the Athonite monastery of lviron, having repaired the pre-existing church from its very foundations,
built at their own expense a church consecrated to Saint Charalampos on a dependency they already
possessed in the district.
Today the church, overlooked by apartment houses, is well maintained. The building dates to 1830. Opposite the
church is one of the three aghiasmata functioning in Bebeki.


Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, Vapheochorion

A very short distance from Bebeki and overlooking one of the narrowest reaches of the Bosphorus,
Vapheochorion (Boyacikioy) was till a few years ago a small Greek settlement. The Church of the Annunciation
was erected in 1834 and renovated in 1925.
Considering the former community was made up mostly of working people, the size of this triple-aisled basilica
with its pitched roof and that there were two small schools in Vapheochorion (a seven-form school and a five-form
girls' school and a kinder garden) rather surprise the visitor.


Church of the Great Archangels, Sosthenion

At Steni, ancient Sosthenion writes Marianna Koromila: The Argonauts built a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus
Sosthenios or to a benevolent winged demon that had helped them overcome the hostile indigenous people. In
the 5th or 6th century the famous monastery of Saint Michael in Sosthenion was built over the ancient sanctuary.
The Archangel and Commander of the angelic hosts replaced worship of the ancient winged and benevolent
power, while, following the pilgrimage made to the church by Emperor Anastasius in 515, the reputation of the
wonder-worker Michael spread to all parts of the empire. A safe harbour and the seal of the Anonymous
Ottoman Society that managed the wharfs and warehouses of the Upper Bosphorus, Steni had been converted
for a time into a shipbuilding and ship repair yard. No such activity persists nowadays. Istinye is simply a peaceful
suburb.
The Church of the Great Archangels, built in 1820, continues in our day the traditions of a glorious past. But the
iron belfry and timber narthex are in need of conservation.


Church of Saint Nicholas, Neochorion

A beautiful and well preserved church, Saint Nicholas Neochoriou (Yenikioy) was erected in 1818. Millas states
that Neochorion was settled during the reign of Suleyman I, the Magnificent. Its inhabitants, all sea folk -
fishermen, sailors, ship owners and ship's wasters - made their mark as the most skilful oarsmen on the
Narrows. The Epirots arrived later. This explains the one hundred and eighty bakeries that once existed in
Neochorion. The vessels sailing into and out of the Black Sea stopped here to provision with rusks and ship's
biscuits.
The church has a vaulted exonarthex. In the garden, where peace and quiet prevail, are the tombs of two
members of a notable Thracian family which distinguished itself in the service of the High Gate: Alexander and
Stephen Karatheodoris. Neochorion also posesses nine aghiasmata.


Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God Koumariotissis, Neochorion

After visiting the Metochion of the Holy Sepulchre (the monastic complex of Saint George) where patriarchs of
Jerusalem and members of the Vegleris family are buried, one proceeds into the parish of the Koumariotissa
which borders with it. In the streets lined with wooden houses the ground-floor windows will be wide open. Elderly
ladies with the airs and graces of a bygone age may lean out if they suspect the visitors are Greeks and
exchange a few words with them. They will offer directions and no doubt will find an opportunity lo mention the
important scholar from Neochori whom they all remember, the late Alexandros Vegleris.
In the first street running parallel to the central thoroughfare and only a short distance from the sea stands the
Church of the Virgin Koumariotissis within a garden shaded by leafy trees. A pretty church, with relief sculptures
inset into its walls and a later pseudo-Gothic bell tower, it is in a good state of preservation.
There used to be three schools in Nechorion, a boys school, a girls school and an elementary school. We know
that the girls school "was erected in 1872 at the expense of His Excellency Chr. Zographos which, endowed with
the capital sum of one thousand GOLD sovereigns, was justly named the Zographeion".
The jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Constantinople ends at Neochorion (Yenikioy) where that of the Metropolitan
of Derkoi begins.


The Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of the Zoodochos Pigi (Fount of Life) at
Balukli

One of the most famous shrines of Constantinople, the Zoodochos Pege, is located outside the land walls to the
west of the city, at the site now known as Balikli. Two versions of a very old tradition provide information on the
origins of this ancient shrine.
According to the first, related by the historian Procopius, Justinian (527-565) while hunting in a beautiful verdant
part of the land with many trees and much water, had the vision of a small chapel with a large crowd of people
and a priest in front of a spring. It is the spring of miracles, he was told, whereupon the Emperor built a monastery
at the site using surplus materials from the church of Hagia Sophia. Cedrenus records that the monastery was
built in 560.
The second version, narrated by the chronicler Nicephoros Callistos, says that the Emperor Leo I (457-474),
when still a simple soldier, met at the Golden Gate a blind man who asked him for a drink of water. As he looked
around for water, a voice directed him to the spring and enjoined him to build a church on the site when he would
become emperor. Callistos describes this great church in detail Description of the holy church of the Pege
erected by Leo, P. G. Migne, vol. 147, 73-77), but the description agrees more with the church built by Justinian.
It is historically confirmed that Zenon, Hegumen of the house of the most holy and glorious Virgin Mary and
Mother of God at Pege, participated in the Council of Constantinople, convened by the Patriarch Menas (536-
552) in 536.
A chronological list of the most important events associated with the Zoodochos Pege is not without interest:
626 Invasion of the Avars. The Byzantines save the shrine of the hagiasma (spring of holy water).
790 Pseudo-Codinus mentions that the Empress Irene repaired the church after serious damages caused by an
earthquake. 869 Nicephoros Callistos records that after another earthquake the church was repaired a new by
Basil I the Macedonian (867-886).
924 During a Bulgar campaign, Tsar Simeon burned the church. It was, however, restored immediately, for it is in
this church that the marriage of Peter, son and successor of Simeon, to Maria Lecapena, granddaughter of
Emperor Romanus I Lecapenus, was celebrated in 927. 966 The description of an official ceremony on Ascension
Day, in the presence of the Emperor Nicephoros II Phocas (963-969) and of the whole court, has come down to
us. The procession sailed to the Golden Gate and from there rode to the shrine, while the crowd cheered and
offered flowers and crosses. The Patriarch met and embraced the Emperor, and they entered the church
together. The Emperor attended the Liturgy from a platform set up in the sanctuary, and the feast ended with the
Emperor inviting the Patriarch to an official banquet.
1078 The monastery of the Pege is considered a place of banishment and it is here that George Monomachus is
isolated.
1084 Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) confined to the monastery the philosopher John Italus (a supporter of Neo-
Platonism) to put an end to the unrest caused by his teachings.
1204-1261 The shrine of the Pege is in the possession of the Latins.
1328 Young Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341) uses the monastery as a base of operations to forge his way
into Constantinople.
1330 At the town of Didymotichus, the moribund Emperor Andronicus III is given to drink water from the shrine of
the Pege and recovers.
1341 A priest of the Pege, by the name of George, is witness to a notarial deed.
1347 The daughter of John Cantacuzenus, Helena, is presented wearing full imperial regalia to her future
husband, John V Palaeologus (1341-1391), in the precinct of the shrine. According to an old custom, when a
future empress reached the Capital by land, her meeting with the emperor took place at the monastery of the
Zoodochos Pege.
1422 During the siege of Constantinople by Murad II, the Sultan used the church as his living-quarters.
1547 Petrus Gyllius notes in 1547 that the church no longer exists, but ailing people continued to visit the spring
of holy water.
1727 Nicodemus Metropolitan of Derkon built a small church and revived worship. The Armenians claimed
participation in the shrine but long tradition and firmans issued by the Sultans recognized it as property of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate.
1833 With the Sultan's permission the Patriarch Constantius I (1830-1834) built the present-day church,
consecrated in 1835. The feast-day of the Zoodochos Pege is celebrated on Friday of the Easter Week. Today, in
addition to the large church, the compound includes the underground shrine of the Zoodochos Pege with the holy
spring and the fish. Nicephoros Callistos writing in the 14th century about the hagiasma quotes from various
sources a total of 63 miracles, of which 15 in his own time. According to Callistos's description, the church was of
rectangular plan, with entrances at each of the four sides. Part of the church was built underground and two
marble stairways, with 25 steps each, led down to the holy spring. The richly decorated church had a gilded
ceiling, fine wall paintings and icons. Of the wall paintings, Callistos mentions the Presentation of Christ in the
Temple, the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion, and the Appearance of Christ to the Holy Women, the Ascension and
Pentecost. He also refers to two icons depicting miracles, probably with scenes from the main subject of the
Zoodochos Pege.
The chronicler gives even the names of the painters: Ignatius and the hieromonk Gabriel. Near the church three
parecclesia were erected honouring St. Eustratius, St. Anne and the Theotokos.
A number of epigrams express awe, VENERATION and enthusiasm for the hagiasma and the miracles
associated with it. Preserved to our day are six by Manuel Philes, another six by the Magister Ignatius, one by
John Mauropous and others.
The icon of Zoodochos Pege: Zoodochos Pege (i.e. Life-giving Fount) is an epithet of the Holy Virgin and Her
representation as Zoodochos Pege is related to the sacred spring. It soon became very popular and this type of
icon spread throughout the Orthodox world, particularly in places where a spring was believed to be hagiasma. In
the 9th century, Joseph the Hymnographer gave for the first time the title Zoodochos Pege to a hymn for the
Mother of God.
A marble fountain, from which water flows, occupies the centre of the icon. Above, the Theotokos is holding Christ
who makes the sign of blessing. Two angels hovering over Her head carry a scroll inscribed with the verse: Hail!
That you bear. Hail! That you are. Around the fountain the emperor and many ailing people are shown, in a
variety of postures, being sprinkled with Holy Water. According to the tradition, a small pond with fish is painted to
the side. Actually, it is the fish that have given its present name to the locality, for Balikli in Turkish means a
place with fish.
The Zoodochos Pege type of icon is found in many variations in all the Orthodox regions. Miniatures, mosaics,
icons, woodcuts, copperplates have been in great demand these last centuries.
The north arch of the esonarthex of St. Saviour in Chora, one of the monasteries nearest to the shrine of the
Pege, has preserved the upper part of a composition snowing the Virgin-Zoodochos Pege and Christ.


Church of Saint Paraskevi, Therapeia

We are back beside the Bosphorus. Continuing our upstream progress, immediately after Nichori where the
Archbishop of Constantinople s jurisdiction ceases, we come to the districts subject to the Metropolis of Derkoi
which extends from the Propontis and the Bosphorus to the interior of Eastern Thrace.
Formerly the seat of the Metropolis was at Derkoi on the shores of the Black Sea and later was transferred to
Therapeia.
" A pharmacy means, in the idiom of ancient Greece, a doctor's surgery'', writes Skarlatos Byzantios. Therapeia
is truly a Pharmacy, named after it and dispensing free of charge ", An idyllic site with enormous trees
overshadowing everything, trees that whisper in the sea breeze, it was only natural that it should have been
chosen by the ruling class of Constantinople as a seaside resort. In olden days Therapeia was known as
'summertime Phanari'. The Mourouzis and Ypsilantis families had country houses here and it is here that the
President of the Turkish Republic spends his summers.
The Church of Saint Paraskevi was built in 1860 by the widow of the last of the great line of Mavroyenis. It seems
that the conflicting interests of her husband and a very wealthy Armenian induced him to slander the latter before
the Sultan with the result that the Armenian was put to death. But in the game of power seeking there is no
certainty of permanence.
When later Mavroyenis fell out of favour he too was strangled. To atone for her husband's awful crime his wife,
troubled by appalling dreams, built the church close to the Aghiasma of Saint Paraskevi.
The church complex, whose caretaker now is Dimitris Konstantinidis from Xastero in Thrace, seventy-three years
of age and a church warden since 1967, is entered through the huge iron courtyard door. On the right, on the
walls of the monumental tomb of Th. Baltatzis are inset sculptured reliefs and Byzantine column capitals. Graves
and mausoleums lie around the church starting at the southwest extremity and continuing clockwise to the north-
eastern. Here the Grand Logothetis (Chief Secretary) Stavrakis Aristarchis and Pavlos G. Vegleris, Troados
Neophytos and Roxandra and Smaragda Mavroyenous have been laid to rest together with members of the
Psycharis and Karaitis families and of the ruling Mavrokordatos and Baltatzis families.
The church is of impressive size when one realizes that it served only a summer resort community. It is in the
style of an Athonite domed basilica with 'choirs' on its north and south sides. Opposite the Metropolitan's throne is
the striking if rather smaller throne of the ruler. To the left of the fine templon is immured the heart of the great
benefactor G. Zarifis.
The Aghiasma is in a vaulted building which has been re-named. Formerly it was the Fount of Life and celebrated
in Easter Week. This explains why there are two icons, one of the Virgin Fount of Life and one of Saint Paraskevi,
together with a marble relief of a cross.


Church of Saint Paraskevi, Vouyioukdere

Here too, the same alluring landscape: enormous plane trees, lime trees and wild chestnut trees as tall as sixty
metres, the sea and gulls slicing the air compose an enchanting scene.
To enter the enclosed area of the church complex one must pass through an arched doorway into the courtyard.
On an inscription set into the wall of the narthex Gregory Derkon declaims: "O Thracian Bosphorus...", and to the
right of the entrance into the main church there is an inset marble relief icon of the saint dated 1830, the year the
church was erected.
The church is a triple-aisled, timber-roofed basilica. The templon is woodcarved and silver revetments cover the
icons. In the left-hand aisle is a marble icon stand with an icon of the Mother of God and the inscription:
This iconostasion was donated at the expense of the Brotherhood of Saint Barbara in Vouyioukdere... in the year
1907.
One descends to the Aghiasma from the narthex, though there is another entrance in the garden. Above the basin
is an icon of the saint carved in relief, an ex-voto of the brothers Lyritis from Tinos.


Church of Saint John, Yeni Mahalle

According to Skarlatos Byzantios, in 1862 the New Quarter (Yeni Mahalle) at the northern end of the Bosphorus
was a community "of Christians, mostly seamen and fishermen ". With the advent of settlers the village began
gradually to flourish until in 1905 there was a boys school and a kinder garden and girls school.
The church, which is in need of urgent repair, as the photograph of the roof makes plain, was founded on the
same site on which there had stood since 1530 a small chapel dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner as a
Metochi of the Stavropegic Monastery of the Supremely Holy Mother of God Mavrou Molou.
The Aghiasma is in an underground vaulted space on the north side of the church and is held to be salutary for
those suffering from malaria and deafness.


Church of Saint George, Makrochorion

It has already been noted that the Metropolis of Derkoi covers all the Thracian suburbs and villages surrounding
the Archdiocese of Constantinople. Leaving the Bosphorus behind us, we are once again by the Propontis (Sea of
Marmara). Though many scholars in the past mistakenly placed the Byzantine Hebdomon ("the seventh Mile ")
close to Blachern, publication in 1891 of Alexander Van Milligen's study and the results of excavations that have
revealed important finds have proved that it is to be identified with present-day Bakirkioy (Makrochori).
Built upon the ruins of the Hebdomon, along the axis of the Byzantine stadium where in past times imperial
armies did their training and parallel to the Via Egnatia and the Propontis, Makrochori was settled in around 1780
by refugees from Karpenisiand the Agrapha when they abandoned their homelands pursued by AH Pasha.
At first a farming community, it developed chiefly with the advent of middle-class families who left the Phanar after
the conflagrations that occurred at the end of the 19th century. But it was not only Phanariot families that swelled
the community of Makrochori. The new settlers came from all Greek lands. This phenomenon is observed not
only in Constantinople but in almost every Asia Minor community up to 1922. It was then that the continual toing
and froing from one side of the Aegean to the other was interrupted.
The church of Saint George was consecrated on 2 May 1832. It had been built on a site donated by Sarantis and
Petros Yiantzoglou with gifts of MONEY from local inhabitants and, chiefly, from the guild of gardeners.
The church today, standing in its carefully tended garden, is well maintained though somehow it has suffered a
form of amputation.
In 1985, despite international protests against the violation of religious rights, the Municipality proceeded to widen
the street, demolishing the narthex in doing so. A wooden structure at the side of the church now serves as the
narthex.


Church of Saint Stephen Yesilkioy and Aghiasma of Saint Photeini

Aghios Stephanos (Saint Stephen) is also an ancient Byzantine settlement. The relics of the first martyr were
landed at the harbour when Constantine the Great brought them from Jerusalem to the capital city. The
settlement was re-named Yesilkioy (Verdant Village) after 1922. Built on the site of an earlier half-underground
church, Saint Stephen's was renovated in 1845 according to an inscription inset into a wall of the narthex, with the
help and at the expense of the most noble and Christ-loving Armenian Bogos Dadian and the participation of
many pious Christians and church supporters. The Aghiasma of Saint Photeini lies on the street behind the
sanctuary of this small church. Were it not for the cross on its lintel one would think the doorway led into a house.
On the upper floor of the next-door building, which is under repair, there will be restaurants.
The church was restored in 1995 during the patriarchate of Bartholomew I. It is well cared for and kept clean.


Church of Saint Euphemia

The ancient city of Chalcedon, founded by the Megarians, lies on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. Once an
extension of Byzantine Constantinople, it is one of the most populous suburbs of the City and the seat of the
Metropolis of the same name.
The Church of Saint Euphemia has nothing to do with the magnificent church built over the tomb of the saint by
Constantine the Great, and according to Skarlatos Byzantios it is not built even on the same site.
The ancient church must have disappeared about 1555. The Christians who did not abandon the district at the
same time settled around the Monastery of Saint Vassi. The monastery was renamed the Monastery of Saint
Euphemia, the church being erected in 1694 and re-established in 1832.
A very fine Ottoman fountain is incorporated into the outer face of the enclosure wall surrounding the church
complex. On entering the courtyard one sees opposite, right, the office building and tombs of the Zaharof family.
The church is of curious shape. From the outer narthex one enters another narthex and from there the main
church. One popular tradition states that the saint herself erected the church at the time of the persecutions (in
the fourth century), insisting that it was a bathhouse, thus explaining the unusual architecture.
To the right of the outer narthex is the Aghiasma of Saint Paraskevi, transferred there from a neighbouring street
because its Turkish owner kept it sealed up. There is also a large icon of the Fourth Ecumenical Council.
The church templon is a very fine one and the 'despotic' icons (the principal icons of Christ and the Virgin, to the
right and left of the royal doors leading into the sanctuary) are covered by silver revetments. There are also some
treasures that have been preserved and brought here from the earlier building. An embroidered Epitaphios - for
covering the bier of Christ during Good Friday ceremonies - hangs on the left; it is dated 1741.
The church, which now stands in the middle of the picturesque old market-place of Chalcedon, was renovated
recently at the expense of Socrates Kokkalis.


Church of the Holy Trinity

While the Church of Saint Euphemia stands in the middle of the old market-place of Chalcedon, that of the Holy
Trinity is built in one of the new districts which sprang up when the suburb was enlarged to absorb newcomers.
The imposing present-day church, rich in marble features, replaced an earlier timber chapel. The foundation-
stone was laid in 1887 in the time of Kallinikos, Bishop of Chalcedon. The building was completed after eighteen
years and it was Kallinikos, who later became Ecumenical Patriarch Germanos, who consecrated the church on
10 April 1905. The tomb of the Patriarch (1913-1918) is in the garden. Here, too, the great enemy damp is
destroying the wall-paintings.


Church of Saint John Kalamisiou

In Kalamisia, today a secluded area between Phanaraki and Modi, at almost the mid point of the Gulf of ancient
Eutropios and above the corniche leading to new luxury resorts, is the Church of Saint John Chrysostom.
According to V. D. Stavridis, the church is built over the foundations of an early Byzantine church that stood there
till 1555. Construction of the later building began in 1875 and the church was consecrated in 1876 by Bishop
Kallinikos of Chalcedon.
There is an aghiasmatari of Saint John the Forerunner in the church narthex with fine relief decoration and a
palindrome inscription which translates as. Wash sins away not only the countenance.


Church of Prophet Elias, Chrysoupolis


Chrysoupolis, Scutari, Uskudar... The place-names are legion and their etymologies, too. Chrysoupolis is
attributed to the myth that its first settler was Chrysos, son of Agamemnon and Chryseis. But another explanation
is that it was so named because it stood where taxes were gathered in.
Scutari refers to the guard of a palace of the Komnenoi emperors which carried a kind of shield called 'scoutari'.
Then there is the third etymology: Uskudar in Persian means messenger and that may account for the name, for
the city was built at the juncture of roads communicating with Constantinople and the East.
Prophet Elias is first mentioned in 950 as a monastery. One tradition maintains that the church was built in 1585
by the Greek mother of Murat III and rebuilt in 1804 and again in 1851.
There is an Aghiasma on the north-east side of the garden.


Church of Saint Panteleimon, Kouzkountzoukion

The main entrance into the complex of buildings around the Church of Saint Panteleimon is through the base of
the bell tower, "the work of Mihailliou defrayed by the community of Kouzkountzoukiou, 1911". The visitor must
pass under the bell tower to find himself in one of the loveliest gardens one can imagine. With flowers all around
him, a plashing fountain in the middle of the paved courtyard, and benches where he can sit down to rest in the
shade of leafy trees, he will be treated by church wardens or the caretaker to coffee and bread-rings and a
spoonful of jam.
In the garden at the east end of the church is a tomb, and in the south-eastern corner a marble fountain. Round
about are the buildings accommodating the offices and refreshment room and the caretaker's house.
Relief carvings are inset in the walls of the church, one of Christ on the Cross and two of crosses. To the left of
the entrance is an inset inscribed tablet. It records that the church "which an all-consuming fire reduced to ashes
in 1872" was rebuilt.
A large triple-aisled basilica, Saint Panteleimon's is perhaps one of the most lovely churches both as regards its
interior and, as a building, of its exterior.
There is an icon of Saint Panteleimon on the very fine woodcarved templon and a double-headed eagle on the
royal doors leading into the sanctuary. Dedicated by "the most virtuous of the guilds of furriers", the icon of
Prophet Elias, patron of furriers, is dated 1798.
The Aghiasma is in a chapel at the rear of the church, behind the holy altar. In the interior, above the entrance to
the chapel are inscribed the names of the benefactors Nikolaos and Eleni Zarifis.


Church of Saint George, Tsengelkioy

The Church of Saint George Chrysokeramidas was so named long ago on account of its roof tiles whose gold-
green colour shone like gold when seen from afar.
The church may occupy the site of the Byzantine Monastery of Metanoias (Repentance), built by Empress
Theodora for repentant sinful women. Extant inscriptions give the year 1830 and the names of those who
laboured to erect it. This is another beautiful church with several relief carvings inset into the exterior of its walls -
in the wall to the right of the courtyard door is a listed Hellenistic relief depicting a funeral feast. The enclosure
contains a small cemetery.
When we speak of Constantinopolitian and Asia Minor Greeks in general we often overlook what we have
mentioned elsewhere, namely, the Greeks whose ancestry lay anywhere in the wider Greek world, in other words
who had participated in that constant toing and froing from one side of the Aegean to the other, which ceased only
in 1922. It is therefore pertinent to quote the epigram inscribed on the tomb of a tailor, expert in working gold and
silver threads, who died in 1877.
Before my cold gravestone, lovers of the art,
yes, you, o sempsters, my dear pupils,
tarry awhile and sprinkle it with a tear,
'tis Anastasios Tzetzis'; consider for a moment
I've reckoned it was sixty May months I taught
the art to you, a stranger in a strange country.
Epirus it is that claims me, except every land is home,
yet where his grave will be no man can tell.
You, my wife Loxandra, grieve not nor sorrow not,
I await you there in the vaults of heaven.
At one time the garden of the church descended to the sea, the village landing-place, but now the main road has
cut off the church from the shore.


Church of the Transfiguration, Kandylli

The church was erected in 1850 in a locality once famous for its benign climate and standing high on a hillside
looking out to sea amid pine trees, leftists and arbutus shrubs.
A fire in 1905 reduced the church to ashes, as well as the school in its enclosure. In 1909 the church was lavishly
rebuilt, this time in stone, the cost being defrayed by the Douvartzoglou brothers. Two years later the school was
rebuilt with a generous grant of money from Efstathios Eugenides.


Church of Saint Paraskevi, Beykoz

In the mid 19th century Beykoz (Prince's Walnut tree), a village set among abundant vegetation, with running
water and on wooded hillsides, was populated, according to Skarlatos Byzantios, by few people, mainly
Ottomans, Armenians and about thirty Greek families. By 1907 the Greek element had trebled with the addition of
families of Epirot origin who worked at the eight limestone quarries in the area, all but one of which were in Greek
ownership.
The church was built by Archimandrite Anthimos in 1852. The Aghiasma of Saint Paraskevi lies in a separate
chapel within the enclosure. The church is in need of maintenance.


Church of Saint Dimitrios, Prinkipos

The Princes' Islands are nine in number, but only four of them (Proti, Antigoni, Chalki and Prinkipos itself) were
inhabited. Prinkipos was the place to which those fallen from power were exiled. Among them were Bishop
Narses of Great Armenia, Empress Irene the Athenian, Empress Zoe and Anna Dalassena, mother of the
Komnenoi brothers.
The island, raided from time to time and left devastated, was revitalized in the 16th century when districts around
the Church of Saint Demetrios were settled. Settlements occurred also after the Orloff uprisings when
Peloponnesians, uprooted by hordes of Albanians who laid waste their lands, migrated en masse to the shores of
Asia Minor and the coasts of the Sea of Marmara.
From the mid 19th century the Islands were slowly converted into summer resorts frequented by the Greek
society of the City. They were marvellous resorts: pine and cypress trees, heaths and rosemary, thyme and
valerian shrubs, ancient plane trees, lentisks and wild roses, sheer cliffs and quiet shores, timber-built mansions
and clusters of monastery buildings, pavilions and wooden jetties above the transparent waters, small inlets and
headlands - that is what the Prinkiponissa have to offer.
Up to 1923 the Princes' Islands were subject hieratically to the Holy Metropolis of Chalcedon, but in 1924 the
Metropolis of the Princes' Islands was founded. The foundation stone of the Metropolitan Church of Saint
Demetrios was laid in 1860 over the ruins of a Byzantine chapel. It is an impressive stone building, a triple-aisled
basilica with three entrances and an open vaulted arcade and on each of the two long sides. According to Millas,
the sanctuary alcove was decorated by monks from Mount Athos: the silver revetment on the icon of Saint
Demetrios dates to 1800. The three-storey stone school building in the courtyard of the church, still kept under
lock and key, was erected in 1910.


Church of Dormition of the Mother of God, Prinkipos

The Church of the Dormition in the main square of the town of Prinkipos bears little resemblance to the church
which was built about 1735 near Mezarion, site of the old cemetery.
The church and the cells around it were renovated in 1793, but in 1871, the year in which the embankments along
the shore were constructed, the old timber cells were demolished and were replaced by buildings that were to
serve as shops.
In the open space in front of the church two to three hundred horse-drawn carriages and their drivers - the only
conveyances on the islands where motor-cars are not allowed to circulate - wait to take visitors on a drive ending
perhaps close to the monastery of Saint George the Wonder-worker of Koudounas.


The Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Saint Nicholas, Prinkipos

A twenty minute carriage drive is all it takes from the town to the shore on which the monastery complex stands.
At the time of writing the visitor will find scaffolding all around the church and the vast building that once
accommodated Greek orphans, for fortunately work has begun on the conservation and restoration of them.
In 1860, Thomas Smith recorded his impressions of the monastery, as did other 18th and 19th-century travellers.
We know that the Great School of the Nation was temporarily housed there as well as the School of Greek
Studies.
The church and its templon and other treasures were destroyed by fire in 1852. It was rebuilt in 1860, some say
with the help of Russian officers taken captives in the Crimean war.
The church is of moderate size, cross-in-square with a dome. The attractive narthex with tiled roof dales to 1873.
Over the main entrance is an inset marble relief of a double-headed eagle, while on the exterior of the north-
western corner there is a very interesting, this lime ancient Greek, relief illustrating a chariot race.


Church of Saint John the Forerunner, Antigoni

A resort frequented by the Greek middle-class of Constantinople, Antigoni was renowned forks climate and the
longevity of its inhabitants. Tradition holds that it was also the place to which deposed Patriarchs retired.
Byzantios conjectures that the island acquired its name from the fact that Antigonos, son of Csar Bardas,
owned property there.
The imposing lead-roofed Church of Saint John was built in 1899 over the ruins of an earlier church to the design
of Nicholas Demades, son of the architect of the Great School of the Nation.
Under the church, there is an underground vaulted brick crypt in which Methodios the Confessor, Patriarch of
Constantinople, was imprisoned for seven years together with two robbers. After the death of the iconoclast
emperor Theophilos, who had imprisoned him, Methodios in 842 summoned the Holy Synod which finally restored
the icons.
Next to the crypt is an underground cistern which confirms the view that this was once the site of a monastery.
Architectural members, perhaps of a later date than the earliest building, existed above ground level until the late
19th century; it is assumed they were incorporated into the 1899 building.
Constructed of French bricks, the church was a deep red colour, and, as Millas notes, resembled the katholikon
(main church) of a Byzantine monastery. Nonetheless, in 1950 the zealous piety of the churchwardens persuaded
them to undertake renovation work that included the plastering of the exterior.
The church is in a good state of preservation.


Church of Saint Nicholas, Chalki

Between Antigoni and Prinkipos lies Chalki, known as Chalkitis in antiquity and called Heybeliada by the Turks as
it is shaped like a saddle-bag (heybe). Its ornate wooden summer houses, formerly belonging to leading families
of the City, put one in mind of a cosmopolitan society which prospered once the Hatti Humayun had been
promulgated. By and large, Chalki's history has followed much the same course as that of the rest of the Princes'
Islands.
In the middle of the 19h century, in 1844, the Holy Theological School of Chalki opened its doors, an event that
changed and dominated the recent history of the island.
Built in 1857 in the main square over the ruins of a Byzantine church, also dedicated to Saint Nicholas patron of
mariners, the church was to suffer damage in the great earthquake that struck Constantinople; the church was
subsequently repaired. The appearance of the church complex gradually altered. The old wooden huts were
replaced by buildings that became shops and in 1924 the enclosure wall was demolished so the road could be
widened, and in 1974 the municipal authority expropriated the surrounding wall of the church to create a car park.
In a separate building by the entrance in front of the narthex is the Aghiasma of Saint Photeini. Behind the altar in
the church sanctuary is the tomb of Patriarch Samuel I of Chantzeri. The church takes on a new lease of life in the
summer months when holidaymakers swell the small number of permanent inhabitants of the parish.


Cemetery chapel of Saint Barbara, Chalki

Chalki Cemetery and the Chapel of Saint Barbara, which resembles an ancient shrine, lie at a short distance from
the Monastery of Saint Spyridon. Despite their neglect, they are of importance to anyone examining the history of
the Greek communities.


The Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Saint Spyridon, Chalki

A humble hut, the first skete, dedicated to Saint Spyridon, was erected in 1868 by one Arsenios, an enlightened
ascetic from Platanos, Ganochorion in Thrace. In building the church and monks cells Arsenios had the support of
a local couple who had taken a liking to him and offered their help, while later he completed his task with the aid
of G. Zarifis and A. Mazarakis.
The skete was destroyed in the 1894 earthquake. The chapel was doubled in size when it was rebuilt. Father
Arsenios, a mild and mellow man, was much beloved by the people of Chalki. He died in 1906 and they buried
him with great honours.
After Arsenios' death the monastery was recognized as Stavropegic. The small chapel, the only building to
escape the fire that broke out a few years ago and consumed the woods that surrounded it, is now falling into
ruin. The aged caretaker, the father of a prelate, does what he can for it.


The Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Chalki

Religious life on Chalki began before the monastic settlements and Byzantine churches were built. It was a place
where anchorites took refuge in sketes and hermitages during the early years of Christianity.
There is no verified historical information about the first years of the long history enjoyed by the Monastery of the
Holy Trinity, but tradition has it that its founder, later canonized as Patron Saint of the Theological School of
Chalki, was Patriarch Photius the Great (second half of the 9th century).
The fortunes of the monastery can have been no different, of course, to the common fate of ecclesiastical
foundations elsewhere in the Byzantine Empire which were destroyed as a consequence of the two sackings of
Constantinople. But we know that in 1540 the future Patriarch Metrophanis III undertook restoration work and laid
the foundations of the famous library. In 1772 the monastery was renovated by Samuel the Deaf.
But the history of this outstanding holy isle was particularly affected by Patriarch Germanos I when in 1844,
having first again renovated the monastery, he had it declared by synodical decision as erected in order to serve
for the greater love of God as a theological school. The School building, designed by Pericles Photiades, was
inaugurated on 6 October 1896. It should be noted that Pavlos Stefanovic Schylitsis, an immensely wealthy
Greek, defrayed the entire cost on condition his benefaction should remain anonymous.
Now a Pan-Orthodox theological centre, the School dominated the island's existence. It had brilliant teachers and
as brilliant students who came from all over the Ottoman Empire and from throughout Greek lands, some of them
Arabic -and Slavic- speaking. After graduating, these students distinguished themselves not only as theologians
but also as professors and entrepreneurs and senior civil servants, the attribute they possessed in common being
'an Orthodox way of life'.
As Phaidon Vegleris wrote in his preface to Akylas Millas' Chalki in the Princes' Islands, "Chalki has become an
ark of Hellenism and Orthodoxy".
The cluster of monastic buildings is sited on one of the two hills of Chalki and overlooks the Sea of Marmara.
Rebuilt from the foundations upwards in 1843, the Church of the Holy Trinity, which stands at the centre of the
complex, is a small triple-aisled basilica. The main aisle has a tiled roof while the side aisles are flat-roofed. The
lovely gilded templon is woodcarved as are the pulpit and episcopal throne. The church possesses many
important treasures, among them the Palaeologan icon of the Virgin Glykophylousa, Reliever of Sorrow and
another of the Virgin Hodegetria, probably a 16th century work.
The Patriarch's hermitage or retreat is a veritable paradise with the most beautiful and rarest flowers one can
imagine.
Based on a law which prohibited the functioning of all theological high schools in Turkey, the School closed its
doors in 1971. Today the complex functions solely as a monastery under the supervision of Metropolitan
Apostolos. But it remains a place of Pan-Orthodox pilgrimage visited by people from all over the world.
Indicative of the degree to which the Turkish inhabitants of Chalki are attached to the presence of the complex is
the fact that on the two occasions when it was endangered because the pine trees on the hillsides around it had
caught fire, they hastened to help and the fire was extinguished by their efforts and the Agia Triada Manastir was
saved.
Ismini Kapandai
Churches in Constantinople
Nikos Ghinis Constantinos Stratos



Christianity in Turkey
Christianity has a long history in Anatolia and Armenian Highland (now part of Turkey), which is the
birthplace of numerous Christian Apostles and Saints, such as Paul of Tarsus, Timothy, Nicholas of
Myra, Polycarp of Smyrna and many others.

Two out of the five centers (Patriarchates) of the ancient Pentarchy are in Turkey: Constantinople
(Istanbul) and Antioch (Antakya). Antioch was also the place where the followers of Jesus were called
"Christians" for the first time in history, as well as being the site of one of the earliest and oldest
surviving churches, established by Saint Peter himself. For a thousand years, the Hagia Sophia was the
largest church in the world.

Turkey is also home to the Seven Churches of Asia, where the Revelations to John were sent. Apostle
John is reputed to have taken Virgin Mary to Ephesus in western Turkey, where she spent the last days
of her life in a small house, known as the House of the Virgin Mary, which still survives today and has
been recognized as a holy site for pilgrimage by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, as well as being a
Muslim shrine. The cave of the Seven Sleepers is also located in Ephesus.

All of the first seven Ecumenical Councils which are recognized by both the Western and Eastern
churches were held in present-day Turkey. Of these, the Nicene Creed, declared with the First Council
of Nicaea (znik) in 325, is of utmost importance and has provided the essential definitions of present-
day Christianity.
Today, however, Turkey has a smaller Christian percentage of its population than any of its neighbours,
including Syria and even Iran, due to population transfers between Turkey and its Christian neighbours
(most notably Greece) upon the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, followed by the continued
emigration of the remaining Christians over the next century. In addition, the vast majority of
Christians in Turkey have been members of ethnic groups that Turks have had poor relations with
(Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians), which coupled with the emigration of the country's Jews and its
nonrecognition of other religions, means that Turkey is an Islamic state de facto, and ethnic Turks are
almost exclusively Muslim. Today the Christian population of Turkey an estimated more than 120,000
Christians includes 80,000 Armenian Apostolic,[1][2] 35,000 Roman Catholics,[3] 17,000 Assyrian-
Syriac Orthodox, 4,000 Assyrians of the Chaldean Catholic, 3,000-4,000 Greek Orthodox,[4] 10,000
Antiochian Greeks[5] and smaller numbers of Bulgarians, Georgians, and Protestants. According to
Bekir Bozdag, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, there were 349 active churches in Turkey (October
2012). 140 Greek, 58 Assyrian and 52 Armenian.

Christian communities
Churches of the Byzantine rite
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Istanbul is the seat of the patriarchate, one of the oldest of the Eastern Orthodox
Churches.
Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
Antioch is the official seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the
East. Hatay Province including Antakya is not part of the canonic area of the Church of
Constantinople. Most of the local orthodox persons are Arabic-speaking.
Turkish Orthodox Church
(unrecognized by all other churches in the world) was created by Turkish nationalists
who tried to create a Turkish national church to counter the influence of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate for political reasons.
Churches of the Armenian rite

Armenian church in Vakifli, Turkey
Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople)
35 churches in Istanbul and its surrounding areas. Other churches in Kayseri, Diyarbakr,
Derik, skenderun, Vakifli Koyu and Kirikhan. Besides Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchal
Church (translation: the Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Patriarchal Church) in Kumkapi,
Istanbul, there are tens of Armenian Apostolic churches.
Armenian Catholic Church
Armenian Evangelical Church
Churches of the Syriac rite

Mor Hananyo Monastery, near Mardin, Turkey
Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Catholic Church
Assyrian Church of the East
Chaldean Catholic Church
Churches of the Latin rite
: Roman Catholicism in Turkey
Vicariate Apostolic of Istanbul
-----Cathedral: Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Istanbul
-----Basilica: St. Anthony of Padua Church in Istanbul, Istanbul
Vicariate Apostolic of Anatolia
-----Cathedral: Cathedral of the Annunciation, skenderun, skenderun
-----Co-cathedral: Co-Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua, Mersin, Mersin
Archdiocese of Izmir
-----Cathedral: St. John's Cathedral, Izmir, Izmir
Archeparchy of Istanbul (Armenian)
Archeparchy of Diyarbakir (Chaldaean)
Vicariate Apostolic of Istanbul (Byzantine)
Church of St Peter of Antakya
------Church: Church of St Peter
Anglican Church
The Anglicans in Turkey form part of the Eastern Archdeaconry of the Diocese of
Gibraltar in Europe. In 2008 the Bishop of Europe, Geoffrey Rowell caused
controversy by ordaining a local man to minister to Turkish speaking Anglicans in
Istanbul. The main churches are at Ankara (St Nicholas), Istanbul (Christ Church) and
Izmir (St John the Evangelist).
Christian Houses of Worship
Churches of the Byzantine rite

Church name Picture Status
Bulgarian St. Stephen Church

active
Chora Church Constantinople 2007 panorama 002.jpg

converted into a mosque, museum
Church of Christ Pantepoptes (Constantinople) EskiImaretMosque2007.jpg
converted
into a mosque
Church of Christ Pantokrator (Constantinople) Image-ZeyrekCamii20061230 02.jpg

converted into a mosque
Church of Hagia Thekla tu Palatiu ton Blakhernon
converted into a mosque
Church of Hagias Theodosias en tois Dexiokratus
GlMosque20071011 04.jpg converted into a mosque
Church of Hagios Theodoros (Constantinople) VefaKiliseCamii20070531 01.jpg

converted into a mosque
Church of Saint John the Baptist at Lips (Constantinople)
FeneriIsaCamiiInIstanbul20070102 1.jpg

converted into a mosque
Church of Saint John the Baptist en to Trullo (Constantinople)
HiramiAmhetPasaMosque2007101001.jpg


converted into a mosque
Church of Saint Nicholas of the Caffariotes (Istanbul) KefeliMescidi20070603 1.jpg

converted into a mosque
Church of Sergius and Bacchus LittleHagiaSofia20061231.jpg

converted into a mosque
Church of St. George, Istanbul Stgeorgeistanbul3.JPG


active
Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (Istanbul) SaintMaryOfBlachernae20072612
01.jpg

active
Church of St. Mary of the Mongols St.MaryOfTheMongols20071010 01.jpg


active
Church of the Holy Apostles demolished, Fatih Mosque build on top
Church of the Theotokos Kyriotissa (Constantinople)
KalenderhaneMosqueInIstanbul20070407 01.jpg

converted into a mosque
Church of the Virgin of the Pharos ruins
Hagia Irene Hagia Eirene Constantinople July 2007 002.jpg

museum
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia exterior 2007 002.jpg

converted into a mosque, museum
House of the Virgin Mary House of the Virgin Mary.jpg

museum
Kutul Monastery

ruins
Meryem Ana Church Patriarcadotur.JPG


active
Monastery of Gastria SancaktarMosque20080603 01.jpg

converted into a mosque
Monastery of Stoudios One of the exterior facades of the St. John Stoudios (Imrahor)

ruins
Myrelaion BodrumCamii20070529
converted into a mosque
Palace of Antiochos ruins
Pammakaristos Church
converted into a mosque
Saint Andrew in Krisei KocaMustafaPashaMosque20072812 03.jpg converted into a
mosque
St. Demetrius Church in Feriky, Istanbul

active
Smela Monastery

museum
Churches of the Georgian rite

Locations of some of the Georgian churches.

Church name Picture Status
Notre Dame de Lourdes (Turkey) (tr) Notre Dame de Lourdes Georgian Church in
Constantinople.jpg

active
Oshki (k Vank/amlyama) Oshki1.jpg


abandoned
Khakhuli Monastery (Haho/Babai) Khakhuli1.jpg

converted into a mosque
Doliskana (Dolihane/Hamamlky) DOLISKANA2.jpg

abandoned
Bana cathedral (Penek) Bana, Tao-Klarjeti.jpg

ruins
Tbeti Monastery (Cevizli) , 1888 - .jpg

ruins
old Georgian Church, Ani Ani georgian church old photo.jpg

ruins
Ishkhani (han) 171. ishxani. gumbaTis yeli.jpg

abandoned
Parkhali (Barhal/Altparmak) , , . 2008.jpg

converted into a mosque
Khandzta Khandzta (3).JPG

ruins
Ekeki Ekeki ().jpg

ruins
Otkhta Eklesia ((Drtkilise)) Otkhta church.jpg

abandoned
Parekhi Parekhi2.jpg

ruins
St. Barlaam Monastery of Antioch (tr)
.

ruins
Ancha monastery Ana.jpg

Ruins
Churches of the Armenian rite

Church name Picture Status
Church of the Apparition of the Holy Cross (Kurueme, Istanbul)
Yerevman Surp Ha Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Archangels Armenian Church (Balat, Istanbul)
Surp Hredagabed Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Cross Armenian Church (Kartal, Istanbul)
Surp Nian Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Cross Armenian Church (skudar, Istanbul)
Surp Ha Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Hripsimiants Virgins Armenian Church (Bykdere, Istanbul)
Surp Hripsimyants Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Apostolic Church (Bakrky, Istanbul)
Surp Asdvadzadzin Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Beikta, Istanbul)
Surp Asdvadzadzin Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Eyp, Istanbul)
Surp Asdvadzadzin Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Ortaky, Istanbul)
Surp Asdvadzadzin Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Mother-of-God Armenian Church (Yeniky, Istanbul)
Surp Asdvadzadzin Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Resurrection Armenian Church (Kumkap, Istanbul)
Surp Harutyun Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Resurrection Armenian Church (Taksim, Istanbul)
Surp Harutyun Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Three Youths Armenian Church (Boyacky, Istanbul)
Surp Yerits Mangants Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Trinity Armenian Church (Galatasaray, Istanbul)
Surp Yerrortutyun Ermeni Kilisesi active
Narlkap Armenian Apostolic Church (Narlkap, Istanbul)
Surp Hovhannes Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Elijah The Prophet Armenian Church (Eyp, Istanbul)
Surp Yeya Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Garabed Armenian Church (skdar, Istanbul)
Surp Garabet Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. John the Baptist Armenian Church (Uskudar) unknown
St. John The Evangelist Armenian Church (Gedikpaa, Istanbul)
Surp Hovhannes Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. George (Sourp Kevork) Armenian Church (Samatya, Istanbul) unknown
St. Gregory The Enlightener Armenian Church (Galata, Istanbul) active
St. Gregory The Enlightener Armenian Church (Kuzguncuk, Istanbul)

Surp Krikor Lusarovi Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Gregory The Enlightener Armenian Church (Karaky, Istanbul)
Surp Krikor Lusavori Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Gregory The Enlightener (Knalada, Istanbul)Armenial Church
Surp Krikor Lusavori Ermeni Kilisesi active
**St. James Armenian Church (Altmermer, Istanbul)++
Surp Hagop Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Nicholas Armenian Church (Beykoz, Istanbul)
Surp Nigoayos Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Nicholas Armenian Church (Topkap, Istanbul)
Surp Nigoayos Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Santoukht Armenian Church (Rumelihisar, Istanbul)
Surp Santuht Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Saviour Armenian Chapel (Yedikule, Istanbul)
Surp Prgi Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Sergius Armenian Chapel (Balkl, Istanbul)
Surp Sarkis Ant Mezar apeli active
St. Stephen Armenian Church (Karaky, Istanbul)
Surp Istepanos Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Stephen Armenian Church (Yeilky, Istanbul)
Surp Istepanos Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Takavor Armenian Apostolic Church (Kadkoy, Istanbul)
Surp Takavor Ermeni Kilisesi active
Saints Thaddeus and Barholomew Armenian Church (Yenikap, Istanbul)
Surp Tateos Partoomeos Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Vartanants Armenian Church (Feriky, Istanbul)
Surp Vartanants Ermeni Kilisesi active
The Twelve Holy Apostles Armenian Church (Kandilli, Istanbul)
Surp Yergodasan Arakelots Ermeni Kilisesi active
Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastea Armenian Church (Iskenderun, Hatay)
Surp Karasun Manuk Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. George Armenian Church (Derik, Mardin)
Surp Kevork Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Gregory The Enlightener Armenian Church (Kayseri)
Surp Krikor Lusavori Ermeni Kilisesi active
St. Gregory The Enligtener Armenian Church (Krkhan, Hatay)
Surp Krikor Lusavori Kilisesi active
St. Giragos Armenian Church (Diyarbakr)
Surp Giragos Ermeni Kilisesi Diyarbakir P1050690 20080427132716.JPG

active
Cathedral of Ani The Cathedral of Ani.jpg

ruins
Cathedral of Kars Kars Church Of The Apostles 2009.JPG

converted into a mosque
Cathedral of Mren Mren Cathedral.jpg

ruins
Holy Apostles Monastery Arakelots Monastery - 5-17 c. (1900).png

ruins
Horomos The Monastery of Horomos.jpg

ruins
Karmravank (Vaspurakan) Karmravank Armenian monastery (Lake Van).JPG

ruins
Kaymakl Monastery Kaymakli1.jpg

ruins
Khtzkonk Monastery

ruins
Ktuts monastery Ktuts monastery 1986.jpg


abandoned
Monastery of Yedi Kilisa Varagavank.PNG

ruins
Narekavank Narekavank.jpg no trace,
mosque build on top
Saint Bartholomew Monastery

ruins
Saint Karapet Monastery

ruins
St. Marineh Church, Mush ruins
St. Stepanos Church

ruins
Tekor Basilica Tekor Basilica in an 1840s engraving.jpg

ruins
Varagavank

ruins
Armenian church in Vakfl
Vakflky Ermeni Kilisesi Vakifli church-DCP 8791 25p.jpg

active
Churches of the Syriac rite

Church name Picture Status
Mor Sharbel Syriac Orthodox church in Midyat MidyatChurch.jpg

active
Mor Gabriel Monastery Morgabrieltowers.jpg

active
Mor Hananyo Monastery Mor Hananyo.jpg

Active
Roman Catholic Churches

Church name Picture Status
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Pope Benedict XV statue.jpg

active
St. Anthony of Padua Church in Istanbul S. Antonio di Padova, Istanbul.jpg

active
Cathedral of the Annunciation, skenderun active
Co-Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua, Mersin active
St. John's Cathedral, Izmir active
Church of St Peter Antioch Saint Pierre Church Front.JPG

museum
Church of San Domenico (Constantinople)

converted into a mosque
Church of SS Peter and Paul, Istanbul stanbul - Sen Piyer Kilisesi Karaky - Mart
2013.JPG

Active
Anglican Churches

Church name Picture Status
Christ Church, Istanbul Crimean Memorial Church - illustration.jpg

active
St. John the Evangelist's Anglican Church, Izmir StJohntheEvangelistIzmir.jpg

active