24
October, Istanbul
Haci Mimi
Apartment 53TL
The suburb of Fener lies northwest of
Sultanahmet on the south shore of the Golden Horn. Wikipedia: “After the fall
of Constantinople in 1453, the Fener district became home to many of the Greeks
in the city. The Patriarchate of Constantinople moved to the area ... and is
still located there.” We had planned to visit the St Stephan Bulgarian Church
in Fener, but as it was closed for renovations and we could see it only from
behind a fence or reflected in the windows of a neighbouring building, we
spontaneously added two sites to our day. St Stephan is made entirely of cast
iron. Wikipedia: “An iron frame was preferred to concrete ... due to the weak
ground conditions. The construction plans were prepared ... An international
competition was conducted to produce the prefabricated parts of the church, won
by an Austrian company ... The prefabricated parts, weighing 500 tons, were
produced in Vienna in 1893-1896 and transported to Istanbul by ship through the
Danube and the Black Sea.” Next for a quick look at the oldest surviving Greek Orthodox
school in Istanbul, erected in the early 1880s. Then down the hill to visit the
St George church, worldwide headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. As
we had not planned this visit we had not done our homework and so missed the “fragment
of the column on which Jesus is believed to have been tied and flogged”, but we
did see some beautiful icons displayed on an elaborately carved and gilded
iconostasis. Wikipedia: “It is a relatively small church, particularly given
its status in world Christianity. This however can be explained by the Islamic
laws which ... stipulate that all non-Islamic buildings must be smaller and
humbler than corresponding Islamic buildings.” Another super day in a super
city.
St Stephan Bulgarian Church
St Stephan Bulgarian Church
Greek Orthodox College
Greek Orthodox College
St George Greek Orthodox Patriarchy
St George Greek Orthodox Patriarchy
St George Greek Orthodox Patriarchy
St George Greek Orthodox Patriarchy
St George Greek Orthodox Patriarchy
Fener
Fener
Fener