The Bulgarian Church was built near Golden Horn between Ayvansaray Street and Mürsel Paşa Street. Due to the nationalistic movements, it was built independently from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate by the Bulgarian minority of the Ottoman Empire who wanted to establish their own church, where they could practice their Orthodox faith.
Photo by Niyazi Uğur Genca
After having permission from the state to build a church, first, they built a priest house called “Metoh” on Mürsel Paşa Street. According to the inscription on the house which has reached our time, it was completed in 1850. After the house was completed, a small wooden church was erected on the site of the demolished church, where the current church is located, but later this was developed into a larger building covered with an iron frame. The construction plans were prepared by Hovsep Aznavur, an Armenian of Istanbul origin. An international competition was conducted to produce the prefabricated parts of the church. An Austrian firm, R. Ph. Wagner, won the competition. The prefabricated parts were produced in Vienna and transported to Istanbul by ship through the Danube and the Black Sea. After one and a half years work, it was completed and inaugurated in 1898.
The main skeleton of the prefabricated Stephan Church was made of steel and covered by metal boards and it looks like a cross. The architectural styles come from the Neo-Gothic and Neo-Baroque periods and the width of the side naves is 3 m and the width of middle nave is 6 m. On the six bells in different dimension put in the bell tower of the church are written statements that they had been moulded for Sveti Stefan Church in Russia.
Mon, Jun 22, 2009
Where to Visit