The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy in Fener neighborhood is one of the sights that one should visit in…read morethe old part of the city. It's the core of the Orthodox world thus many Greeks come to visit the church. Each weekend they conduct mass and if you're lucky you may meet the Patriach himself as well. Don't forget to visit Fener and Balat neighborhood after/before your visit and get lost in the "old Istanbul".

With chandeliers and all interior design, the patriarchate has a very illuminating feel. Sacred…read morerelics and reliefs are kept here. The stone which was used to tie Jesus was brought there from Jerusalem. Since the 6th century the Phanar Greek Patriarchate has been the center of Orthodoxy. It was first founded by Constantine the Great in 330 AD. By the time Fatih Sultan Mehmed legalized the the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate after the conquest of Istanbul, Gennadios II was assigned as patriarch and he operated the patriarchate from the Apostles Church. The building was moved from one place to another several times.

Not so many people know about this place, even locals maybe never pay attention. One of my favorite…read moreforgotten place which has a remarkable story, finally not about how Kanuni Sultan Suleyman (longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire) had a hamam built for his love Hurrem Sultan. No, this is a story of a group of underdogs. This is Bulgarian Iron Church has a 114 year history. In the 19th century, there used to be Bulgarian minority and they had a small wooden church. (Well at the time they were allowed to have their own national church.) It was located by the Golden Horn coast, between Balat and Fener where the current church is today situated. Inaugurated in 1849, the church became a symbolic for Bulgarian national resurrection and their struggle for independence. However, shortly after, the structure suffered from a ''fire'' or who knows!?. Due to the weak ground conditions, using iron was a necessity for building the church. The project of constructing a larger church was launched in 1898 by Hosvep Aznavur, Armenian born architect in Istanbul. The prefabricated parts, 500 tons of metal plaques were brought to the city from Vienna by vessels through the Danube River and Black Sea (How cool is that!). Created from cast-iron, from a flat-pack, the main skeleton of the church was made of steel and covered by metal boards (Even cooler!). Nuts, bolts, rivets were used when attaching all the pieces together. At the end of the one and a half years, the construction of this dazzling white Neo-Gothic church finally completed. Today it's one of the world's few surviving prefabricated cast iron churches and as I said one of my favorite hidden gem that is almost forgotten.

We stumbled upon this wonderful Church organically while exploring Balat area. It was never a…read moredestination. What a delight... Unlike other places of interest the Church is not a hot spot, hence it wasn't crowded. There was no entrance fee and it wasn't swamped with crowds like so many other places in Istanbul. We got to explore the Church and it's compound in peace without bumping into masses of people. Such a welcome change. There were signs for dress code, but nothing was enforced thankfully. I was in Shorts and a Tank top on a rather warm and humid Turkish summer day. Not complaining, just making an observation. St. Stephan Bulgar Kilisesi is a Bulgarian Orthodox Church. "The Sveti Stefan Church is located in the Fener district of Istanbul. This Bulgarian Orthodox Church on the Golden Horn is also known as the Iron Church." - https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/istanbul/gezilecekyer/sveti-stefan-kilisesi [using Google Translate] "The Bulgarian St. Stephen Church (Bulgarian: " "; Turkish: Sveti Stefan Kilisesi), also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, is a Bulgarian Orthodox church in Balat, Istanbul, Turkey. It is famous for being made of prefabricated cast iron elements in the Neo-Byzantine style. The church belongs to the Bulgarian Christian minority in the city." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_St._Stephen_Church It's Wikipedia... so don't know how accurate the information is... #Gratitude #Blessing

Beautiful Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic Church tucked away off busy İstiklal Avenue. Run by Italian…read morepriests, masses are conducted in Italian, Polish, Turkish and English. Pope John XXIII conducted mass at this church for a decade when he was the Vatican's ambassador to Turkey. He is affectionately known as the "Turkish Pope" in Turkey due to his fluency in Turkish and his love for Istanbul and the Turkish people.

Beautiful (at least the exterior church) in Istanbul with a nice grounds…read more So why the 2 stars? Every Mosque we went into was always super friendly and the looks my son and I got from the staff here you would think we were literally the barbarians at the gate. We spent at most 5 minutes here and moved on to greener pastures

Our local tour guide (Safiye) took us down for a stroll on İstiklal Avenue, which is a well known…read moreshopping street in Istanbul. That included taking us inside St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church. In a City full of stunning mosques and sprinkling of Eastern Orthodox, visiting this Roman Catholic establishment kind of turned the tourist saying of "Oh Joy, another Church!" on its head. We found the interior to be very impressive and comforting. This is the largest church in Istanbul and has Italian pedigree, both in its founding and in its clergy today. Depending on the day of the week, one could attend Mass in either Turkish, English, or Italian. Pope John XXIII preached here for 10 years while he was the Vatican's ambassador to Turkey before being chosen as pope. He is known as "the Turkish Pope" because of his fluency in Turkish and his oft-expressed love for Turkey and Istanbul. Gayle and I were able to admire a statue of him installed within the church's courtyard. I also detected a bit of Byzantine/Eastern Orthodox influence within a few of the "Icons" inside the church. One was how the 3 fingers are put together to signify the Trinity, with the back 2 fingers following. And if we stuck around longer, my guess is that we might have seen people crossing themselves in either the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox mode.

Went here for Christmas Eve service - absolutely beautiful!! Decorated to the nines both inside…read moreand out. If you're around Taksim Square on Christmas Eve, stop by for a visit at least. If you want to stay for mass on Christmas Eve, come early. 45 minutes before the service and it was standing room only. Very diverse crowd!

This particular church is located next to Taskim Square. Unlike Brian I was unable to find a nice…read morelady to badger the front guard to let us see the inside part of the church. Aside from that, the anteroom is okay and the grounds nice, but you are better off spending time elsewhere IMHO

Fantastic church next to Taksim Square. Looks like a palace. The church was closed when we…read morearrived, but we were able to walk around the church. Then I met some sweet old ladies in their Sunday best and they kindly used their sweet old lady powers to talk to the guard to let us into the church. So nice.

Greek Orthodox Church, one of the few, near Istiklal Street. This was one was built in the early…read moresixteen hundreds. You really feel the history of the place in the architecture inside the church. There are balconies along the walls of the second floor above the pews. It is said to be the second most important Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul after the Patriarchate a few miles away. The church isn't always open. So, if you do get the caretaker to open it, it would be a very nice gesture to give him a 5 or 10 Lira note afterwards. You don't have to, but it is polite to do so.