Catholic Istanbul churches

The roots of Catholic Istanbul go to the Middle Ages. The Genoese and Venetians, who lived in Pera and Beyoglu, built their temples here. Many of them have survived to this day. We will briefly tell you about the most amazing Catholic churches in Istanbul.

St. Peter and Paul Church

This old church was built at the request of the Pope’s appeal to the Emperor of Byzantium, allowing black monks to build a temple near the Bosphorus. At that time Byzantium was already weakened, and the proud rulers of Constantinople agreed to make concessions to Rome. The temple was built in the 14 century, and after the capture of the city Ottoman Turks have opened a mosque. It was named Arab. The monks were given a piece of land where they built a chapel. This stone building was intact to this day... It contains the icon of the patroness of Istanbul in a silver frame.

Holy Trinity Church

This church is situated near the busy festive Istiklal Avenue. It is famous for its bell tower with the purest ringing of bells in Europe. Once the church was located near the mall (the old Istanbul building), but due to urban development this Catholic church was... moved. Mostly Armenians living in Istanbul come here for praying.

St. Antoine Church

The largest Catholic cathedral in Istanbul, St. Antoine Church was built relatively recently - certainly by the standards of this city - in the late 19th-early 20th century. It was built of red brick in Italian style. The temple is decorated with extraordinary paintings on the ceiling. The worship in this temple is given in Turkish. Most of the Catholics of the city are the parishioners of this church.

Santa Maria Draperis Latin Catholic Church

This temple belonged to another order of the Catholic Church, the Franciscans. Alas, in the 17th century the building was destroyed by fire, so it had to be rebuilt. The iron gates are the special decoration of the church, they were forged by the drawings of Fossati architects. It contains the ancient statue of the Virgin Mary and the miraculous icon of Maria Draperis. The courtyard of the temple keeps the tombs of the Genoese merchants of the 17th century...

Church of St. Benoit

This church, which is located next to the Convent of St. Mary, was built before the Constantinople fell and was renamed Istanbul. Despite this, the Sultan Fatih the Conqueror took pity on the monks and allowed them to live here. In the 16th century they’ve opened a private High School, which became the best educational institution in Turkey.