Bomonti Georgian Catholic Church and Monastery
Bomonti Georgian Catholic Church and Monastery, commonly referred to as Feriköy Georgian Catholic Church in old written sources, is a Georgian Catholic church located in the Şişli district of Istanbul. Located in the Bomonti district, the church is one of the few Georgian Catholic churches in the world. Russians captured the Meshet-Javakheti region of Georgia in the 1828-1829 Ottoman-Russian War and forced the Catholic Georgians living in this region to migrate. An estimated 10,000 Catholic Georgians immigrated to Istanbul. The Catholic Georgian Church and Monastery was founded in 1861 on the initiative of priest Petre Harischirashvili, one of the emigrated Georgians. Since the number of members of the Georgian Catholic Church in Istanbul decreased after the September 6-7 Events in 1955, today the majority of the community consists of Turkish and Armenian Catholics. Shortly after the foundation of the church and monastery, a printing house was established here in 1870 and approximately 200 books in Georgian and French were printed until the printing house was closed. In addition to the church and monastery structure, bilingual schools (Georgian-French and Georgian-Greek) were opened for girls and boys. A library named after Akaki Tsereteli was established within the monastery in 1908. Today, unique works in Georgian and other languages published in Georgia or other countries are preserved in this library.
