Galatasaray Surp Krikor Lusavoriç Church
Surp Krikor Lusavoriç Church is an Armenian church located in the Karaköy district of Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. As a result of the good relations between the Armenians and the Genoese who settled in Istanbul before the conquest of Istanbul, the Genoese sold a sacred area of their own to the Armenians. A charitable Armenian merchant named Goms or Gozma, who came to Istanbul from the Crimea-Kefe city, had a church built on this land taken from the Genoese. It is known that a blacksmith named Aved completed the altar of the church and built the Holy Cross Temple next to it. Surp Gregory the Illuminator Church, in Galata under Genoese rule (Karaköy) is the oldest known Armenian Church built in Istanbul (Constantinople), the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Today, the church is open for worship on Kemeraltı Street in the Karaköy district of Beyoğlu district of Istanbul in Turkey. Many opinions have been put forward regarding the construction date of the church. However, it is certain that the year of construction was 1431, as evidenced by a Bible, a khachkar, and a statuette unearthed in the church in 1953. The church was damaged in the great Galata fire on April 7, 1660, but was repaired. Thereupon, it was completely burned again in the Great Galata fire that broke out on February 7, 1731.[3] It was rebuilt within 3 months by the palace architect, Sarkis Kalfa from Kayseri, upon the decree that Patriarch Hovhannes Golod received from Mahmud I through Grand Vizier Ali Pasha. It was opened on March 10, 1733. It is the only church among the Armenian churches that has arches and is covered with lead. In the Galata fire of February 8, 1771, its wooden chapels were destroyed by fire, and the church, which remained unrepaired, was built from the foundations only on September 18, 1799, with the permission of the sultan, by the palace architect Minas Kalfa. The building, which underwent restoration in 1834, preserved its historical existence as a large and magnificent church with three sections, with changes made in 1888, until its destruction in 1958. To Historian İnciciyan Archived 30 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine. According to reports, the inner walls of the church were built by Yesayi, the brother of the famous Armenian fresco painter Parseh of Kayseri. During the road construction works initiated by Adnan Menderes in the coastal part of Istanbul (1956-1958), the old large church, which spread towards the middle of today's Kemeraltı Street, was expropriated and demolished. Reconstruction permission was obtained, and the Surp Krikor Lusavoriç Church was built on the remaining land, last built by architect Bedros Zobyan. Archived 8 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine. It was built by. The new building is located on the 1/3 of the land remaining after the demolition. The construction of the church was carried out in 1961-1965, and the groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 8, 1962. It was consecrated on August 25-26, 1965, and after the building was completely completed, it was opened to worship by Patriarch Shnorhk Kalusdyan with a great religious ceremony on May 15, 1966. While the church was being built, the medieval structure was built in 1215. Kars Ani Tigran Honents Church Archived 4 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine. While the old church was a single-storey, three-naved building, today's church is two-storey. While the ground floor is the church, the basement is the grave chapel. 2-storey, 4.5/6.5 m in front of the entrance door. There is a concrete bell tower.
