Mather Dolarosa Catholic Church
Mather Dolarosa Catholic Church is a temple affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church that serves the Catholic people of Samsun. Today, it is registered as a first-degree protected area and is under protection. The origin of the church dates back to 1845, when eight capuchin priests of Italian origin living in Georgia had to leave the country they lived in, and while passing through the Black Sea during their journey, they came to Samsun with Latin Catholic citizens who lived alone in this region and did not have a church. French Maristes priests built a school in the area where the church is now located in 1951 and called on nuns affiliated with the St. Joseph group to help with the education of the children. An Italian female citizen donated her own land to priests to build a church. A church and a house were built from wood on this land. During this period, 30% of Samsun's population consisted of Christian citizens. This population consisted of Catholics, Orthodox, Armenians and Georgians. Sultan Murat V showed great respect especially to the Christian faith and emphasized that he wanted Muslim and Christian people to live together. For this reason, he gave a special permission to build a church in Samsun in 1876. Upon the order of the sultan, the construction of a small church measuring 8 meters by 12 meters was started. Two years later, the sultan sent the deed of the church. The French Consulate has taken responsibility to protect the security of the church. After the construction of the church was completed in 1885, a monastery was built next to the church so that the priests could live and an additional section was built to be rented to Christian families. A cemetery was also built at the same time. The walls of the church are decorated with frescoes.
