Sent Antuan Church
St. St. Anthony's Catholic Church (French: St. Antoine) is the largest and largest Catholic Church in Istanbul. It is located on Istiklal Street in Beyoğlu, on the left side as you go from Galatasaray (on the side of Galatasaray High School) towards Tünel.
In 1230, priests built a church around Galata in the name of their founder, St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis Church, which burned twice in the fires of 1639 and 1660 and was rebuilt in the same place after each fire, was moved to its new location in Beyoğlu after the fire of 1696, which was the last fire it suffered and engulfed its entire surroundings. In 1724, a new church called St. Anthony's in Pera was built and consecrated for the citizens of Catholic countries (mostly Italian-French) and their families who were in the Ottoman Imperial palace and state service and also engaged in trade.
The construction of the current church, whose facade is made of red bricks, started in 1906 on the site of the old one, and on February 15, the anniversary of the transfer of St. Anthony's body to its place in the Padua Basilica in 1912, the monks moved to their new church, the church was consecrated and opened for worship. It was built in reinforced concrete in the Italian Neogothic style by Istanbul-born Italian Architect Giulio Mongeri. It was built in the Latin pilgrim style and Neogothic style, measuring 20x50 m. The church walls are covered with mosaic up to a certain height and the exterior walls of the building are made of brick. The entrance to the church is through the door between two buildings built to generate income for the church. This door opens to the courtyard of the church and the width of this facade facing Istiklal Street is 38 meters. The church is run by Italian priests. Two six-storey apartment buildings, each with six floors and connected to each other by a passage, in front of the courtyard at the entrance of Istiklal Street, were built to generate income for the church. These are St. They are Antoine Apartments and they are one of the first reinforced concrete buildings on Istiklal Street.
