Istanbul Santa Maria Church

It is a Franciscan church located on Istiklal Street in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, on the left side on the way from Galatasaray to Tünel. The journey of the church, which begins in Sirkeci and continues with the move first to Galata and then Beyoğlu, is similar to the way of life of the Franciscans, a sect that celebrates poverty and being on a journey without being connected to material values. The church, which was mentioned to be in Sirkeci in

1453, was built in Pera after three major fires encountered when it was in Galata. After a fire in this area, the church was rebuilt in its present location in 1769 and was rebuilt in 1904 by the permission of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamit II, and it was converted to its present form by the Italian architect Guglielmo Semprini.

The icon of Mary stands out on the wall in the direction of Istiklal Street of the church. Above the iron-bar door from where you enter down the church, there is an inscription thanking Abdulhamit II and Ridvan Pasha, the mayor of the period, for their ease during the restoration.

The Catholic Church of Santa Maria Draperies is built in a neo-classical style in a single-nave Basilica plan, and half-round arched windows are visible on the walls of the two-story structure. Above the marble entrance door of the church, two angels and the figure of the Virgin Mary rising above the clouds are depicted in mosaic stones. The mystical air created in the altar part of the church with a painting of Mary, who survived from the fire of 1678, and two stained glass windows in a half-round form are worth-seeing.