Church of St. George - Istanbul
This church was first mentioned in 1303. However, it seems that this place of worship dates back to the earliest times of Christianity and owes its origin to the holy spring (ayazma) within its walls, which was originally dedicated to a pagan deity. According to popular tradition, Licinius' daughter Irene was martyred here and beheaded and thrown into the wells of the holy spring. Later, the cult of St. Irene, the patron saint of Constantinople, was merged with that of St. George. This church, located on a hill in the center of Galata, was left to the Genoese by Emperor John V Palaeologus (1341-1391). St. George was the metropolis and cathedral of the Genoese during their possession of Galata before the Ottoman conquest.
The Jesuits arrived in 1583. Later, in 1626, the Capuchins, sent by the French ambassador Monsieur Cesy, settled here. The Capuchins opened a school in 1628 and lived in a small convent next to the church until the fire that destroyed St. George's and much of Galata in 1660. In 1670, after lengthy negotiations with French diplomats, the government allowed the church to be rebuilt and it was consecrated on January 6, 1677.
Mass Times
-
Tuesday:
German 18:30 -
Thursday:
German / Turkish 18:30 -
Saturday:
German 18:30 -
Sunday:
Turkish 18:30
Saint-Georges suffered fires in 1696 and again in 1731, but the church was saved. The reconstruction of Saint-Georges, partly financed by a donation from King Louis XV, dates back to 1731. In 1783, the Capuchins sold Saint-Georges to Monsignor François Antoine Frachia, the apostolic nuncio of Constantinople, and it became the center of the apostolic nunciature until 1853, when the monastery was sold to the Bosnian Little Observant Monks, who founded a hospital dedicated mainly to the sick of the Austro-Hungarian navy.
Architecture of the church
The church opens onto Kart Çınar Street through a decorative portal. Four gray stone columns and two quadrangular columns on the edge of the chancel support the vault covering the three naves. In the center of the nave, a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit flies inside a light dome. The walls of the choir are covered with black marble. Behind the high altar, the pulpit leans against the back wall. Under the cover of the font (now dry), the legendary place of her martyrdom, there is a fresco dedicated to St. Irene.
Visiting the church
To reach St. George's Catholic Church, you need to walk 200 meters down from the Galata Tower. St. George's Church is close to a school and a hospital named after St. George.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AUSTRIAN HIGH SCHOOL "SANKT GEORG"
The building complex that gives its name to our school, which dates back to the 1300s and includes St. Georg Church, was purchased in November 1882 with an agreement signed in November 1882 and started to serve as a primary school and orphanage for German-speaking Catholic children in its present building. Under the management of the Austrian religious organizations "Lazaristen and Barmherzige Schwestern", the school later added middle and high school sections and graduated its first high school graduates in 1913.
In an agreement signed in June 2005, the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Austria stated: "The Austrian High School St. Georg is the most prominent example of the cooperation between the peoples of Turkey and Austria and fulfills the role of a bridge. Both sides will make every effort to ensure that the Austrian High School in Istanbul continues to operate uninterruptedly as a top foreign private school."