Bulgarian Iron Church Celebrates Patron Day

The Bulgarian "Saint Stephen" Church in Istanbul, Turkey, is the only cast-iron church in the world. Photo by wikipedia

The Bulgarian "St. Stephen" church in Istanbul is celebrating Monday the day of its patron.

The Church was inaugurated in 1898 by Exarch Joseph and marks the beginning of the Bulgarian exarchate. It is also the main worship place of Bulgarian Christian Orthodox in Turkey.

The Vratsa metropolitan Kalinik, bishop Naum, Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Holy Synod, representatives of the "St. Stephen Church" Foundation are in Istanbul to take part in the mass. The event will be also attended by Orthodox Bulgarians, living in the city and Bulgarian tourists.

In the occasion of the celebrations, the dome of the church was recently gold-plated thanks to a donation of Bulgarians from Plovdiv. Bulgarians living in Istanbul now say the church is the only one in the city having a gold-covered dome, the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, reports.

Three years ago, St. Stephen was declared the most beautiful church in Turkey. Architects call it a unique building. It is also the only cast-iron church in the world.

On Friday, the Istanbul City Hall announced it will use municipal funds to repair the temple.

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