The Crimea Memorial Church, also known as ''Christ Church'', is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church in the Beyoglu - Taksim district of

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

History

The current church was built on land donated by

Sultan Abdulmecid Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...

and was constructed between 1858 and 1868 in memory of British soldiers who had died in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. The idea of building a memorial church in Istanbul was first raised in 1856 and a competition held. Designs were submitted by the architect

William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...

and he was declared the winner. However, in-fighting on the approval committee, coupled with concerns regarding the supposed "un-English" style of Burges' design, led to his being removed as architect in 1863 and his replacement by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

. The church was then constructed in Victorian Gothic style between 1864 and 1868. Lack of a congregation led to the closure of the church in 1978. Much of the work to restore the building was carried out by a group of Sri Lankan refugees who fled to Istanbul at the time of the

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

. The church re-opened in September 1991. The organ was made in England in 1911 by W. Hill & Son, who also built organs for

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

, Ely,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, and Manchester cathedrals. The wrought iron staircase was also brought from London. The organ loft houses regimental flags from Crimean and Gallipoli campaigns and the flag from the battleship that took Mehmed VI, the last sultan, into exile. Its facade is decorated with colourful modern takes on Biblical stories by the artist, Erica Beard. The wooden

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

was erected in 1923 in memory of those who died at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. Between 1995 and 2005 the Scottish artist Mungo McCosh adorned it with images of saints and others set against a backdrop of the İstanbul skyline. Figures associated with the congregation provided the models for the saints' faces. In another Turkish twist, the Christ child is shown holding a

simit Simit is a circular bread, typically encrusted with sesame seeds or, less commonly, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, found across the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East. Simit's size, crunch, chewiness, and other character ...

. The chancel contains a memorial to

Roger Short Roger Short MVO (9 December 1944 – 20 November 2003) was a British diplomat who was killed on 20 November 2003 in a truck bombing in Istanbul while serving as the British Consul-General in Turkey. The bombing killed at least 27 people and m ...

, the British Consul-General killed by a bomb that destroyed the original entrance to the British Consulate on 30 November 2003.

Work of the Church

Liturgy is read in the church every Sunday at 11 a.m., and attendance is open to all. Since the church was reopened, the crypt has served as one of the main areas of the church's charitable work to help refugees and migrants who find themselves in Istanbul. The church has housed over 2000 homeless people in recent years and continues to provide assistance to displaced people, notably Christians who have fled Pakistan.

References

{{coord, 41.0277, N, 28.9771, E, source:wikidata, display=title Anglican church buildings in Turkey Churches in Istanbul Crimean War Beyoğlu Churches completed in 1868 Protestantism in Turkey Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Turkey Diocese in Europe 19th-century Anglican church buildings 19th-century churches in Turkey