The Church of St. Anthony of Padua (Turkish: Sent Antuan Kilisesi), alternatively known as ''Sant'Antonio di Padova Church or'' ''S. Antonio di Padova'', is the largest

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in

Istanbul 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, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is located on

İstiklal Avenue İstiklal Avenue ( tr, İstiklal Caddesi; en, "Independence Avenue"), historically known as the Grand Avenue of Pera ( Ottoman Turkish: ''Cadde-i Kebir''; el, Μεγάλη Οδός του Πέραν, Megali Odos tu Peran; french: Grande Rue d ...

in the

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, meani ...

district. Together with the churches of St. Mary Draperis (also on Istiklal Avenue), and of SS. Peter and Paul in Galata, it was one of three Levantine parishes in Beyoglu. Today it is run by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

priests. Saturday Mass in Italian begins at 19:00; Sunday Mass in Polish is at 9:30, in English at 10:00 and at 17:00 in Turkish; and Tuesday Mass in Turkish begins at 11:00. Weekday Masses are in English at 8:00.

History

The original Church of St.

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic Church, Catholic priesthood (Cath ...

was built in 1725 by the

community of Istanbul, but was later demolished and replaced with the current building which was constructed on the same site. The current basilican church, along with the adjacent residential buildings (known as the ''St. Antoine Apartmanları'') was built between 1906 and 1912 in Venetian Neo-Gothic style, again by the city's Italian community (mostly made up of people of Genoese and Venetian descent, the community amounted to about 40,000 at the start of the 20th century). The building was designed by the

Levantine Levantine may refer to: * Anything pertaining to the Levant, the region centered around modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, including any person from the Levant ** Syria (region), corresponding to the modern countries of the Lev ...

architect Giulio Mongeri, who also designed other important buildings in Turkey, such as the Maçka Palas in Nişantaşı and the Neo-Byzantine Karaköy Palas bank building in

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest an ...

(

Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most notabl ...

), Istanbul, as well as the first headquarters of the

Türkiye İş Bankası Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

preached here for 10 years while he was the Vatican's ambassador to Turkey before being chosen as pope. He is known as "the Turkish Pope" because of his fluency in Turkish and his oft-expressed love for Turkey and for Istanbul in particular. Since 2016 a legal battle has raged over the church which has been put up for sale by a man claiming to act for the site's legal owner. According to news reports, Sebahattin Gök obtained a power of attorney from the owners of the land and then attempted to sell it before lawyers acting on behalf of the Vatican took steps to prevent the sale.

Other Roman Catholic churches in Istanbul

St. Anthony of Padua may be the most important Roman Catholic church in Istanbul, and with the largest congregation, but there are other Roman Catholic churches in the city too. These include the

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, alternatively known as the ''St. Esprit Cathedral'' ( Turkish: ''Saint Esprit Kilisesi''), located on Cumhuriyet Avenue, 127/A, in the quarter of Pangaltı in Şişli district, the former Harbiye, between Taksi ...

(1846) in Harbiye; St. Louis of the French (1581) and Santa Maria Draperis in

; Sts. Peter and Paul (1841) in

; the Church of the Assumption in Moda,

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...

; and St. Stephen in

Yeşilköy (; meaning "Green Village"; prior to 1926, San Stefano or Santo Stefano el, Άγιος Στέφανος, Ágios Stéfanos, tr, Ayastefanos) is an affluent neighbourhood ( tr, mahalle) in the district of Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey, on the M ...

Gallery

File:Sent Antuan Kilisesi 6734 front of complex.jpg, Church of St. Anthony of Padua File:Sent Antuan Kilisesi 6735.jpg, Church of St. Anthony of Padua front of complex File:Sent Antuan Kilisesi 6747.jpg, alt=Church of St. Anthony of Padua back of front of complex, Apartments in front of Church of St. Anthony of Padua File:Sent Antuan Kilisesi 6746.jpg, Church of St. Anthony of Padua interior File:Sent Antuan Kilisesi 6743.jpg, Church of St. Anthony of Padua interior File:Sent Antuan Kilisesi 6745.jpg, Church of St. Anthony of Padua interior File:Istanbul Along Istiklal Caddesi Sent Antuan Kilisesi june 2018 6744.jpg, West end of Church of St. Anthony of Padua

Notes

References

External links