The Church of St. Anthony of Padua (), 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is located on

İstiklal Avenue İstiklal Avenue () is a 1.4 kilometre (0.87 mi) pedestrian street in the historic Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the most famous avenues in the city. It acquired its modern name after the declaration of the Repub ...

in the

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

district. Together with the churches of St. Mary Draperis (also on İstiklal Avenue), and of SS. Peter and Paul in Galata, it was one of three Levantine parishes in Beyoğlu. 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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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

History

The original Church of St.

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, Order of Friars Minor, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. ...

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 architect Giulio Mongeri, who also designed other important buildings in Turkey, such as the Maçka Palas in

Nişantaşı Nişantaşı is a residential quarter in the Şişli district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. Nişantaşı quarter has four neighbourhoods: Teşvikiye, Maçka, Osmanbey and Pangaltı. The centre of the Nişantaşı quarter is at the ...

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 and mo ...

(

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 nota ...

), Istanbul, as well as the first headquarters of the Türkiye İş Bankası in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Pope John XXIII Pope John 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 on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

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. A statue of him is installed in the church's courtyard. 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 (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 () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...

; and St. Stephen in

Yeşilköy (; meaning "Green Village"; prior to 1926, San Stefano or Santo Stefano , ) is an affluent neighbourhood () in the municipality and district of Bakırköy, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 25,039 (2022). on the Marmara Sea about ...

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 File:Statue of Pope John XXIII (Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Istanbul).jpg, Statue of Pope John XXIII

Notes

References

External links