CHURCH OF SAINT ETIENNE DES BULGARES (AYA STEFANOS BULGAR KILISESI)
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The neo-Gothic and green grey style was built, as explained by the plaque at the entrance, by Wagner & sons of Vienna in 1898 under the direction of architect Istanbul Aznavour. It is entirely metallic, including interior decoration. It is the first church erected under the order of the new Bulgarian Church liberated from the Byzantine Patriarchate in the middle of the th century. The prefabricated elements of this church were melted in Vienna and transported by boat on the Danube and the Black Sea. As for its origin, the legend has passed. Coins filed on the banks of the Golden horn (1871) were reported to have been assembled in one week in accordance with the Sultan's requirements. Some love talking about 24 hours! What is difficult to confirm… In any case, the Bulgarian colony has always been important in Istanbul and has three distinct groups: Orthodox, Catholic (uniates) and Muslims. These are Slavs, islamisés under the Ottoman Empire, who fled persecution after Bulgaria's independence, as did uniates. Alice Sapritch, born in Ortaköy, village of Bosphorus, was a member of the Bulgarian Orthodox community. It is only regrettable that the building is not better maintained.
