To mark the Orthodox Easter, which falls this weekend, a week after that spectacular pink full moon, and a full month after the Western churches celebrated the day, I would like to share some images of two lesser known Orthodox landmarks in Istanbul, two treasures well worth the hunt. Above is the famous Church of Pamakaristos (Feyhiye Camii, built 1071). Alas that is now closed indefintiely for restoration, but, below is one of my own, lesser known favourites, Aya Yorgi Potirasm.
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Built in 1760, Aya Yorgi Potiras is high above the Golden Horn, a steep walk from the Patriarchate in Fener. Hhidden away at Murat Molla Sok.39, Çarşamba, between the Pamakaristos and St Mary of the Mongols, it is all the more unexpected since this one of Fatih's more conservative neighborhoods.
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Benign neglect reigns, but the church has interesting icons and stands in a secret garden full of blossoming fruit trees.
The church almost lost its caretaker, Musa, to Covid, but happily he is back at work. If he is around, he will open the door when you ring the doorbell.
On Good Friday, for extra blessings it used to be the custom for Istanbul's Rum community, to visit seven symbolic funeral biers in seven churches, which were spercially decorated with fresh flowers for the occasion.
Panyia Balinu Church
Panayia Balinu is another church hard to find but accessible when you locate a small doorbell. Rebuilt in the early 18th century after one of Istanbul's infamous fires burnt down the original 16th-century church, it is quite unlike the others, with a lovely white vaulted wooden ceiling. It also has some interesting iconsm and you can go upstairs for a closer view of the painting of Christ on the ceiling (Mahkemealtı Cad. No 59 Balat, Fatih).
The novelist Nektaria Anastasiadou, author of Recipe for Daphne, mentioned a kind gesture by the Istanbul Municipality and the mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, this year: they gave out mastic-flavoured Easter loaf, Paskalya çöreği (Pascha tsoureki), for Orthodox Easter. She also reports that 'hours before the start of the 17-day lockdown, the Panayia Rum community in Yeniköy held a memorial service and poetry reading in honour of Constantine Cavafy’s birthday (the Alexandrian poet was Constantinopolitan by descent) with Sarıyer mayor Sukru Genç.' As Cavafy, who came to visit his grandfather's yalı there, once wrote, “If you find yourself smiling, Stranger, know that you are in Yeniköy.”
#recipefordaphne
For more on the Monsatery of Theotokos Pammakaristos (Fethiye Camii), see Byantium's Legacy, by Robert Ousterhout, Cornucopia 50
For Cavafy's Yeniköy see Bound for the Black Sea, Cornucopia 52
To make your own mastic-flavoured Paskalye çöreği: see Feast Food, Cornucopia 38
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