Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Istanbul
| Church of Our Lady of Lourdes | |
|---|---|
| Notre Dame de Lourdes Gürcü Katolik Kilisesi | |
 An image of the church in the 19th century | |
 | |
| Location | Istanbul |
| Country | Turkey |
| Denomination | Catholic Church (Georgian Byzantine rite) |
| History | |
| Dedication | Our Lady of Lourdes |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural type | church |
The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes (Turkish: Notre Dame de Lourdes Gürcü Katolik Kilisesi; Georgian: სტამბოლის ქართველთა სავანე) is a historic Georgian-Catholic church in the district of Bomonti of the Istanbul district of Şişli in Turkey. As of 2013[update], the church is still in use and one of the few Georgian Catholic churches in the world.[1]
It was built in 1861 with the cooperation of the Catholic priest Peter Kharischirashvili, who wished to provide a rite in the Georgian language.[1] In the 1950s, up to 10,000 ethnic Georgians of the Catholic faith lived in Istanbul. After the Istanbul pogrom in 1955 under Adnan Menderes, many Georgians emigrated. Today the Georgian-Catholic community numbers only 200 to 250 people. As the number of Georgian Catholic Christians in Istanbul has declined, a large part of the church community today consists of ethnic Armenians and Turkish Catholics.[1]
.jpg)
See also
References
- ^ a b c Kaya, Önder (9 January 2013). "İstanbul'da GÜRCÜ Cemaati ve Katolik Gürcü kilisesi". Şalom Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2017-10-27.
 | This article on a Catholic church building is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a church building or other Christian place of worship in Turkey is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |