Istanbul

Recently published photos of an excavation site in the Sultanahmet District of Istanbul reveals a hidden church and holy spring dating back to the days of the Byzantine Empire. The site is located on Amiral Tadfil Street in the very...

Greek officials responded this week to plans by Turkey to celebrate the 567th anniversary since the fall of Istanbul by offering Muslim prayers at the Greek Orthodox church of Hagia Sophia. In comments to national broadcaster ERT1 on Friday, Greek...

A replica wall of the famous Byzantine-era walls of Contantinople was erected outside Hagia Sophia on Thursday as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that a prayer to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople would be...

Two times in history the Princes' Islands (Πριγκηπονήσια, Pringiponisia), located off Istanbul, served as a welcome refuge from the plague, something that the current Covid-19 outbreak brings to mind again. The first time was in the year 540 when the...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, thanked Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Wednesday for the Church's support and donations to Turkish authorities and society during the coronavirus pandemic. The Turkish President held a phone call conversation on Wednesday with Bartholomew...

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople issued a statement on Wednesday announcing the Church's new decision in regard to the covid-19 global coronavirus pandemic. According to this statement, all religious ceremonies, events and rituals will be suspended in all of the Patriarchate's...

A special literary tribute to Greek Constantinople writers and poets was completed recently at the University of Istanbul's School of Philosophy, an event organized due to the International day of Greek Language. Greek and Turkish scholars approached through their in-depth...

2020 is a leap year, meaning that February has 29 instead of 28 days, and millions of people this year are celebrating their birthday accurately, for the first time since ...2016! A person born on February 29 may be called a...

The magnificent edifice of Hagia Sophia, which was constructed in the 6th century and served as a cathedral for almost one thousand years, is now a museum in Istanbul, after being used as a mosque for decades. Built in the...

Turkey's Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, has recently approved changing the historic Chora Greek Orthodox Church located in Istanbul, currently a museum, into a mosque. Commentators say that sets the legal precedent for transforming Hagia Sophia, the...