Istanbul

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...

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...

Vincenzo Spadafora, the Italian Minister for Sports, sent a letter to UEFA President Alexander Ceferin on Monday, asking whether or not the finals of football's Champions League for 2020 should be held in Istanbul as scheduled. Spadafora wondered in his...

 The leading European heritage organization Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Institute stated in a recently issued report that a restoration of the Prinkipo Greek Orthodox orphanage in Istanbul would cost at least 40 million euros. Furthermore, the...

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I strongly criticized the Russian Patriarchate of Moscow on Tuesday regarding the issue of the independence of the Ukrainian Church. The already-cool relations between the two Christian Orthodox Patriarchates were completely severed a few...