St. John's Cathedral (Izmir)

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Saint John's Cathedral

The St. John's Cathedral ( Turkish Aziz Yuhanna Katedrali ) in the Turkish city ​​of Izmir ( Smyrna ) is the episcopal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Izmir . It is the most important church still in service in the Asian part of Turkey.

history

The cathedral bears the patronage of the apostle and evangelist John , who is traditionally also considered to be the author of the Revelation to John ; there, in the letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, Smyrna is particularly honored ( Rev 2 : 8–11  EU ).

The construction of the representative church for the Levantine community of Smyrna began with the laying of the foundation stone in 1862. In 1863 the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz donated a considerable sum. Further donations came from Catholics in Lyon , whose first bishops Pothinus and Irenaeus were from Smyrna. The consecration took place Archbishop Vincent Spaccapietra on May 25, 1874. He was buried in the church. Only the base of the monument erected for him in the garden of the cathedral has survived.

In 1922 the structure suffered severe damage in the Izmir fire .

In 1965, the archbishopric contractually gave the cathedral to the NATO base in Izmir for use by mostly US soldiers of all denominations. This contract expired in 2013.

After a comprehensive restoration, financed by the Italian Bishops' Conference and numerous donors from Italy, the cathedral was re-Catholicized on September 29, 2013. The first Armenian Catholic service in 95 years took place in August 2017.

Architecture and equipment

The St. John's Cathedral is a three-aisled classical basilica without a transept. The portal facade in the south is preceded by an open portico , the chancel in the north is vaulted by a dome.

The high altar picture, a work by the painter Alphons von Cramer , shows the evangelist John with his attribute , the eagle. Other paintings of apostles and saints decorate the church.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information and location (gcatholic.org, English)
  2. ↑ a b Izmir, domani riaperta al culto la cattedrale di San Giovanni (avvenire.it, September 28, 2013, Italian)
  3. ↑ https://www.domradio.de/themen/%C3%B6kumene/2017-08-17/erstmals-nach-95-jahren-armenisch-katholischer-gottesdienst-izmir

Web links

Commons : St. John's Cathedral (Izmir)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 38 ° 25 ′ 43 "  N , 27 ° 8 ′ 22.6"  E