St. Michael and Gabriel

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St. Michael and St. Gabriel Church (2015)

The St. Michael and St. Gabriel Church ( Turkish Aziz Mikail ve Aziz Cebrail Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi ) is a historic Greek Orthodox church from the 19th century in the southern Turkish port city of Mersin . Since it is the only remaining Orthodox church in the city and is only visited by Turks of Arab origin, it is also called the " Mersin Orthodox Church" (Mersin Ortodoks Kilisesi) or the "Arab Orthodox Church" (Arap Ortodoks Kilisesi) .

History and assignment

After clashes with Muslims and Druze , Christians fled Lebanon to Mersin and Tarsus. The need for a church increased with the influx of Roman Orthodox , Alexandrian Orthodox and Armenian Christians from Cappadocia , Syria and Egypt to Mersin. The church dedicated to the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel was built between 1852 and 1878, the land was donated by Dimitri Nadir and Tannus Nadir from the Nadir family, which was one of the first of 195 Arab Orthodox families.

The bell tower was later demolished and rebuilt. Under the then provincial governor Tevfik Sırrı Gür, part of the church garden was sacrificed for the expansion of Ataturk Caddesi.

The church grounds are located south of the Halkevi and 200 meters from the Mediterranean coast. A Greek inscription identifies the Archangel Michael as a saint of the church.

The church is subordinate to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch - John X - who is resident in the Syrian capital Damascus - and not to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erturk KUMAS: Mersin Guide | Mersin Arap Ortodoks Kilisesi. (No longer available online.) In: www.mersinguide.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015 ; accessed on June 14, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mersinguide.com
  2. ↑ a b c AZİZ MİHAİL ve CEBRAİL ORTODOKS KİLİSESİ. In: 360 Derece Mersin. Retrieved June 14, 2016 (Turkish).

Coordinates: 36 ° 47 ′ 36 ″  N , 34 ° 37 ′ 30 ″  E