www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Suggestions Please?

I have travel plans to Greece and Turkey (Athens, Mykonos, Istanbul, Edessa, Rhodes, Patmos). Any suggestions on relgious sites? (I have quite enough information on hotels, restuarants, nightclubs, and beaches, -- thanks). What about the little Byzantine Catholic chapel in the Exarchate of Turkey?

Axios

I don't have much information myself, but I've found that most secular travel guides do have some short blurbs on religious sites.

Check this one out.
http://www.patriarchate.org/
there are some historical notes under the link "about the E. P.", click, and then scroll down.

Hope this helps a bit.
With Continued best wishes;
Stefan

A Deacon friend of mine at the local OCA parish says the best way to see the sites in Istanbul is to pay for a private guided tour. These guides, he says, know how to get around all the restrictions and can more easily get the permissions sometimes necessary. AFAIK, the Byzantine Catholic parish in Istanbul is without a priest and only has services when they have a visiting priest.

If you're into Byzantine Catholic sites there is a B C Cathedral in Athens (where most of the Byzantine Catholics from Istanbul fled to in the past century.)

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

Dear Axios,

Mykonos? Forget it!! It has more small churches than perhaps any other island, but they are more like backdrops for the tourists. Mykonos is quite the 'swinging and happening' island, in every possible way, so be careful what beaches you chose to go to.

Patmos? Ahh, now there is a religious experience in the waiting. All emphasis on this island leads to the monastery of St. John the Divine, where he wrote the Apocalypse.

Istanbul? You have to see the great cathedral of Haghia Sophia, and try not to cry when you see the large Islamic medallions hanging from the ceilings...sort of feels like seeing St. Peter's in Rome, in ruin and under Islam.

Where ever you go in Greece, walk around alot, because they beauty of this land is how you can come across a sunken and intact Byzantine era church right in the middle of a street thoroughfare. There are churches EVERYWHERE, and they are always open. Feel free to go in and light a candle, and admire the icons. Even in Italy, where I made a point of worshipping in every church we came across (and much to my dismay, the tourists made the great ones feel as if they were not operating churches... but odd as I looked, I still venerated and prayed in each one), I did not see close to as many churches as you will find everywhere in Greece.

You will have a wonderful time, full of fun, sun, and history (ecclesiastical and otherwise),

In Christ,
Alice

Hopefully, it was 29 degrees in Korfu last week! OUCH!

Logos Teen

Dear Axios, you can get some information about the ByzCath parish in Ystambul here:

http://www.istanbulguide.net/istguide/artetarch/eglises/ayatriadc.htm

http://rumkatkilise.org/

As the adress of the parish and other info appear listed as an active in Turkish sites along with Orthodox and other parishes, it could mean that they are offering services again.

Maybe it would be interesting for you to investigate and tell us what happened with that small byzantine catholic community in Turkey.



There is also a Georgian Byzantine Catholic Church, the Divine Liturgy is offered on sundays:

http://www.istanbulguide.net/istguide/artetarch/eglises/georgien.htm