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Posted by N on August 22, 2002, 6:27:57 Istanbul, August 21 (Metin Karagullu of BTA) - Drills have begun to take samples in preparation of repairs of the Bulgarian Church of St. Stephen in Istanbul, said the Bulgarian Church Board of Trustees in Istanbul which is in charge of the Bulgarian property on the territory of Turkey. The church is situated on the Golden Horn in Istanbul. Everything in it from its superstructure to much of its internal decoration is made of cast iron. Pieces of the church were cast in Vienna and floated down the Danube to Istanbul. The church was consecrated in 1871, after the Sultan granted the Bulgarian church autonomy from the Greek Orthodox Patriarch. The samples will be analyzed in a laboratory to find out how far the groundwork of the building has been undermined and what is the degree of corrosion of the metal construction. Proper repair works will begin only then. The sampling is expected to be over a month from now. The Bulgarian side has provided some 75,000 dollars for the repairs. The money was released for a project developed by the Sofia-based Institute for Monuments of Culture. The Church Board of Trustees have been authorized by the Turkish authorities to do the repairs. The church is more the 100 years old and is in a very bad condition. Its foundations are sagging, the iron construction is severely damaged by corrosion as it is continuously eaten away by the waters of the Golden Horn, there are cracks in the walls. Experts fear that the church will not survive a stronger quake. Due to a combination of fund shortage and red tape both on the Bulgarian and the Turkish side, it has taken years to start the repairs. Only at the beginning of this year were the necessary permits obtained. St. Stephen in on a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on reciprocal protection of monuments of culture in Bulgaria and Turkey.
ISTANBUL-BULGARIAN CHURCH.
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