After nearly a year of restoration work, the historic St. Nicholas Armenian Church in Istanbul’s Beykoz district is preparing to welcome believers again. This year, the exceptional architectural monument built in 1776 celebrates its 250th anniversary.

As reported by the Turkish regional newspaper “Dost Beykoz”, which covers the life of Istanbul, the solemn opening of the renewed shrine will take place in the first week of August. The renovation process initiated by the church foundation was carried out by an architect Nazar Binatli under the leadership and engineer-builder Errol Yumlew coordination.

Over the past year, a huge amount of work has been done, which allowed not only to modernize the infrastructure, but also to restore the original historical appearance of the structure.

During the reconstruction, specialists completely renewed the electrical and water supply networks, as well as overhauled the roof. Based on old archival photographs, the restorers dismantled the concrete belfry and tin windows, recreating them in wood in strict accordance with the original. Special attention was paid to the interior decoration. master Erhan Tanyıldız has carefully restored the unique ashlar altar.

At the same time, the old pews were donated to the Saint Yerkotasan Apostolic Church in Kandilli, and completely new ones were installed in Beykoz. The adjacent area has also undergone extensive improvement, which is now paved with natural stones and greened with new lawns.

The opening ceremony will be held in two stages. On Friday, August 7, the order of consecration of the church will take place under the authority of Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul. And on Sunday, August 9, the first Holy Liturgy after the renovation will be offered, during which spiritual songs will be performed by the famous “Vardanants” choir of Ferrikyo.

The management of the foundation emphasizes that the renewed complex will become not only a place of worship, but also an important center of public life in Beykoz, where weddings, baptisms and various youth events will be organized in a spacious and well-maintained courtyard area.

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