Restoration of the Greek Orthodox Churches at the End of the 19th Century in Istanbul: Case of Galatasaray Panagia Church

Abstract

Purpose The Westernization and its reflections could be observed in the architecture, urbanism and social life in Istanbul in 19th century. The Tanzimat Edict (1839), Vienna Protocol (1855) and Islahat Edict (1856) affected the lifestyle of non-Muslims, especially in the administrative, religious and educational sphere. These political, legal and social reforms had also affected the Greek Orthodox community living in the Ottoman lands and their architectural activities about the churches. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the restoration works of Galatasaray Panagia Church conducted in the 19th century based on the archival documents. Design/Methodology/Approach The archival documents provide a comprehensive understanding of the changes, repairs, architectural implementations and formal procedure of the restoration of the Greek Orthodox churches. The methodology of the paper is mainly to analyze the archival documents and do the field survey. The archival documents about the extension of the Galatasaray Panagia Church was analyzed in detail. Then field survey was done. Present-day conditions of the church was observed and compared with the archival documents. Moreover, the analogical research was done to understand the situation before the implementation in 19th century. Findings The archival documents were the important proofs of the interventions of the conservations, which were applied at the end of the 19th century. They give information about to the drawing techniques, characteristics of interventions, construction materials, construction sector, responsible authorities and the process of getting necessary permissions for the restoration and the details of labors. At the end of the 19th century, restoration process of the Greek Orthodox churches was changed with the removal of the restrictions. For example, the new construction materials were used from European countries. Research Limitations/Implications This study examines the archival documents to provide the information about the church and aims to underline the importance of these documents to understand the history of the church, as well as the conservation methodology and process in the 19th century. Practical Implications The archival documents are not merely materials to help understand the building better, but they also serve as tangible evidences of past restorations. The technical details that archival documents include, guide the decision process of the future interventions. Moreover, they provide reliable and valuable information about the later additions that must be conserved. Social Implications The Greek Orthodox community was one of the important non-Muslim groups, had a significant role in the Ottoman Empire. Considering the present-day conditions, most of the Greek Orthodox churches could survive owing to the extensive repairs, restorations or, in some cases, reconstructions. This study made an important contribution to the research on the Greek Orthodox churches, which has a small population today. Originality/Value Most studies on this subject is based on just classification of the archival documents. However, this study is focused to analyze the documents in detail with the observation on the structure. The originality of this study is both to analyze historical archival documents and to observe present-day conditions together. Thereby while the past restoration process was understood, future implementation are shed light on.