Muslim Turks Who Venerate Saint Panteleimon

By Nikos Chiladakis

Kuzguncuk is a suburb of Istanbul on the Asian side, which before 1956 had a number of Romaioi residents.

The most impressive event of the area was the great festival of Saint Panteleimon that took place every summer on July 26, the day before the Saint's feast day. The amazing thing about this festival was that thousands of Turks came to honor and venerate the Saint. But even today this temple gathers many Turkish Muslim pilgrims, usually with some health problems who ask the Saint for the grace of healing.

According to an impressive survey by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet with the title, "Hangi kiliseye hangi umutla gidiyolar", that is, "To Which Church Do They Go With Some Hope", a place of pilgrimage for the Turks is the Church of Saint Panteleimon in Kuzguncuk.

Date Set for the Reopening of the Chora Church as a Mosque

The Monastery of Chora, known today in Turkish as Kariye Camii, was an 11th century Orthodox Christian monastery in Constantinople that was converted by the Ottomans into a mosque in the 16th century. It operated as a museum since 1958, though after the decision of the Turkish Supreme Court in 2019 and a presidential decree on August 21, 2020, it was reconverted into a mosque as was nearby Hagia Sophia before it, despite Istanbul having already 3,113 mosques. However, soon after this decree was issued, the reconverted mosque closed in order to make preparations for its regular use as a house of worship for Muslims, with an undetermined date for its reopening. While the restoration process was continuing, Kariye Camii was kept open to visitors as a museum.