site.btaBulgaria’s National Holiday Will Be Marked in Istanbul

The Bulgarian community in Istanbul will mark Bulgaria’s national holiday, March 3, at the St Stephen church on the bank of the Golden Horn. 

On the occasion a solemn service will be officiated at the Bulgarian church. 

It is organized by the board of the Foundation of Orthodox Churches of the Bulgarian Exarchate in Istanbul, and Bulgaria’s Consulate General in Istanbul. 

The service will be officiated by archimandrite Charalampy Nichev. 

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Turkish local authority officials have been invited. 

These days a lot of Bulgarian tourists are visiting Istanbul. 

The celebrations will continue with a reception at the Bulgarian nunnery, one of the landmark buildings from the Bulgarian Revival from 1850, which is opposite the St Stephen church. 

The nunnery houses an exhibition, dedicated to the history of the Bulgarian community and the Bulgarian exarchate. 

2023 marked the 125th anniversary of the consecration of the church. Over a period of seven years it was rehauled by Turkiye with the cooperation of the Bulgarian government and was opened with an official ceremony in 2018 in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. St Stephen has been named the most beautiful church in Turkiye.