This church, made entirely of cast iron and produced in separate pieces, was first assembled in Vienna,Austria . After its design was approved, it was dismantled again, brought to Istanbul by ship, and reassembled in its current location in Balat,Istanbul. It is the only surviving iron church in the world. Its official name is St. Stephen’s Church, but it is known as the Iron Church by the people of Balat and the surrounding area. Located directly on the shore of the Golden Horn in Balat, it is the first church of the Bulgarian community living in Istanbul.
In the past, Bulgarians practiced their worship under the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate and attended Greek churches in Fener. In the 19th century, with the rise of nationalism and during the Bulgarian struggle for independence, Bulgarians demanded the recognition of their own Bulgarian Orthodox Church. After the Bulgarian Exarchate was recognized by Sultan Abdülaziz in 1870, they built their first wooden church. When that church burned down, a prefabricated iron church was produced by the Waagner company in Austria. The 500-ton iron parts were transported to Istanbul by ship via the Danube River and the Black Sea, and the church was erected at its present location in 1898.
The Iron Church is one of the must-visit landmarks on our Fener–Balat tours in Istanbul. You can contact us for Istanbul package tours or daily excursions.
