Easter in Istanbul

From the Resurrection Service at Agia Triada in Istanbul
PHOTO by Andrea Cantrell

Upon returning from Greece, last weekend I had the privilege of seeing Easter services in Istanbul. On Saturday, I witnessed the Resurrection Service at Agia Triada in Taksim, and then went onto the Patriarchate on Sunday morning for Easter service (of which I do not have photographs). The Patriarchate is compound-like, and rests in Fener, a section of Istanbul's conservative Fatih district. The Patriarchate, housed in the Church of Saint George, has been in Fener since 1586, which once was home to a thriving Greek community in the heyday of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire.