Bulgarian Exarchate Foundation
Changes After Construction:
- After the exarchate building in Ortaköy burned down, the Bulgarian Exarchate moved to a mansion in Şişli.
- On 15 May 1907, a permit process was carried out in Şişli, near the Bulgarian Hospital, for the acquisition of land/buildings for the exarchate; the mansion still in use today was purchased for 20,000 liras, and the exarchate function continued in this building.
Prominent Features:
- The church belongs to the Bulgarian Exarchate Orthodox Church Foundation.
- The building is also known as the “Bulgarian Exarchate Building.”
- In the interior, the room of Exarch Yosif has been preserved in its original form; the imperial decree of Sultan Abdülaziz recognizing the Bulgarians as a separate Bulgarian church is kept in the building.
- On the ceiling of the second floor, there are ceiling paintings attributed to Aivazovsky.
- The complex is one of the structures associated with the religious and administrative center of the Bulgarian community in Istanbul.
