Private Pangaltı Armenian Schools

Audio Narration:

Construction Year:

1825 (first building)

Location:

Şişli, İstanbul

Ordered By:

Vienna Mekhitarist Congregation (first building) / Kalpakçıyan Family (present building)

Architect:

Kegham Kavafyan (present building)

Changes After Construction:
  • A summer school was first opened in Kandilli by the Mekhitarists in 1811. As a continuation of this school, the school opened in Beyoğlu in the same year closed in 1816 because of financial difficulties.
  • Later, the Mekhitarist priests found a suitable building in Beyoğlu, and the school reopened in 1825. The school, built on a plot belonging to the monastery in Beyoğlu, burned down completely in 1839.
  • After experiencing building problems for a long time, the school moved in 1866 to a building with an extensive estate belonging to the Kalpakçıyan Family in Pangaltı.
  • The school was moved to the Pangaltı complex in the 1865–1866 period; the complex took permanent shape on the land purchased together with its building.
  • The school building within the complex was renewed by the architect Kegham Kavafyan in accordance with the project dated 1917.
  • The old school and monastery buildings were rebuilt in 1927 in accordance with the project drawn by Kegham Kavafyan.
  • Because of increasing need, one more storey was added to the school building in 1936.
  • The church building in the complex underwent repair in 1974.
Prominent Features:
  • Because the school was founded by the priests of the Mekhitarist Monastery, it is also known among Armenians as Mıhıteryan High School.
  • The complex was conceived as a whole consisting of school, church, and administration building components.
  • The administration structure is a masonry building; there is a connection between the administration structure and the church both through the interior and via the iron gate continuing from the side garden.
  • The structures in the complex date to the mid-19th century; the 1917 project renewal and the 1927 reconstruction of the school building are among the principal interventions that defined the architectural identity of the complex.
  • Within the complex, shops were built along the street in 1890; this addition became part of the same urban facade composition together with the school buildings.