A Turkish town has heard its first Orthodox liturgy after 96 years at a special religious service attended by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
The special service was held in a former Orthodox Church in the town of Moudania (Mudanya) situated in today’s north-western Turkey.
Moudania was a thriving, chiefly Greek, town before the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923.
A new town called Nea Moudania was created near Thessaloniki in northern Greece by the refugees who were forced out of Turkey.
St. George’s Church is currently used as a local cultural center.
Even though the exact date of the construction of the church is unknown, there is a seven-line epitaph dated to 1834 on one of windows on its northern fa?ade, reading:
“In order to be commemorated and due to his piousness, Iordines, son of Anastasiou and our good fellow-citizen, has donated all sculpted stones on the fa?ades of this holy church from his olive grove in Palaikhorio. Mudanya expresses gratitude for him.”
The building was restored in 2007 and nowadays hosts social and cultural activities, meetings, conferences, music and theater shows.
Read more here.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: User:Darwinek License: CC-BY-SA
Source: greekreporter.com
