Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
4.5
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Fener & Balat
This sleepy and rather socially conservative area of Istanbul hosts a small but thriving Jewish community, the patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the most beautiful churches and Christian art in the world. Much of what’s most interesting to witness in Fener and Balat sits between the surviving ancient city walls of Constantinople and the serene shores of the Golden Horn. Despite the many splendid sights, historic attractions, stunning vistas, and warm Turkish welcome, the area remains largely unperturbed by the tourist trade that characterizes the atmosphere in nearby Sultanahmet and around the Grand Bazaar. Travelers that like to explore off the beaten track will reap big rewards for making the effort to visit this low-key part of town.
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
4,925 within 5 kms
Attractions
1,148 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
118 reviews
Excellent
77
Very good
27
Average
12
Poor
2
Terrible
0
satorigal
Marion, NC298 contributions
Nov 2019
In Balat, this church is cast iron, was built in Vienna, taken apart, shipped and reassembled here in 1898. It was one of three built by RPh. Waagner, and the only one standing today. It has been refurbished and is the jewel of small churches in the world.
Written 7 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mona
Beirut, Lebanon16 contributions
Sept 2022 • Family
Amazing Church!! So attractive yet simple and peaceful. Loved the ambiance and rhymes inside the Church. Artistic and bless full Icons. Loved the visit and had time to pray and mediate our minds. Highly recommended!
Written 21 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
See the world with Daph
Santorini, Greece468 contributions
It is located right on the waterfront near the Patriarchate . It is one if the most intriguing architectural curiosities..the gothic revival cast-iron Church of Saint Stephen of the Bulgars. This was constructed in Vienna, and then shipped down the Danube and assembled here in istanbul.Unfortunatelly because of the road, church has many problems and need restoration.It is a must to see place
Written 8 January 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carol A S
Marietta, GA4,153 contributions
Apr 2019
Bulgarian St Stephen Church (a.k.a. the Bulgarian Iron Church), is a Bulgarian Orthodox church in the Balat neighborhood on the shore of the Golden Horn. It is made of prefabricated cast iron elements in the Gothic revival and neo-Baroque styles. The richly ornamented church is a three-domed, cross-shaped basilica, with gilded iron screens, and a balcony. The main nave is separated from the side aisles by columns. The altar faces the Golden Horn; the gilded iconostasis is particularly fine. A 40 m-high belfry with six bells rises above the narthex. Bulgarian Orthodox worshipers used a small wooden church starting in 1849; an Ottoman royal decree of 28 February 1870 established the Bulgarian Exarchate. After a fire damaged the wooden church a more durable (and larger) structure was sought. Masonry was infeasible due to the soft ground, so an iron structure was proposed. An international competition was conducted to produce the prefabricated cast iron parts of the church, won by an Austrian company, R. Ph. Waagner. The prefabricated elements, weighing 500 tons, were produced in Vienna in 1893 to 1896 and transported to Istanbul by ship through the Danube and the Black Sea. The church was assembled and inaugurated in 1898; it was renovated in 2018. Festivities are held on December 27, the feast day of St Stephen's, the patron saint. The church is open every day with no entry fee, although a donation is greatly appreciated.
Written 19 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
apg59
Florida145 contributions
Oct 2018 • Couples
St Stephan Chruch is a Bulgarian Orthodox church and it is famous for being made of prefabricated cast iron elements and all the pieces were attached together with nuts, bolts, rivets or welding. Beautiful ornamented church, inside with its three domes cross shaped. it is one of the few surviving prefabricated cast iron churches in the world.
Written 31 May 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lovethisplanet2014
Palmerston, Australia225 contributions
Sept 2018
It's just been renovated and saved from rusting away. Made from iron in Vienna and shipped here about 150 years ago. Even what looks like marble is iron (be respectful and don't bang too much against the walls). Awesome historic and spiritual place.
Written 11 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TubaKoseogluOkcu
Istanbul, Türkiye6,634 contributions
This Bulgarian Church is quite unique in it's being made of only iron and being a prefab building. Before this church, Bulgarians who were Ottoman Empire citizens were part of the Orthodox Patriarchate but as of mid 19th century, their differences with the Patriarchate grew and they establised a totally different faith group and this required a separate church. St Stefan is the first church devoted to Bulgarians. It was designed by an Armenian architect, Hovsep Aznavour. As the location devoted for the church is a made ground, a prefab building was a compulsary choice. An Austrian company, R. Ph. Waagner, which won the competion for construction in 1892, shipped the pieces for assembly via vessels and in 1898, finally the church was open to worship. Today, the building still stands, inside is a classical Orthodox church. The steel construction outside is quite worn by humidity, rain and weather conditions. It's a must to see monument in Golden Horn area
Written 10 January 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ephesusguide
Izmir, Türkiye315 contributions
Nov 2012
The construction of the building is unusual.
İt is portable can be moved on rails.
stone workis are great but comparing to some older buildings such as
Dolmabahce Palace etc is not that important.
İt is portable can be moved on rails.
stone workis are great but comparing to some older buildings such as
Dolmabahce Palace etc is not that important.
Written 3 April 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
iskandil
İstanbul188 contributions
The story of it is interesting and also the grey building itself looks impressive. You can see it even from long distance and location is so good. Nice to walk around the church and then by Golden Horn.
Written 5 July 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hicranca
Istanbul, Türkiye31 contributions
İt is one of the rarest buildings taht u can see totally made of iron,and it is the only Bulgarian church of Turkey. The icons inside are very good. The chuch is more close to an Russian Orthodox chuch rtaher than Greek Ordotox in terms of depictions of the icons.
Written 6 February 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
How can visit iron church if we are in taksim I mean how can we come to iron church from taksim
Written 12 May 2019
There is public transportation to Balat. The bus number is 55T. when you get on the bus approximately 15-20 minutes you can reach to the church. It locates at sea side. Also Bus stop is pretty close to the church. Enjoy your trip!
Written 12 June 2019
Showing results 1-1 of 1
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing