Santa Maria Draperis Latin Catholic Church

Santa Maria Draperis Latin Catholic Church is one of the most ancient Roman Catholic parishes of Istanbul. It was first built in the Galata neighbourhood, but later on the friars settled uphill in Taksim and built a new church there in 1668. Since then, the church has burned and been rebuilt several times, most recently in the great Beyoğlu fire of 1870. After the fires the church started to be used by the Embassy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but only until 1904. The current church was built by the Italian architect Guglielmo Semprini in the same location, donated by a Levantine woman Clara Maria Draperis. The church has a single-nave basilical plan with neoclassic style, smooth cut stone, with two floors, and it has a simple facade. You can see the painting of the Virgin Mary which is survived from the fire in 1678 on the church’s apse. The painting is depicted as a realistic portrait of Virgin Mary rising above the clouds with two angel figures. Santa Maria Draperis Church is still officiated by reformed Franciscan friars who offer daily masses in Italian and mass in Spanish and Korean every Sunday.