Sveti Georgi Bulgarian Orthodox Church is located in the Kıyık District, Barutluk Neighborhood, Tavukçu Street of Edirne. The church was built in the XIX century and worship service started in Sveti Georgi by July 24, 1880.
Due to the fact that the Bulgarian people of Edirne left the city in masses in the first half of the 19th century, the size of the Bulgarian Orthodox Community had largely decreased when Sveti Georgi Chruch was completed. Because of this, the church was open only once a day in the second week of May, for the Bulgarian Orthodox congregation coming from Istanbul.
The plan of the Bulgarian Church is in the form of a three-nave pseudo-dome and carries a plan characteristic of the Bulgarian late Renaissance. The area covered by the building is 320 m2. While worship was initally performed in Greek, preaching began in Bulgarian language as a result of reactions and requests.
The church is quite rich in terms of the icons present. Within the building, icons of Jesus, Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and other saints are in good condition. Apart from those certain prayer icons, didactic ones and icons representing the Holy Trinity can be seen in the Sveti Georgi Church.
The priests who served in the church were Bulgarian citizens until 1940, but later came Bulgarian pastors of Istanbul. The building was worn out due to lack of maintenance in time and only the roof was repaired in 1996. Lataer, it was restored between 2003 and 2004 and re-opened on May 9, 2004.
In the year 2008, the terrace of the church was started to be used as a little ethnographic museum, including traditional clothes and the upper floor of Sveti Georgi church is a library with over 3000 books in Bulgarian language.
References / Translated from
Yörükoğlu, T. (2006). Batılılaşma devri resim sanatında Edirne Bulgar kilisesindeki ikonaların yeri. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Trakya University, Turkey.
https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2017/02/28/orthodox-priest-in-edirne-turns-2nd-floor-of-church-into-culture-museum
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