Turkey’s Russian community settled in Turkey after having fled from the Bolshevik regime in 1921. While some of them migrated to various Western countries, a considerable number of them stayed in Istanbul. According to data by the PAE Fukaraperver Association, which represents the Russian émigrés, the total number of Russians in Turkey is about 100,000. Russians own three churches and a monk’s house, which is currently used as a commercial building in Istanbul. Hagia Elia Church is situated on the roof of a structure where monks used to reside, a style of architecture rarely seen in Anatolia.
The Elias chapel is the oldest of the three Rus-chapels Istanbul. It was built 135 years ago in the typical style of the 19th Century. As the Rossikon, the Russian monastery on Mount Athos of monastic Russian refugees was founded after the Mongol invasion, was the Elias chapel after the October Revolution of 1917 the spiritual center of the Russian exiles in the city.
Russian Elias chapel in the attic of a former monastery, which is now availed business. The chapel houses frescoes, icons, traditional iconostasis, but the damage from moisture and lack of maintenance. The frescoes are largely lost. Preserved is a crucifix and a depiction of Christ near the altar. For the restoration 100,000 Turkish liras are estimated according Kazmir Pamir, spokesman for the Belarusian Association, PAE Fukaraperver Association.
The PAE Fukaraperver Association’s deputy head, Kazmir Pamir, said the three churches and the monk’s house belonged to the Russian Monastery at Ayanaroz Monastery Complex in Greece, adding that they were only representing the church and the Fener Greek Patriarchate was the one in charge of the churches.
In Istanbul there are three Rus Churches (Kiliseleri) associated along ethnic lines. All three belong to the small Belarusian community on the Bosporus. And all three are in the possession of the monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos, better known as Rossikon. However, they are administered by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.