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Balyan Church, Istanbul, Turkey
Decaying Façade of Balyan Church. 
Present interior condition.
An ancient functioning Turkish Bath across from the Balyan Church.
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SACRED SITE
The Balyan Church stands beside two other functioning Balyan buildings by the same Architects just across from the newly restored Patriarch's residence. With so many original architectural features still remaining, this Church is like a window into the history of Armenian architecture. Balyan is the family name of the chief architects of the Ottoman Empire in 18th/19th Century Istanbul. They built the most distinguished buildings of that era, including the world famous Kempinski Palace on the Golden Horn. His Beatitude, the Patriarch of the Armenian Church, has agreed to assist the Landmarks Foundation in the fundraising for the rescue of this exquisite small abandoned church within the Armenian Patriarchate in downtown Istanbul. GOAL The Landmarks Foundation's goal is to halt the advancing material decay and then conserve both the historic interior and exterior of the Church protecting it for future use as a new Community Center. ACTION The University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Design has committed to a Historic Preservation Studio. Students from that department as well as Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning and others, are collaborating through 2007, employing skills in preservation, as well as GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and other digital media tools. With the approval of the Patriarch, the Landmarks Foundation will then present recommendations to the City of Istanbul. |