Holy Church of Agios Georgios Edirne Kapou - Tyranoixia

On Sunday, November 19, after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Vigil of the Holy Church of Agios Georgios in Edirne Kapou will take place 
in the presence of the ATHP the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew.
The Holy Church of Agios Georgios was the center of the Christian quarter of the Gate of Edirne (Edirne Kapi) which extended around it. 
In order to build the mosque of Mihrimah Sultana, daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, 
the original Byzantine church or monastery of Agios Georgios was demolished in 1555 AD. H. Despite this, after twelve years and with a sultanic firman, the Christian community received permission 
and near the oldest church was built the Church of Agios Georgios which is preserved to this day. The church was named a monastery in memory of the original Byzantine church. 
One of the features of this church, which later became a parish church, is the four granite columns that supported the dome 
and which were transferred from the temple of Prodromos that used to exist in Makrychori.
Another important piece of historical information was the transfer of an old manuscript of the 12th century gospel which belonged to the church of Agia Sophia, 
the only one that had survived from the liturgical books of the Great Church.
The handwritten relic was handed over to the patriarchal sacristy during the patriarchate of Photius (1929-1935) with the obligation that each patriarch work in the temple on the first Sunday 
after the feast of Saint George.
In 1726 the temple was repaired but burned in a fire in 1730 and rebuilt in 1836. 
On the south side of the church, continuous with the left aisle, there is a vaulted sanctuary of Agios Basilios, a remnant of a Byzantine cistern.
The Greek Orthodox community of Edirne Kapou was numerous and once extended to the adjacent parishes of Tekfur Sarai and Arabatzi Meydan,
while to the west it was adjacent to Agios Dimitrios of the parish of Sarmasiki, on the contrary today there are only ten Roman parishioners in this area.
After the completion of the temple, its condition has improved noticeably. In addition, small structures were added within the enclosure, 
such as the toilets and the concierge. All work was done with particular attention to the fidelity of the restoration and copies where necessary.  
The entire building complex, next to the church is the stone building of the Priesthood and the old school which will host the Music Lovers Association of Istanbul 
in order to hold educational programs and musical events here and there, it is classified as ¨Occupied - Mazbut Vakfı¨. 
Finally, the cost of the restoration exceeded 1,000,000 dollars and the implementation of this project was undertaken by the General Administration of Endowments.

A bus will be available to facilitate the reception of pilgrims 
Departure time 09:15 from Kourtolous square and 09:30 from Taksim square in front of the Opera with return to the same points.