The “Aya Yorgi Church“, with its word-of-mouth legend, is one of the leading historical structures that have become the symbol of the islands, which are considered the pearls of Istanbul.. You will have to tire a little to reach this church, known as the place where all wishes come true.. “If the expected day will come, the suffering is sacred.” What you will see at the end of this road, where you will continue to climb, thinking that your promise will have been said after the suffering of this slope, “It was worth everything!” the kind that makes you say.
Those who want to visit the church, which you can reach after a difficult journey and a steep slope where you will sweat a lot, can continue reading our article
- History
- Where
- Visit Hours
Aya Yorgi Church on Büyükada
The “Aya Yorgi Church” stands out as the place that is recommended for those visiting Büyükada to see at first and that really amazes us with its beautiful view.. As we have explained below, perhaps thousands of years of history; Reaching the church, which has been flooded with visitors in recent years, with its beliefs and natural beauties, is quite tiring.. Especially the slope that you have to climb (I think) to reach the summit where the church is located, is the kind that will return you at any moment.. But not much, after this tiring journey of about 15 minutes, a historical and natural beauty awaits you at the summit that will make you say “I’m glad I’ve come”. The wishing trees and the wish box at the entrance of the church immediately attract your attention.. Of course, it is not in vain that there are so many wishing objects.. Because Aya Yorgi Church is known as the place where all wishes come true.. You can find the beliefs about this in the rest of our article.
It is free to visit the church every day of the week until 16.00.. The church closes its doors to its guests who come to visit the church only on Sundays.. You do not need to pay any entrance fee to enter the church.
There are many pictures inside the church.. You can read the catalogs at the entrance so that you can easily access the story and meanings of these paintings.
Taking photos inside the church is strictly prohibited.. When you try to take a photo, you get warnings that you can’t take it with a bit of a harsh attitude.. For this reason, we can only share photos of the exterior of the church with you.. Now you can see the inside when you visit it
The History and Legend of Aya Yorgi Church
Although the foundations of today’s building of Aya Yorgi Church were laid in 1905, According to the information, the presence of the church here goes back to 1751 as a monastery.. According to the legend, the history and sanctity of this place goes back thousands of years.. The church, which was pronounced as “Aya Yorgos” by the Greeks, became known with its current name over time.. The most striking aspect of the church, which was built as a two-storey structure, is that there is a spear icon on its wall.. It is believed that with this spear, Saint George killed a monster that came out of the sea.. Having so many beliefs on it has made this church a very holy place for Orthodox Christians.. The church, which is one of the two holy places accepted as pilgrimage by the Orthodox in Turkey (the other place is the house of the Virgin Mary). On April 23 and September 23, there is a heavy influx of visitors.. So much so that nowadays there is almost no place to step away from the crowd on island ferries, church slopes and Aya Yorgi hill.. A legend is told about the visit of the church on these dates:
The Church Where All Wishes Come True
According to belief, when Büyükada was occupied during the Byzantine period, the priests made sacred items. buried in the ground for later extraction. Many years pass and a shepherd dreams about these holy objects in his dream.. In his dream, the saint calls the shepherd somewhere. The shepherd, who does what the saint says, climbs this slope with bare feet and starts digging when he hears the sound of a bell.. The icon, which is the symbol of the church, with the sacred objects found under the ground, will come to light.. According to the belief in this legend, those who reach the church summit on April 23 and September 23 without speaking and barefoot are accepted as semi-pilgrims.. Also, visiting these days is considered more sacred than other days.
Those who reach the church after the difficult slope can write their wishes on a piece of paper and put it in the wish box.. According to legend, visitors who take a key or church bell with them when leaving the church are obliged to take this item to the church if their wishes are granted.. In addition, there are beliefs that the fortunes of those who reach the top with a pulley, whose one end is tied at the beginning of the slope, will be opened to the end.. Also, a vow can be made by writing your wishes on the trees on the slopes.
Where is Aya Yorgi Church? How to Go to Aya Yorgi?
Aya Yorgi Church is located on the highest 200-meter hill of “Buyukada”, the largest of the Istanbul islands.. You can easily find the location of the island via Google location.
To reach Aya Yorgi Church, you must first come to Büyükada. to Büyükada; It is possible to reach by boats departing from Bostancı, Kabataş, Yalova, Avcılar, Kartal, Eminönü, Kadıköy, Karaköy, Bakırköy and Yeşilköy.. Those who live on the Anatolian side can reach the island in approximately 20 minutes by boat departing from Bostancı in 30 minutes by Mavi Marmara, and from Kartal by Princess Tour every half an hour.. Those who live on the European side can reach the island in an average of one hour.
After Büyükada pier, reaching the point also known as Aya Yorgi Church slope awaits you with three different options.. You can reach this slope in about 5 minutes by enjoying a beautiful island with the phaetons, which are very popular on the island.. You can come to this slope after getting a little tired with the bikes you will get used to seeing on the island, but after a 20-minute journey that is so beautiful.. Finally, as we did, you can choose to walk to enjoy all the beauties of the island and photograph those beautiful island houses.
Whether you choose, the first thing you should come the place will be the head of the slope leading to the church. The journey of those who come by phaeton ends here. Those who come by bike can entrust their bikes to the officer for 1 TL.. Let us remind you that those who do not want to leave their bicycles in custody will have to climb that steep slope of approximately 900 meters by bicycle.. It should not be difficult to guess that those who go up that difficult hill with their bikes will make a pleasant and fast descent, referring to the saying that every ascent has a downhill.. However, let us remind you that those who go on foot will have some difficulty in descending due to the steep slope. You reached the top by climbing that famous slope that you cannot see yet.. Now the only thing you will look for here will be to drink something to cool you down and make up for the lost fluid, accompanied by a beautiful view
Another reason for you to go to Aya Yorgi It can also be the “Yücetepe Country Restaurant”, which also has a magnificent view, located here.. We strongly recommend that you spend time in the country restaurant, where visitors can sit down, have a snack and admire the fascinating view, with extremely reasonable prices that will surprise you compared to the island, whose prices are quite high. >After so much praise, if we leave the beauty of the view aside, the restaurant; It has managed to become a must for Büyükada with its very tasty grilled meat, sausage, piquant pastry, and french fries that everyone praises.. Other information that those who will visit Aya Yorgi should know before they go are as follows:
Aya Yorgi Church Visiting Hours on Büyükada
Except the hours of the Sunday service to the church. It can be visited between 08.30 and 16.00 every day of the week (09.00 – 12.15). It can be done free of charge at specified times.
You can watch our Aya Yorgi Church tour video from the link below…
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