Skip to main content
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • عربي

Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

  • Home
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Essays
  • Photo Essays
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Topics
  • Essays
  • Photo Essays

smartphone menu rubriken

  • Home
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Topics
  • Dialogues
  • Essays
  • Photo Essays
  • Letters to the Editors
Back to start
More Photo Essays

Celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Istanbul

Every year, Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on 6 January with a festive mass led by Patriarch Bartholomew I in the Church of St George in Istanbul. The church service ends with the traditional Blessing of the Waters at the banks of the Golden Horn, where young men jump into the ice-cold water to retrieve a golden cross. Impressions by Ulrich von Schwerin

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

In accordance with the Julian calendar, which is used by many Orthodox churches, Christmas does not fall on 25 December, as in the Gregorian calendar, but on 6 January, when it is celebrated at the same time as the baptism of Christ

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

Although the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as the "primus inter pares" (first among equals) among the patriarchs of the Orthodox churches and is nominally the spiritual leader of 250 million Christians, he in fact possesses no authority outside the handful of dioceses directly under his jurisdiction

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

Since the pogroms against the Greeks in 1955, following which the vast majority of Christians fled Istanbul, only a few thousand Greek-Orthodox Christians still live in the immediate vicinity of the Patriarchy on the historic peninsula of the Turkish metropolis

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

For centuries, the Patriarch has resided in the Fener quarter of the city on the Golden Horn, surrounded by small alleyways full of charming cafes and restaurants popular with Western tourists. Now, however, there are few foreigners to be found in Istanbul

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

Fener is located in the centre of the Fatih district, known as one of the most conservative districts in Istanbul. Typical of Fatih, which features many splendid mosques, are its streets filled with heavily veiled women and men wearing traditional harem trousers

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

The position of Bartholomew I has long been precarious and his relations with the Turkish state have been marked by tension. Islamists as well as Turkish nationalists view the continued presence of the Patriarch of Constantinople as a thorn in their side

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

Despite decades of efforts to reopen the seminary located on one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, the Theological School remains closed. This has made it difficult for the Patriarchy to train a new generation of priests

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

During the three-hour church service, the number of faithful is hardly greater than that of the police, who have cordoned off a wide area around the Church of St. George and carefully inspected all in attendance on account of the danger of terrorist attacks in Istanbul

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

After an Islamic terrorist shot and killed 39 people in the prominent Reina nightclub on New Year's Eve, the mood in Turkey is sombre. Since the failed military putsch on 15 July, the country has rarely been so divided as it is today

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

The Christmas celebrations in Fener nonetheless ended on a cheerful note. As every year, the traditional Blessing of the Waters was held at the banks of the Golden Horn below the Patriarchy, in which Bartholomew I pronounced a special blessing over the waters

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

At the end of the ceremony, a group of young men jumped into the ice-cold waters of the sound …

(photo: Ulrich von Schwerin)

… in order to fish out a golden cross that the Patriarch had thrown into the waves. This year, most of the fearless volunteers travelled here from Greece specifically for the ceremony. According to tradition, the one who manages to retrieve the cross from the waters enjoys a special blessing

PausePlay
PrevNext
  • ‎‎‎Newest
  • Most Read
  1. U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

    Joe Biden and the West's betrayal of the Hindu Kush

  2. The image of Muslim women

    “We refuse to be hijab-wearing princesses”

  3. Eroding confidence in the Fourth Estate

    Narendra Modi declares war on India's free press

  4. The fate of Europe's unwanted Afghans

    "Deportee Central" – a seedy hotel in downtown Kabul

  5. Execution for a Facebook post?

    Why blasphemy is a capital offence in some Muslim countries

  6. Afghanistan and civil society

    Ban on Afghan girls singing dropped after activist outrage

  1. The image of Muslim women

    “We refuse to be hijab-wearing princesses”

  2. Coronavirus in the Middle East

    Rumours of vaccine tourism in Dubai unfounded – for now

  3. Turkey and northern Syria

    Recep Tayyip Erdogan's deadly serious colonial project

  4. Interview with a mixed-faith couple

    Experiences in a Christian-Muslim marriage

  5. Interview with Indian-American author Fatima Farheen Mirza

    "What kind of system are we trying to pass on?"

  6. Women′s rights in Islam

    Can feminism be Islamic?

In brief

  • Press Freedom index no longer includes Germany among leading nations

  • Junta attacks displace nearly 250,000 people in Myanmar: UN envoy

  • Large-scale Houthi offensive roils Yemen's oil-rich Marib

  • Tears of joy and relief after conviction in Floyd murder case

More
Social media
and networks
Subscribe to our
newsletter

Most Recent Photo Essay

The Panjshir ("five lions") is a mountain valley about 150 kilometres north of Kabul, famous for its scenic beauty and its proud inhabitants. The area is named after a legend of five brothers who, during a flood in the 10th century, are said to have held back the waters of a great river that once flowed across the valley from west to east. Today, access to the Panjshir is via a newly metalled road

Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley and the "Five Lions"

To Afghans, the name "Panjshir" evokes associations with the Tajik resistance against the Soviets during the 1980s. But the special charm of the province lies in its landscape. Marian Brehmer reports

  • Home
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Topics
  • Dialogues
  • Essays
  • Photo Essays
  • Letters to the Editors
  • About us
  • Masthead
  • Privacy Policy