Panagia Paramythia or Vlach-Sarai "Courtyard area and surroundings"

That the area of Phanar, and especially that between Phanar, Balat and Mouhli, is known for the existence of the "Patriarchies", i.e. the ecumenical and the ecclesiastical embassy churches of the Holy Sepulcher where many Patriarchs of Jerusalem resided, the Monastery of St. Catherine of the Sinai as well as the Bulgarian "iron" church of Agios Stefanos (much later and under the known circumstances) is pan-theological.

This area, besides being a center for the Orthodox peoples, and indeed during the times of the Ottoman Empire, was a point of reference for the universality of religions, but also of Islamic sects and orders. In the same neighborhoods and in the alleys of Phanar and the surrounding areas, the different religions coexisted with respect and coexisted interrelated. Vlachs, mainly from the Transdanubian regions, chose and settled in this area of multicultural presence and built their luxurious buildings and mansions. It is said that Sultan Suleiman, in 1529, granted a large area to the Vlach princes for this purpose.

The art historian Hairi Fehmi Yilmaz notes in his related report: "the rulers sent their brothers or sons to Constantinople, and they lived in Constantinople while they were in power. These nobles, who learned Turkish and became familiar with Ottoman traditions, also had to attend the ceremonies held in the city and in Topkapi Palace.

The presence of the princes in the city had many practical benefits for the Ottomans. In the days of Constantinople, the princes lived in these palaces belonging to their countries in Phanar.'

Their spiritual needs were met in the Church of Panagia Paramythia, after the donation of 1529 by the aristocratic families of the Vlachs (hence the name Vlach Sarai from "Vlachs"), including those of the Suits and the Katakouzins. The other one, the Bogdan Sarai, is close by.

The pen of the brilliant writer Manuel Gideon records that Theoktistos, the monk, taught in the courtyard of the Church (1816). Also, every February, in memory of St. Charalambos, the festival of the Philoptochos Society was held, which was founded with his signature by St. Gregory V. The greatness of hidden Hellenes is visible in the streets of Diplophanaros. Here, there is also the house of Dimitrios Kandemir, the Prince of Moldavia, whose eventful life deserves a separate study.

Panagia Paramythia, therefore, is part of this historical puzzle, which was formed in the area.

On old maps, it appears that there are some wooden structures next to the terrace walls inside the complex. These structures were built as spaces that served the Church, and it seems that they were built at the end of the 19th century. It is said that these houses with their wooden facades, as reported by relevant architectural studies, bear the traces of a similar period as the wooden additions seen on the side facades of the church. Existing foundations, as well as maps, plans and photographs help locate these structures.

In recent times, this large area of the Vlach princes, around the Church of Panagia Paramythia, five wooden houses were built in which Orthodox lived, including the youth and the priest, when they came to work. One was a two-story building and the others single-story buildings, as Alekos Naoum told us. He lived there during his childhood together with his other friends and now lives with his family in Thessaloniki.

Al. Naum

 The aforementioned Alekos Naum, born in Polis in the late 1940s, remained in the land of his birth until about the mid-1960s. He lived with his family in the houses of the courtyard of the church of Paramythia or Vlach-Sarai. First, he left at the age of 16 for Switzerland, but in a short time he came back. Then, he left again at the age of 18 and remained for a decade again in Switzerland. After his marriage, he returned to Greece and has been living in Thessaloniki ever since.

A canon at the lectern of Stanitsa, a student of the Urban School of Taxiarch Balatas, a Megaloscholite for some months and a worker at the printing office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate "Apostolos Andreas", he remembers that 6-8 families lived in the houses, among them the priest Fr. Konstantinos Paikopoulos who he was came from Antigone to serve the community.

 There were 5 houses. A two-story and 4 single-story houses. On the second floor (upper floor) lived his aunt Evdoxia with Marigo's grandmother, while on the ground floor lived the family of the shoemaker (shoemaker), Kotsos, with his wife and two daughters. Of the five buildings, Three were on the front side as you go up the left stairs. There was a two-story house and the houses of Alekos and the lamplighter. On the back side of the church, when you went up the right stairs, lived the family of Lefteris Pantazidis with his family, whose father had a barrel shop outside the courtyard, who was a blacksmith by profession.  Today, it is an apartment building. 

In the conversation we had, he remembered the marble well that was in the garden of the church, where in the summer they put the watermelons, as he told me, to cool down.

Although the games in those years were considered a luxury for many, nevertheless with his friends, Minas, Manos, Lefteris, he started the game from the Church, and then they reached the Phanar district. The game was known to the citizens as "celik-chomak" and all in Balata and the Phanar played.

 Personal memories and experiential narratives come to add to the historical evidence and join the thread from the historical to the recent past. Because the historical continuity for the region of Phanar, and especially for Vlach-Sarai, which concerns us recently, is unbroken; and it is the duty of all of us to ensure that it is not interrupted in the future.

 Therefore, the efforts to restore this church do not concern only the Greek Orthodox Community of the City, because it could be a point of reference for the multidimensional presence of the Orthodox element over time in the area of Phanar in combination with the Muslim element and the other religious groups of the area.

L. Vigas: Panagia Paramythia is the symbol of the unity of Slavic Orthodoxy with the Ecumenical Patriarchate

In continuation and completion of the publications about Vlach-Sarai comes the discussion with Mr. Lakis Viga, Official of the Great Church of Christ and President of the Panagia Paramythia Foundation, whose undivided and continuous interest also aims at the restoration of this church. (The previous publications in the "M. Asia-City" section)

"Steps Followed"

What steps have been taken towards this end so far?

Mr. Vigas notes that "due to a binding clause that was in force since 1973, after many months of effort, the Vlach-Sarai Community managed to obtain the Title Deed (Tapu Senedi) of the church of Panagia Paramythia in 2010 and to be registered in the Land Registry (Tapu). It should be mentioned, of course, that this church is the only asset of the Panagia Paramythia Foundation."

The fact is that the diaspora has for many years begun a long, arduous and difficult struggle to recover and exploit many assets that had been seized in the past. But the victory of the Vlach-Sarai Community is special, as with zero income and no other assets, it managed to register this historic church in the Land Register.

Mr. Vigas meaningfully emphasizes "This is our destination, to support and strengthen our presence in modern Turkey. That is why we are building our Cultural Center in Galatas. That is why we support our schools in Imbros and are looking for solutions for other emblematic buildings of the diaspora, whose friendly aesthetics and architecture adorn the city of today as an undeniable witness and point of reference of our cultural identity and timeless presence and contribution to our country.”

Mr. Vigas is an optimist by nature and as he tells us, obtaining the property title was only the first but big step because the fight for the restoration of Panagia Paramythia actually began with the acquisition of the property title. Evidence that would help satisfactorily was immediately sought, i.e. archival and photographic material, historical data and records, architectural material from state archives, maps, impressions, and even oral testimonies.

That is, anything that could help form a complete picture of the architectural form. Not only of the church, but also of the surrounding area with the ancillary buildings. All the elements, from the most important to the smallest detail, have their value, so that a complete and comprehensive restoration study of the whole complex could be done. In this effort, Akylas Millas, Dimosthenis Paikopoulos and Dimitris Palavitsinis stood by our side as helpers. To date, the archaeological studies and excavations by the Archaeological Museum of the City have been completed for the foundations of the church and the adjacent buildings, as well as the statics study. The architectural study was prepared by Hüseyin Başçetinçelik and Mimarlık Ofisi architectural offices.

"Highlighting historicity"

Efforts have now gone to another level of informing public opinion and highlighting historicity, but also the necessity of the modern promotion and promotion of this church, which is the next goal. The Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew is always close to the Supervisory Committee and personally supports the efforts of its President. He honors with his high presence every event that is organized with the aim of highlighting, elevation and promoting the church of Panagia Paramythia, which is located in a historical and pivotal point of the wider area of Balat.

Built in an area where, within 2-3 blocks, the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Great School of the Nation, the Byzantine Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos Mouchlio, the Joachimio Girls' School and the Metochi of the Holy Sepulcher coexist, to be an additional mosaic in the historic area of Phanar (Fener).

In the context of these efforts, Mr. Vigas informs us that in December 2016, an evening was organized at the Great School of the Nation, with the theme "The Virgin of the Fairytale-Vlach Sarai: Thoughts for the present and the future." The event was graced with the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew and the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mr. Nabı Avcı.

Also, the Supervisory Committee is in cooperation with the Fatih Municipality (Fatih Belediyesi) to which Vlach-Sarai belongs, as the restoration and utilization of the building complex of the church will help in the ongoing regeneration of the area and will be a cradle of culture and interfaith.

In the last two years, collaboration has also been developed at an academic level with Özyeğin University Professor Mr. Alessandro Camiz, who is an architect of historical monuments and deals with urban planning and morphology, but also with newly developed technologies applied to the restoration of similar monuments.

Mr. Camiz and his scientific colleagues from Özyeğin University, as well as from abroad, show great interest in the development of the area and highlighting the importance of the church, by organizing conferences, digital tours, tutorial studies with students, etc. a.

At the end of 2021, and in collaboration with the same University, interest in participating in the "Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation" program of the American Embassy was strengthened, with the hope of a positive response, so that at least a temporary roof can be developed and the restoration can be carried out of the entrance and corridors of the courtyard area.

"Why another church must be restored."

The question that comes effortlessly every time in such a discussion is why should one more church be restored? What is the need for an additional church in the city, where each area and each neighborhood have its own historic church? And why in the Phanar, where is also the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Pansept Patriarchal Church of Agios Georgios, Mouhlio, St. Nikolas of Tzimbali, the Metohi of the Holy Sepulcher, the Metohi of the Sinai Monastery, St Stevens of the Bulgarian Parish of City, would anyone question how they cover the religious needs and the historical presence in the area?

Mr. Vigas is clear "Obviously one can think, but why should one more church be restored, since there are so many decent people and the congregation is limited, why spend so much money since the prospects of Hellenism in Turkey are limited? All these and other similar considerations are seemingly justified; but we here, the continuers of the Orthodox heritage, experienced and continue to experience the ups and downs of history and political conflicts and rivalries.

But we never thought of discarding the legacy of our ancestors and leaving ourselves to a fatal assimilation by the wider society. On the other hand, in recent years we have fought for the survival and preservation of our cultural identity, the progress and development of our historical communities by building unifying bridges and opening cultural channels of communication."

"The title Vlach-Sarai even today, as is known, prevails over the name Panagia Paramythia. This shows that although five whole centuries have passed since its foundation, the identity of its founders has remained indelibly written and unchanged in history. The historical memory is kept alive and is a point of reference not only for the Greek-speaking world, but for the entire Orthodox community to this day."

And he continues "This relatively small temple, whose history begins in the post-Byzantine period and reaches our days, has a lot to tell and teach us. In its history one meets Rulers of the Transdanubian Hegemonies.

It is also part of the history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose seat it was when important historical events of the Orthodox Church took place, such as the rendering of patriarchal honor to the Moscow Patriarchate. Therefore, the church of Panagia Paramythia is the ecumenical symbol of an inseparable spiritual and cultural unity of Slavic Orthodoxy with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 

 Photo of the church before the fire of 1970

Later, it continued its operation as a monastery and ended up in a parish church with the last vicar Fr. Konstantinos Paikopoulos. The fire of 1970 interrupted its operation and gradually led to its abandonment and collapse.”

"therefore"

In conclusion, he states "After 40 whole years, we started the efforts to reconstitute and restore this sacred space, to rebuild the church and the auxiliary buildings of the courtyard. Although it is not so easy for this frozen dream to become a new hearth of Orthodoxy, a new place of embodiment of the universality of Hellenism, a new meeting place of cultures, the focus of life and action of young people who in recent years discover its secrets neighborhood of the Phanar coming into contact with the culture and history of our lineage.

The Virgin Fairy Tale of Vlach-Sarai seeks her future in the Queen of cities, to continue to give her modern testimony through her eternal presence. With her candle burning, we hope she will begin a new offering to civil society. With the multiple possibilities of use that can be created and the offer of hospitality in its cells, the courtyard of Panagia can once again become a meeting place of cultures and a universal offer to the general public."

Mr. Vigas once again wanted to express his warm thanks to Mr. Thanasis Laskaridis and his wife Mrs. Evi Lazou for their donation, with which all the studies and work were done until today; as well as to Mr. Takis and Petros Tavaniotis for their architectural contribution and support.

"wishes"

Closing this cycle of publications about the Virgin Fairy Tale of Vlach-Sarai, we would like to express the wish and desire of all Roma to support the Community financially and morally and to find the necessary financial resources to make the dream of restoring this building a reality complex so as to be a cradle of life, culture and creation in the emerging and constantly developing modern neighborhood of the Phanar.