St. Voucolos, Last Orthodox Church in Smyrna

Last Church in Smyrna (Izmir) into the Services of Tourism

The last remained Orthodox Church of St. Voukolos in Smyrna, today Izmir, becomes a cultural center. This is reported in the Turkish newspaper “Referans” (18.08.09), confirming the relevant post of Aristides Viketos in our newspaper “Mikrasiatiki Echo” last March. According to “Referans”, the Orthodox Church of St. Voucolos of Izmir, the only one that survived from the fire of Smyrna in 1922, after restoration works will be opened to tourism as a social and cultural center. The Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality of Izmir, Mr Kotzaoglou said that during the restoration works which have already started icons and frescoes in the interior of the Church slowly appear. The main purpose of this restoration is to elevate another historic monument of the city and turn it into the tourism attraction.
In the same paper an article under the title "Ataturk converted it into a Museum," it is written that the Church of St. Voucolos has built during the second half of 19th century from the orthodox community of Smyrna and remained in the memory as the only Greek Church which was rescued by fires in 1922.
The building under Kemal Ataturk’s orders, on February 14, 1924, was converted into a museum. Later the Ministry of Culture had used it as a working room for opera. Later on when a fire took place the building was abandoned and remained as a ruin until today. The church belonged in the beginning in the Treasury and later on in the Metropolitan Municipality of Izmir.

Mikrasiatiki Echo, Jul.-Aug. 2009