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Christianity has a long history in Anatolia (now part of the Republic of Turkey), which is the birthplace of numerous Christian Apostles and Saints, such as Paul of Tarsus, Timothy, Nicholas of Myra, Polycarp of Smyrna and many others.
Two out of the five centers (Patriarchates) of the ancient Pentarchy are in Turkey: Constantinople (Istanbul) and Antioch (Antakya). Antioch was also the place where the followers of Jesus were called "Christians" for the first time in history, as well as being the site of one of the earliest and oldest surviving churches, established by Saint Peter himself. For a thousand years, the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world.
Turkey is also home to the Seven Churches of Asia, where the Revelations to John were sent. Apostle John is reputed to have taken Virgin Mary to Ephesus in western Turkey, where she spent the last days of her life in a small house, known as the House of the Virgin Mary, which still survives today and has been recognized as a holy site for pilgrimage by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, as well as being a Muslim shrine. The cave of the Seven Sleepers is also located in Ephesus.
All of the first seven Ecumenical Councils which are recognized by both the Western and Eastern churches were held in present-day Turkey. Of these, the Nicene Creed, declared with the First Council of Nicaea (İznik) in 325, is of utmost importance and has provided the essential definitions of present-day Christianity.
Today the Christian population of Turkey includes an estimated 45,000 Armenian Apostolic, 17,000 Assyrian- Syriac Orthodox, 8,000 Assyrians of the Chaldean Catholic, 3,000-4,000 Greek Orthodox, and smaller numbers of Bulgarians, Georgians, and Protestants.
Famous quotes containing the words turkish and/or christians:
“A Turkish baththat marble paradise of sherbert and sodomy.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (17881824)
“There are only two sorts of people in life you can trustgood Christians and good Communists.”
—Joe Slovo (b. 1926)