İzmir retains a number of churches that are still used by the Christian faithful, including the oldest Christian house of worship in the city, the Church of St Polycarp , built in 1625 with the permission of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent.
It honours the city’s patron saint martyred by the Romans at Kadifekale in 155 AD. Note the charming frescoes in which the 19th-century restorer, French architect Raymond Charles Père, included his own likeness.
St John’s Cathedral , consecrated in 1874, was partly financed by Sulktan Abdülaziz and the main altar was a gift from Pope Pius IX.
The more austere Anglican St John’s Church in Alsancak was consecrated in 1902.
