I will introduce you to a good energy place which also happens to be an old church with “ayazma” water, mostly known as Virgin Mary Ayazma (Meryem Ana Ayazması) or Panayia Vlaherna Ayazma or Ayazma and the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae.
There are some places, once you knew them you became surprised that how you didn’t knew it before, or you feel like everybody has been here/talking about here and you just heard! Well this place has been one of those places for me!
When I first heard the word “ayazma” I didn’t know what it meant so I looked it up. It is a joint word made up from Greek words “Hagia” which is read like “aya” and “ma” and in time it becomes “ayazma”. “Hagia” means sacred and “ma” means water, so it’s literally sacred water. Usually when you heard “ayazma” it’s meant as a sacred water source for Orthodox Christians. Each ayazma has different story and people believe they have healing powers for specific illnesses such as people suffering from paralysis caused by strokes are suggested to visit Balat Surp Hrastagabet Chruch while new mums who have trouble with providing milk to their babies are supposed to go to ayazma in Aya Dimitrios Church!
Ayazma part is inside the church building, which you can reach after a short walk in the garden. Interior décor is your classic church, heavy curtains, religious themes paintings, statues, dim light…I noticed in candle lighting part you put your candles in grains which striked me as a different detail! You will notice interior is in very good condition, however that’s not thanks to good safekeeping but thanks to good restoration.
Historically first time a church has been built in this place is by Byzantine Empire, around year 453 by the Emperor Marcian (though her late wife started the construction in 450).But there were fires in 1070 and 1434 and after these fires it has not been functional for long time. In 1860 current church building has been constructed and it opened its doors to visitors again. So current building is not the original in 453 but still water source is the same 🙂 Before fires, church also held sacred items like Virgin Mary’s robe brought from Palestine.
In that case I’ll just photo them at home!
Of course ayazma part is very popular, there is a writing on it which can be translated as “Do not only wash your face, wash your sins too”. Water is drinkable and if you want to take it with you it has already been small bottled conveniently. (Needless to say even though there is no price, if you are taking one you are expected to donate some change in the nearby box). By the way they didn’t want me to take pictures inside so I can’t share any interior photo with you but I did take a photo of the bottles at home! Taste? Well, it’s more like tasteless but you are supposed to drink it with goodwill and wish to find healing, not for the taste 😉
The most known story about this place goes back to 1400 years. While Istanbul being under siege by Avars at the time, on a Friday, it is said that Virgin Mary’s face has been seen and disappeared when the danger of Avers passed and their attempt to take Istanbul failed. On some versions face of Virgin Mary is said to be seen from the sky and while it’s there forces of nature prevents Avars and when they leave the face also disappears. On other versions it is said that the veil of Virgin Mary figure inside the church has been lifted, and once the danger has passed it went back to normal.
Actually on one of the first sources you came across while doing a Google search about this place, claims that thanks to this legend Friday day is considered sacred for this church and it is the only church in the World where a Sunday ritual is made on Friday. But frankly all the other resources and my own sources couldn’t confirm this, In fact I found many sources talking about Sunday rituals here. So I’ll just let you know there is this unconfirmed info 🙂
Normally this place has many visitors but when I went there last weekend of January 2016 on a Sunday afternoon, had to ask the gatekeeper to open the door for the church! Thanks to recent terror attacks in the World and in İstanbul by ISIS, tourism in İstanbul has taken a serious hit and this can be observed even in somehow off the beaten path places like this. Of course being careful is important, but letting fear taking over would mean never go to Paris again, or in fact never leave the house, so I choose not to give into what terrorists try to create, a fear domination. But it’s for every person to decide how they feel more comfortable, this is just me!
In any case, if you are in İstanbul, have a short visit here, surrounding neighborhood has many other things to offer as well like very popular Dervish Father Café, or streets of Balat, so it may be a nice off the beaten path trip for you.
Address: Istanbul, Ayvansaray Mh., 34087 Fatih/İstanbul