Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Istanbul

About

The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, also called the Saint Esprit Cathedral (Turkish: Saint Esprit Kilisesi), is a Catholic church Istanbul, Turkey, on Cumhuriyet Avenue 127/A in the Pangaltı quarter of Şişli district, the former Harbiye. It is the episcopal see of the Aposotolic Vicar of Istanbul, as it contains his actual cathedra (throne). The 19th-century cathedral is adjacent to Lycée Notre Dame de Sion Istanbul high school, and a statue of Benedict XV is a feature of the courtyard.

Located between Taksim Square and the Nişantaşı quarter, the cathedral is the second-largest Catholic church in the city after the Basilica of S. Antonio di Padova on İstiklal Avenue in Beyoğlu. The basilica was built in Baroque style in 1846 under the direction of Swiss-Italian architect Gaspare Fossati and Italian architect Achille Bottazzi. The project was under the French archbishop Julien Hillereau, the Vicar Apostolic from 1835 to 1855, who is entombed in the cathedral's crypt.