Balıklı Kilisesi
Merkezefendi Mahallesi Church is located near the Greek Orthodox Cemetery at Kazlıçeşme, on its north is the Balıklı Street and on the west is Seyitnizam Street.
The church is surrounded by high walls al around.
The church was made by Emperor Leo I. in the second half of 5th century, and an ayazma with the same name is next to it. A later Byzamtine Emperor Justinianos I. has the church repaired and enlarged. It is again said that they used the surplus material from Hagias Sophia.
The inscriptions of the church claim that it was re-built in 1834 during the time of Patriarch Constantinos I., and was restored in 1866 upon the imperial firman of Ottoman Sultan Mahmut II and was put into service, and lastly it was repaired again in 1933. 20 out of 268 patriarchs who passed in Istanbul since the conquest of the city are buried here.
