Church of the Virgin of the Heavens Salmatovroukiou

The level of the kalderimia, the stone-paved streets of Constantinople rises whenever they are repaired, for the new layer of flag-stones is laid over the old. That is why the doorway into the courtyard of the Church of the Virgin of the Heavens, whose feast day is 15 August, is now half-buried.
Regrettably, both the church itself and the school and other buildings within the enclosure, like the 'Romaic' or Greek school opposite, are now in bad repair.
The attribute «Kyria ton Ouranon», Queen of the Heavens, may be explained as a Greek rendering of the Armenian word 'Takavor' or 'Takouaran'. These are names by which Armenians refer to the Virgin, and as the old church had once belonged to a noble Armenian family its dedication was changed first to 'Ta Koronia' and later to 'Kyria ton Ouranon'.
The church complex is cared for by Vassilis Trapzanoglou and his wife Marianthi. Born in Trabizond, Trapzanoglou has been a church-warden for forty years on end and remembers the times when the parish consisted of forty families, of which only one remains today: his own.
The church is timber-roofed and the nave or central aisle is tunnel-vaulted. It possesses a fine templo and, in the north aisle, an Aghiasma. The sacred fountain-head is of marble and has two spouts, it is incised with a cross and the inscription "Aghiasma of Saint Kyriaki", below which are the words "Dedicated by L. Toptsoglou 1959".

Ismini Kapandai
Churches in Constantinople
Nikos Ghinis – Constantinos Stratos