Ephemera

Stone armorials of St Antoine de Padua Church Istanbul

The original Church of St. Anthony of Padua was built in 1725 by the Italian community of Istanbul, but was later demolished and replaced with the current building which was constructed on the same site. The current basilican church, along with the adjacent residential buildings (known as the St. Antoine Apartments) was built between 1906 and 1912 in Venetian Neo-Gothic style, again by the city’s Italian community (mostly made up of people of Genoese and Venetian descent who were numerous at the time and concentrated in this neighbourhood). The building was designed by the Levantine architect Giulio Mongeri, who also designed other important buildings in Istanbul, such as the Maçka Palas in Nişantaşı, the Neo-Byzantine Karaköy Palas bank building in Karaköy (Galata) and his former private house in Sisli - today a prominent art gallery, Bozlu Art Project, Istanbul. Hover over images depicting the various armorials on the various facades below for zoom-in views.

Street side armorial - winged lion symbol, almost certainly representing Venice.

Street side armorial - raging bull symbol, almost certainly representing the city of Turin.

Street side armorial - cross with 3 keys on every arm symbol, almost certainly representing the city of Pisa.

Courtyard side armorial - knight on horseback, representing possibly the city of Sienna or Ancona.

Courtyard side armorial - bull on its hind legs, almost certainly representing the city of Milan.

A set of 3 armorials on one block courtyard side: from left eagle on a fort perhaps Sienna, eagle holding arrows perhaps Savoy, fort with two towers, perhaps Bologna? ‘Fides’ is Latin for faith / trust. Click to enlarge image.
There is a possibility these armorials are re-used from the earlier church as they represent the various city states from which many of the Italian community presumbaly came from. The crowns on top of the emblems point to these being royal cities and the symbol of those houses. All identifications for now are educated guesses, we would welcome contributors for confirmations and corrections.