Location Info
Religious Building
Erzene Mahallesi
Located right next to the Ege University Rectorate (formerly the "Great House" of the Whittall family), St. Mary Magdalene Church was built in 1857 by Charlton Whittall, a Levantine merchant from Bornova, as a gift to the villagers. Whittall dedicated the church to the memory of his wife, Magdaleine Giraud.
St. Mary Magdalene Church
Located right next to the Ege University Rectorate (formerly the "Great House" of the Whittall family), St. Mary Magdalene Church was built in 1857 by Charlton Whittall, a Levantine merchant from Bornova, as a gift to the villagers. Whittall dedicated the church to the memory of his wife, Magdaleine Giraud.
The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Gibraltar in 1864 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar. A year earlier, in 1863, Sultan Abdulaziz visited the church during his visit to Bornova; this visit is remembered as an extraordinary event that was discussed for many years within the Levantine community of the time.
At the beginning of the century, the church's windows were adorned with stained glass produced by the famous English glass workshops Kempe and Clayton & Bell; these stained glass windows were sent to Bornova around 1900. Today, the church is located next to St. Mary Magdalene Church in Alsancak. The Church of St. John the Evangelist is used for private services and ceremonies by its congregation and has recently undergone extensive restoration. Nearby is the Bornova Anglican Cemetery (English Cemetery), consecrated in 1875, which contains the graves of Levantine families such as the Whittall, Giraud, and Maltass.
