The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is a rare example of a medieval Catholic church preserved in Istanbul, whose history is quite interesting.
At the end of the 15th century, the Dominican monks were left without their home - by order of Sultan Bayezid II, the Dominican church of Saint Paul and Saint Dominic, where they lived, was converted into a mosque (today this is the Church of Saint Paul, better known as the Arab Mosque).
However, fate was kind to the monks, and they managed to obtain a new plot of land not far from Galata Tower. There they built a small wooden chapel. The stone building that has survived to this day was erected later. Today it is in a rather deplorable condition and in need of restoration, but despite this, it greatly attracts travelers strolling through the Beyoglu district.
The main shrine of the church is the icon of the patroness of Constantinople - Our Lady Hodegetria in a silver setting. And next to the building of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, not far from the remains of the towers of the old Genoese city walls, there is a small cemetery of Maltese and French families.
