Priest Krikor Taranağtzi first mentioned a chapel with two priests in Beşiktaş in 1623. Jeremiah Çelebi also testified to the existence of a small church in Beşiktaş. Jeremiah Çelebi’s testimony covers the years 1661 and 1681-1684. According to 18th-century historian Sarkis Tıbir Sarraf-Hovhannesyan, the church in Beşiktaş was demolished in 1759.<br><br>From the history written in Ottoman by Şemdanizade Fındıklılı Süleyman Efendi, we learn that this destroyed church was built with donations from Yakup Amira of Eğin. The church was demolished on the grounds that it had been expanded without permission. The church was rebuilt, this time of wood, in the early 19th century.<br><br>The church was rebuilt in a magnificent masonry building in 1838 by the imperial architect Garabed Amira Balyan. At a time when domed structures were prohibited, it was one of the rare domed structures. As a masterpiece of architecture, it was equipped with an inner dome that was invisible from the outside. The dome and wall decorations reflect Western style. The interior walls are adorned with large symmetrical paintings by the famous 19th-century painter Hovhannes Umed Beyzad.<br><br>Customer architect Sarkis Balyan, a resident of Beşiktaş, built the Makruhyan School next to the church in memory of his wife, who died at a young age.<br><br>The church was magnificently renovated in 1987 during the reign of Patriarch Şınorhk. In the courtyard, there are busts of Garabed and Sarkis Balyan, made by Erol Sarafyan and opened in 1993.<br><br>The last radical restoration of the church was completed in 2013 and it was consecrated by the Patriarchal Vicar Archbishop Aram Ateşyan and reopened for worship.<br><br>Harutyun (Artin) Pasha Dadyan (1830-1901), a famous state figure and Ottoman Minister of Foreign Affairs, is buried outside the south wall of the church.
“As for me, I will never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him the world is dead to me, and I to the world.” (Gal. 6:14)