The Church of the Virgin Mary, the first church of the Syriac community in Istanbul, is located in the Çukur district of the Karakurum alley in the Bioglu district of the European section of Istanbul.
The church contains a management building and a school. According to Syriac sources, the land of the church was purchased by the Syriac community in the 19th century. Armenian sources say that an Armenian church existed between 1650 and 1780.
The Church lived a period of problems because of its return, but this problem ended with the re-establishment of the Church on September 6, 1863, and its acceptance as a common place of worship between Armenians and Syrians.
The church took its share of the Great Istanbul Fire in 1870 and was rebuilt in 1878.
In 1961 the old building of the church was demolished and the modern building was established by the Syriac community in Istanbul. It was opened for worship with a special ceremony in 1964.
