The bell tower of the former Orthodox Cathedral of Agia Fotini in Smyrna.
image courtesy of Andrew Simes
Easter celebrations at Agia Fotini, 1875. Easter was always a grand celebration amongst the Greeks of Smyrna and according to the book Prokopiu I his Seriani stin Palia Smirni the fireworks were provided by the firm of Karabati who one day lost one an eye through an industrial accident.
image courtesy of George Poulimenos
The Smyrna Metropolitan Chrysostomos blesses the Greek army, 2-5-1919, on the steps of the south side of this church.
image courtesy of George Poulimenos
The rear of this church.
The interior of this church. In the book ‘The Seven Stars of Apocalypse’ by G. Lambakis (1909) there is a picture of the iconostasis of this church (page 201, pic. 113) and all the details are the same. The visible icons starting from the left are: Saints Voukolos & Polycarpe, St. Photini, the Mother of Christ - Central gate - Christ, St. John the Baptist, the Three Hierarchs.
image courtesy of Arzu Erman
The entrance under the belfry, a day before the fire. Inside the gate you can see the Greek refugees gathered in the churchyard, and to the left a Turkish guard is sitting. This suggests with the gates locked these people were prisoners. The photo was taken to show the status of the BFPO Agency (Banque Française des Pays d’Orient) a bank in which Elzéar Guiffray had interests. The French of the city had formed a sort of militia to try to protect their belongings as can be seen by the men in berets standing at the door-step of this bank.
image courtesy of Arzu Erman
The gate post 1922 fire. The debris in front of the gate are the remains of the belfry, which was not damaged by the fire. It was intentionally blown up with dynamite some time between the 15th and 20th of September.
Click here to view gallery of this building analysis by Okan Çetin, 2012