St. Esprit Cathedral

The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit was built in 1846. It is the second largest Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul. It has been visited by four Popes! It is located on a major street, Cumhuriyet Avenue, across from the Istanbul Hilton. However, the church is not visible from the street. You pass through a nondescript door from the street and enter a courtyard. There, in the courtyard, is a huge statue of Pope Benedict XV and the church itself.
Cathedral makes this church sound grand in proportion but it's actually not that big. What it lacks in size it makes up for in beauty and a wonderful sense of community if you attend one of the services. They have numerous masses on the weekend including one in French on Saturday and an English mass at 10am on Sunday. The Sunday mass was attended by a large congregation of Filipinos who made for a wonderful choir (a lot of the mass is sung rather than spoken and there are a lot hymns). Even if you're not a catholic, do stay for the mass. The sense of community and the spiritual connection with people you don't know is wonderful.
The sermon given by the parish priest was terrific and reflecting on current issues facing society without being over bearing. His delivery was warm and quite entertaining so again no need to fear a possibility of being lectured at or hectored.
The church itself is beautiful, Baroque in style and worth a visit just for that. It's lit up by a series of elaborate crystal chandeliers and the walls and ceilings are highly ornate and richly painted. The paintings are lovely in a very traditional manner. Stay a little while, enjoy a mass and then light some candles and say a little prayer for those who could do with a prayer being said for them.
Highly recommended as an alternative to the big ticket tourist sits with long queues and masses of tourists. It's a wonderful,place to retreat for a bit of peace and quiet contemplation.
Located just across the street from the Istanbul Hilton, the St. Esprit Cathedral is a beautiful church with convenient Masses. It is a French church, run by an Italian order of priests, and has an English language Mass on Sunday at 10 AM. The English Mass is attended mainly by workers from the Philippines, while the French Mass is attended by West Africans. There were a few American ex-pats, but no tourists. All in all a very beautiful Mass experience in an historic church.