Giresun Children’s Library: The Curious Case of a Republican Era Conversion of a Latin Catholic Church in the Black Sea Region

Vanessa R. de Obaldía, ERC - Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz

Since the dissolution of the Latin Empire in 1261, Latin Catholic churches in Constantinople experienced the occasional conversion and transformation. With the Ottoman conquest two centuries later, they were subjected to gradual but systematic expropriation and conversion for either religious or secular purposes. Two of the best documented cases consist of the conversion of the Dominican church of St. Paul into Galata Mosque in 1476 and that of the Conventual Franciscan complex of St. Francis into Galata New Mosque in 1698. With the passage of the centuries, the transformation of Latin Catholic places of worship took a variety of different forms, from mosques and depos to cultural centres and even a Turkish bath, thereby satisfying religious, demographic, political, and economic needs.

This study will provide a general overview of the conversion of Latin Catholic churches from the period of the Ottoman conquests before presenting a detailed case study of the conversion of a Latin Catholic church into a children’s library in the Black Sea city of Giresun. The history the former church established by the Capuchins in Giresun is of particular interest because firstly, it had the shortest life-span (1910-1967) of all of the Capuchin churches in the Ottoman Empire and secondly, its conversion into a children’s library preserved the essence of two important roles played by the Capuchin mission in Ottoman territories: the edification of society and the provision of children’s education. While the topics of conversion and shared space are not new ones, this case study shall shed light on other significant issues relating to the status and importance of the Capuchin’s church prior to and following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 as well as to the political and social dynamics of the twentieth-century Black Sea region. This study will also address questions surrounding conceptions about the religious space of the “other” in terms of recognition of its validity / invalidity as a space of worship and consequently its right to maintain its original function.