Through major whip rounds among Greek immigrants in the USA, the Fanari Academy of Greek Education raised the necessary funds in order to buy two Byzantine churches, on sale by private Turkish citizens.
The two churches were located in the area of Bursa,and indeed through their…purchase, the Patriarchate did succeed in saving them. Elpidoforos, the Abbot of the Holy Trinity Convent-where Chalki Theological school is housed- and Metropolitan of Bursa (full name Elpidoforos Labriniadis) received the keys to the Holy Temple of Taxiarchis just a few days ago.The temple is located in the village of Sigi, near Mudanya, Bursa. What is more, the Holy Metropolis also came about the church of Panagia Pantovasilissa in the neighbouring Triglia.The Turkish…owner of the temple demanded 400.000 dollars,via a Turkish-German Real Estate Office. Following this demand,the Metropolitan of Bursa scoured the US for 6 months and raised an amount of money which was unspecified,however sufficient for the purchase of the church. The president of the Mudanya Community Razim Batmaz,was also bidding in order to buy the church from the Turkish Ministry of Culture.
However,the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios himself had pleaded that the sale be stopped until the necessary amount could be raised.

Metropolitan Elpidoforos, on location of the Taxiarchis Temple, stated to ‘’Ethnos’’ newspaper the following :
We underwent a rough, hard struggle in order to raise so large an amount of money.It was hard to do so in Greece, on account of the crisis, but the immigrants of the US helped us.
The battered Temple in Sigi , Bursa
The Taxiarchis Temple is an extremely important Byzantine monument dating back to the 8th Century AD. It was constructed in the 780 AD decade by Emperor Constantine VI,so as to honor Michael and Gabriel Archangels who were the ones who saved the people of Mudanya from a devastating storm. It was fully restored in 1819 following the approval of the Sultan Mahmut the second ,son of Abdul Hamit the first. At present day, it lays in ruins, without doors and windows.Nevertheless , It still contains remarkable frescoes of unparalleled craftsmanship. In and around the temple,the place has been reduced to a mere junkyard ,with weed encroaching on both the interior and exterior of its surrounding walls.

‘’ It’s a tough fight’’
‘’Another hard struggle looms ahead, as we have to raise money so as to restore and render those two significant temples functional’’ , says Mr Labriniadis who plans on seeking the necessary funds through Greek Institutions and International Organizations.
About 9 months ago , the Bursa Metropolis also bought the ruined temple of Panagia Pantovasilissa. Its respective Mother of God miraculous icon is nestled in its namesake church of the Greek town of Rafina. It is a 14 Century AD Church who came off getting into worldwide bibliography thanks to its exquisite frescoes.
It is located in Triglia of Bithynia , homeland of the last Metropolitan of Smyrna ,Hrisostomos. The Turkish landowner had set up a 2 floor Villa which is adjacent to the temple. For many years now, the church was used as a stable and animal food-storage area. The first task of the Bursa Metropolitan is to have part of the building demolished. In this way, the beauty of this amazing frescoes church will surface.