Church in Christmas Snow

It was Greek Christmas in Turkey and I had come from my apartment near Istanbul's Taksim Square to observe the festivities in the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity (Aya Triyada) which looms above the square.

All at once a murmur spread through the crowd, the front doors opened, and in came a procession led by His All-Holiness Athenagoras, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The patriarch blessed the throng, sprinkled holy water, and proceeded behind the iconostasis to pray.

The late 19th-century church, very near Taksim at the beginning of Istiklal Caddesi, is not usually open for casual visits, but you can enter during services.

If you can claim table on the enclosed terrace of the Hacı Baba Restaurant, you'll have a view over the church's courtyard.