St Stephen Bulgar Church, Istanbul

Though it looks like stone, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church of St. Stephen of the Bulgars, on the Golden Horn in Balat, is made of cast iron.

It was was cast in Vienna, floated down the Danube on 100 barges, and bolted together here in Istanbul in 1871.

This was the cathderal church of the Bulgarian Exarch, a title and position invented by the Ottoman sultan when, in the later 1800s, the sultan's Bulgarian subjects demanded to be emancipated from the authority of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch.

At this time of ethnic nationalism, the Bulgarians claimed, with justification, that the patriarch favored Greeks over Bulgars even though both were orthodox Christians.

The "palace" of the Bulgarian Exarch was the building right across the street from the church. It's hardly palatial, especially today.

The church is still used for services by Istanbul's small, dwindling community of Bulgarian orthodox residents.

To visit the church interior you must find the caretaker, not an easy task as there are no formal visiting hours. Sunday morning, when services are held, may be the best time.

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Istanbul's cast iron church on the Golden Horn: tap it with a hammer and it clanks like a battleship.