The church of the Panagia is at the far end of Fayton Meydanı. The church is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God (Koimisis tis Theotokos), whose feast day is August 15, one of the major holy days of the Greek Orthodox Church. The original site of the church, which was founded in 1735, was near the Greek cemetery on the southern slope of Isa Tepesi. It was erected on its present site in 1793 and was renovated in 1871. The central icon on the carved wooden iconostasis is a Deesis, in which Christ is flanked by the Virgin and St. John the Baptist. Other icons on the screen depict Sts. Paraskevi, Dimitrios, Barbara and Nicholas. The iconostasis is also adorned with three friezes representing biblical scenes in chronological order. The intricately carved wooden ambo, or pulpit, is noted as one of the finest in all the Greek Orthodox churches in Istanbul; its adornments include paintings of the four evangelists, and the carved wooden figure of a bird whose widespread wings served to hold the Gospels.
