# World's oldest church...or something, in Turkey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888 "2014-06-16T06:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/1 "2014-06-16T06:34:08Z")
Years ago I took a Humanities class. I saw a picture of the world’s oldest Christian church, allegedly, in Istanbul, IIRC (but, I’m not too sure that I RC). For years, it stuck in my memory that it was the Hagia Sofia, but, when I searched Youtube, the Hagia Sofia seemed totally different from what I remember as the church of which I was thinking, and substantially larger. So, the church that I’m looking for actually looks pretty durned small. I’m pretty sure it’s around Turkey, maybe Armenia. I think it was located in the heart of town, whatever town it was, and looked pretty ratty. Can anybody help me ID it? Thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/2 "2014-06-16T06:50:17Z")
Is it on the list ? [Wikipedia’s List of oldest church buildings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_church_buildings) … Turkey and Armenia compete… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/3 "2014-06-16T07:17:41Z")
I think you may have confused your records. Hagia Sofia was at one time the world’s largest church but I don’t think it was ever in contention as one of the oldest churches. St Peter’s Basilica in Rome (the original one) was already a couple of centuries old when Hagia Sofia was built. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/4 "2014-06-16T07:35:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think you may have confused your records. Hagia Sofia was at one time the world’s largest church but I don’t think it was ever in contention as one of the oldest churches. St Peter’s Basilica in Rome (the original one) was already a couple of centuries old when Hagia Sofia was built. That’s my read, but, as I said, the name is what stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/5 "2014-06-16T07:39:13Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Is it on the list ? > [Wikipedia’s List of oldest church buildings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_church_buildings) … Turkey and Armenia compete… Lemmee check… Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/6 "2014-06-16T07:40:22Z")
Hmmm…it may be the Church of St. George in Sofia, Bulgaria. [Church of Saint George, Sofia - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._George,_Sofia) , from the link from **Isilder**. May have been the Sofia part that tricked me. Sure looks a lot nicer than I remembered it, tho! Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/7 "2014-06-16T10:15:09Z")
While it sure as shit isn’t Christian [Gobekli Tepe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe) is the oldest known religious site on Earth, and is in Turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/8 "2014-06-16T10:55:47Z")
The Pantheon in Rome dates to 126 AD, although it wasn’t a church until the 7th Century - meaning that while it isn’t the oldest church in the world, it may be the oldest building used as a church. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/9 "2014-06-16T12:13:27Z")
The Chora Church in Istanbul dates IIRC in pieces from about 600AD. Certainly not close to oldest, but small church in the right place. ---
**Author:** ![JimNightshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jimnightshade/32/3354_2.png) [@JimNightshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimNightshade)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/10 "2014-06-16T13:34:28Z")
Some of the megalithic temples in Malta date back 1000 years before the oldest pyramid in Egypt was even thought off. > **[Megalithic Temples of Malta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta)** > > The Megalithic Temples of Malta (Maltese: It-Tempji Megalitiċi ta' Malta) are several prehistoric temples, some of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, built during three distinct periods approximately between 3600 BC and 2500 BC on the island country of Malta. They had been claimed as the oldest free-standing structures on Earth until the discovery of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. Archaeologists believe that these megalithic complexes are the result of local innovations in a process of cult The Ġgan... ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/11 "2014-06-16T15:01:27Z")
> [@](#): > > [@handsomeharry](#): > > Hmmm…it may be the Church of St. George in Sofia, Bulgaria. [Church of Saint George, Sofia - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._George,_Sofia) , from the link from **Isilder**. > May have been the Sofia part that tricked me. Sure looks a lot nicer than I remembered it, tho! > > Thanks, all. If you were thinking of a plainer-looking church, there is also a [Hagia Sofia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sofia_Church,_Sofia) in Sofia, Bulgaria. I took a tour there and the guide said the church’s popularity inspired the town’s change of name from Serdica to Sofia. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/12 "2014-06-17T01:35:55Z")
> [@JimNightshade](#): > > Some of the megalithic temples in Malta date back 1000 years before the oldest pyramid in Egypt was even thought off. > > [Megalithic Temples of Malta - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta) _We_ call them “temples”, but in fact we have no realy idea why they built or what they were originally used for. Religious ritual worship or funeral practices or both are plausible guesses, but that’s about as far as we can go. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/13 "2014-06-17T01:38:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The Pantheon in Rome dates to 126 AD, although it wasn’t a church until the 7th Century - meaning that while it isn’t the oldest church in the world, it may be the oldest building used as a church. The Parthenon is older than the Pantheon (by about 550 years), and it was in use as a Christian church for about a thousand years, though of course it no longer is. It may have the distinction of being the oldest extant building ever to have been used as a church. I think the Pantheon is claimed to be the oldest building still in regular use for _any_ purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-church-or-something-in-turkey/690888/14 "2014-06-17T10:24:42Z")
There’s a [“Little Hagia Sophia”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Hagia_Sophia) in Istanbul, earlier than Hagia Sophia (but not much) and now a mosque. (was in it a few weeks ago - very pretty in a knocked-about-by-the years way but prob not the droid you are searching for)