Map

The building has a rectangular plan with a single nave. The main entrance is on the west. On the western side of the church, there is a gallery elevated by wooden stairs above the nave. There are three oval windows on both sides of the nave. On the eastern wall of the apse, there is an inscription concerning the inauguration of the church stating that the building complex was built by Joanna Berfiste (born in Calabria) who later became the head of the Capuchins in Smyrna and Greece. The façade o the building is of Neo-Romanesque style having a big rose window dominating the main entrance. Three oval windows on either side of the nave provide light to the interior of the church.

The Levantines living in the Bayraklı district of Izmir were granted a land in 1897-99 on which they received a permission to built a church in 1901. Although the the first foundation stone was laid in 1902, the construction of the church commenced in 1904 but due to financial problems it could have been finished only in 1922, shortly before the city was liberated by the Turkish Army. This is the only church of the Capuchins in Izmir. Recently the church serves to a small community of Christians. The church was dedicated to St. Antonio di Padova as well as St. Expedite, a well known saint in Izmir by the Greek Orthodox Community by the name Agios Fanourios.

Even the church itself is not an inter-religious place, it gives an important opportunity to talk about multi-ethnic and multi-religious history of the city of Izmir, especially in the Ottoman Era. The Christian population of the city was overwhelmingly Greek Orthodox. There was a considerable amount of members of other Christian sects as well. Turkey faced an immense internal migration from the country side to the bigger towns starting from 1950s and İzmir was not an exception. Bayraklı district of Izmir was one of the areas where those people coming from the countryside resided changing the urban and ethnic texture of the region. The church still in function today has no congregation in the vicinity therefore there is no direct contact with the Muslim population of the area and the Christian community using the church.

The multi-ethnic and multi-religion society of Izmir enjoyed decades of prosperity in the 19th century until the break of WWI. Even the city had a mixed population; demographic structure was well defined by districts. The business was mostly in the hands of Levantines and among different districts they dwelled, Bayraklı became a center of attraction in the late 19th century. With the population exchange in 1922 between Greece and Turkey, the demographic structure of the city drastically changed becoming overwhelmingly Muslim. Other minorities In due course of time the numbers of Christians and Jews living in the city decreased.

The didactical relevance and the proposed way to use with the students:
- Direct visit
A direct visit, if possible, would be the best way for students to experience the atmosphere of the place.
- Virtual visit (specify how)
A PPT presentation prepared by the tutor enriched with visuals.
- Classroom activity (pre- and post- visit)
Pre-visit activity: A research by students if any kind of migration (local or trans-border) had an effect in the urban demographic texture of the region where the school is located.

Post-visit:
- Discussion on if migration has an effect on the destination where the emigrants form a new group of faith (i.e. Catholic migrants/workers in northern Europe where Protestants are in the majority etc.).