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The monastery is in Büyük Ada (Prinkipo), the largest of Prince Islands offshore Istanbul in the Marmara Sea. History of the monastery and the church goes back to the 6th century although the recent church was built in 1909. The present complex consists of six separate churches and chapels on three different levels, the older sanctuaries being on the lower levels. On the ground floor are the abbot’s house and the main church of St. George, both built early in the twentieth century. On the southern interior wall of the church is the original icon of Hagios Georgios Koudonas. A flight of steps leads to the first level below. Just beside the steps is a chapel of the Virgin Blachernitissa. Beyond that is another chapel of St. George, where iron rings set into the wall indicate that this was the place where mental patients were confined in the hope that they would be cured by the wonder-working icon of Hagios Georgios Koudonas. The room at the bottom of the stairs is a tiny shrine with an hagiasma, supposedly the place where the sacred icon of St. George was excavated. Beyond that is another chapel, dedicated to the Holy Apostles.

The St George’s Day celebrations of 23 April are a well established local tradition that goes back to the multicultural past of Ottoman society. The society in the Ottoman era can easily be called cosmopolitan when all different ethnicities from different faiths lived together. This situation drastically changed as the consequence of WWI when bigger powers fought for a larger share of the richness of the earth in the price of bloodshed and new inter-state animosities. Another important result of WWI was that some of the empires such as Ottoman Empire- Austo-Hungarian Empire or Russian Empire became part of the history. Princes’ Island was a popular island where the Stamboulite bourgeoisie spent their holidays in the nineteenth century. Most of the inhabitants were from ‘minorities’, and the majority were Greek Orthodox. Therefore there are two Orthodox parish churches, a cemetery and a monastery dedicated to St George on Prinkipo. It was already both a popular place of pilgrimage and a playground visited by the people.

The traditional custom of visiting the church which date back to the Ottoman era, is the symbolic basis for the syncretic practices that can still be observed today on Prinkipo. Similar practice can be observed at St Anthony’s Catholic church in Istiklâl especially during midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Pilgrims (both Muslims and Christians) perform ritual gestures outside the monastery precincts. They tie threads –preferably white threads- to trees and bushes at the bottom of the hill and unreel them as they climb the path to the top, getting as near to the shrine as they can. Strips of cloth are tied to the trees to ‘ties down’ the illness and make it go away. They light candles outside the church and rub coins against the walls (and the frescoes, if they can): if the coins stick, their wish will be granted. Small brick, and sometime stone, edifices are built to evoke a house and marriage.

The pilgrimage to the Church of Hagios Georgios on the 23rd April is a clear example of pragmatist approach of people to certain characters that are regarded as saints and/or holy. In this case the Muslim pilgrims who are seeking for help/cure for their problems think that through communication with Saint George, they will be provided by a solution solving their problems. In this case it is not the God or Jesus they approaching but a highly venerated saint.

- Direct visit
This is the ideal way but a virtual visit through a PPP presentation prepared by the teacher is also possible.
- Virtual visit (specify how)
A virtual visit through a PPP presentation prepared by the teacher.

- Classroom activity (pre- and post- visit)
Pre-visit: Research on if there are some tombs of holy people in their region that is visited frequently by people.

Post-visit: Discussion on the motive of visiting a tomb of a religious personality. Discussion on how a person can ask for help from a holy person from a different faith without converting into the faith in question