Bogdan Saray

In the Ottoman era the small edifice, being dedicated to St. Nicholas of Myra, was known as Agios Nikólaos tou Bogdansarághi (Greek: Ἅγιος Νικόλαος τοῦ Βογδανσαράγι).

The remains of the church lie in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih, in the neighborhood (Turkish: Mahalle) of Salmatomruk, not far from Edirnekapı (the ancient Gate of Charisius), 250 m. east of the museum of Chora and 100 m north of the Kefeli Mosque, both former Byzantine religious buildings.

Nothing is known about the edifice in the Byzantine Age, but due to its position it was likely an annex of the monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Rock (Greek: Ἅγιος Ιωάννης Πρόδρομος ἐν τῇ Πὲτρα, pr.

[1][2] After the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, in sixteenth century the chapel became part of the large land estate bought by the voivode/hospodar of Moldavia to host his envoys in Istanbul, and named accordingly Boğdan Sarayi ("Moldavian Palace").

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the complex – a coveted property because the high border wall protected it from fires – was leased by the Sultan as residence for several foreign envoys, among them the Swedish ambassadors to the Ottoman Porte P. Strasburg and C. Rolomb, who sojourned in Istanbul in 1634 and 1657/58 respectively.