The original Church of St. Anthony of Padua was built in 1725 by the Italian community of Istanbul, but was later demolished and replaced with the current building which was constructed on the same site.

The current basilican church, along with the adjacent residential buildings (known as the St. Antoine Apartmanları) was built between 1906 and 1912 in Venetian Neo-Gothic style, again by the city's Italian community (mostly made up of people of Genoese and Venetian descent, the community amounted to about 40,000 at the start of the 20th century).

[2] According to news reports, Sebahattin Gök obtained a power of attorney from the owners of the land and then attempted to sell it before lawyers acting on behalf of the Vatican took steps to prevent the sale.

These include the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (1846) in Harbiye; St. Louis of the French (1581) and Santa Maria Draperis in Beyoğlu; Sts.

Peter and Paul (1841) in Galata; the Church of the Assumption in Moda, Kadıköy; and St. Stephen in Yeşilköy.