The Saint Polycarp Church

The Saint Polycarp Church was built by permission of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I in the 17th century with the request of the French King Louis XIII. It is located in Izmir and its patron saint is the Christian bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp. It was built of stone and brick in a rectangular basilica with three naves. In 1688, it was highly damaged by an earthquake, and a fire in the following months than, but it was restored in 1775 with the help of French King Louis XVI. From the frescoes, which were done by the French architect Raymond Charles Péré, it is possible to see the life of Polycarp.