An anniversary event full of emotion and pride for the Greek Orthodox faith took place in Istanbul on March 20, 2016. The event titled “Polis, which light unites us…” was organized by the Region of South Aegean, with the help of the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, in the event room of the church of Pammegiston Taksiarchon in Arnavutköy.
Every year, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, in every Greek Orthodox church around the world, there is a special Sunday mass. The epicenter of every event is the historical Fener, where each Ecumenical Patriarch holds the mass and the litany of the holy icons in the Church of Agios Georgios. In the afternoon of the same day, since the years of the Byzantine era, there is a social event — an anniversary concert.
The Region of South Aegean with the Church of Dodecanese who falls under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, organized this year’s concert, as a continuation of the custom. The program of the event consisted of three parts: In the first part, there were rare Byzantine compositions. In the second one there were traditional songs from the regions of Bosphorus, the sea of Marmaras, Eastern Thrace, Asia Minor, Izmir and Cappadocia. In the third and last part, artists sung songs of famous Greek composers.