Bulgarian church St. Stefan in Istanbul was chosen as most beautiful church in Turkey, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet said.

The ranking was dedicated to the Christmas holidays, Bulgarian news agency BTA said.

Clerks, art critics, sculptors and tour operators formed the jury to select the most beautiful church. The ranking included only active churches, among which Orthodox, Catholic and Assyrian.

The St. Stefan church, made of iron, was built in 1898 in the Fener residential district to replace its wooden predecessor. It is built from almost 500 tons of iron, imported from Vienna.

The 17th century Catholic church St Antoine ranked second, followed by the Armenian church from 19th century.