Turkey Church Records

Asia Turkey

Christian Church Records
Research use: Church books are a primary source of birth, marriage, and death information for Christians in Turkey. They identify names of parents, prove other relationships, and are very useful for linking generations.

Record type: Records of births/baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials maintained by Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, Roman Catholic, et. al.

Time period: The earliest church records date from about 1600; many date from the mid-1700s or early 1800s to present or until the parish was closed.

Contents: Baptisms – names of individuals, birth dates and baptismal dates, parents’ names (including often the mother's maiden name and sometimes even names of grandparents). Marriages – names of candidates; their fathers' names, date and place of marriage, ages; sometimes birthplaces, witnesses’ names and residences; other pertinent facts. Deaths and Burials – names of deceased persons, death dates and places of death and burial; ages; marital status; spouse’s name, sometimes cause of death; for children also parents’ names. Property Bequests [Vakfiye defter] – Information on property bequeathed to the church (Armenian Apostolic) and the donors.

Location: Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate, stanbul; Armenian Catholic Archbishopric, stanbul; State Historical Archives, Athens; possibly in Turkish provincial archives. Likely locations for Roman Catholic record include the Office of the Apostolic Pronuncio in Ankara, the office of the Apostolic Vicar for the Latins at stanbul, and the Curia of the Bishop of zmir; many records are likely under the jurisdiction of the priests of existing parishes.

Population coverage: 5% during the Ottoman period.

Reliability: Excellent.