A restored Greek Orthodox church in Didim's Akbük district in Aydın has been converted into a culture center.

Architect Fikri Aktan said during the opening ceremony: “The restoration undertaken by İzmir Röleve and Monuments Head Office has been really successful. The building still maintains its historical structure.”

“The church was built by the Greeks in 1823. It was in ruins, and following some correspondence with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Akbük Mayor, İbrahim Şam, had the church handed over to him. Then the church was restored,” said Aktan.

“We were criticized severely during the restoration, but in the end we created a nice work of art. Akbük was once a village, and then it became a continually developing district. Besides this development, however, Akbük needs to have an identity,” said Aktan, and added, “We decided to recover this church by restoring it. With the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the financing of the municipality, we converted a church which was once in ruins into a culture center.”

Finally, in his speech Akbük Mayor Ibrahim Şam stated: “The new culture center will make up for what the district was lacking.”

Following the keynote speeches, Aydın Assistant Governor Mesut Kırcalı launched the culture center.