The queue outside Istanbul’s Our Lady of Vefa church stretched more than 200 meters, made up of Christians and Muslims chatting animatedly as they waited to make a wish inside this Greek Orthodox sanctuary.

It was a scene that plays out on the first day of every month at this ancient house of worship hidden behind a high wall topped with a metal fence and known in Turkish as «the first-of-the-month church.”

«We came before with friends and every one of our wishes came true!» said Emine Şanlı, a Muslim woman who believes she was cured of a problem with her hands after drinking water from a spring under the church that is blessed by a priest.

«But it’s the first time I’ve seen such a large crowd,” she said.

Some visitors attribute the recent influx of attendees at this historic church to ongoing challenges such as economic difficulties or personal struggles, as well as to the hope it offers individuals of all faiths who come to this site in Istanbul.