Euroea or Euroia (
Ancient Greek: Εὔροια; also transcribed as Eurœa) was a city in
Epirus, in western
Greece, during
late antiquity. It was abandoned in the early 7th century due to
Slavic invasions. During the 4th–8th centuries, it was a
bishopric. Since the 18th century, it has also been a
titular see of the
Catholic Church. Its site is located near the modern village of
Glyki in
Greece.[1]
History
St. Donatus, bishop of Euroea, lived under
Theodosius I (
r. 379–395) and performed miracles, including providing a local settlement with abundant watersources (likely connected to the name "Euroea", "well-flowing").[2][3] A church dedicated to St. Donatus was erected, probably on the site of an ancient pagan temple (Omphalion).[2] The town belonged to the
Roman province of
Epirus vetus.[4]
Bishops of Euroea are attested at councils in the 5th and 6th centuries,[2] and the city is mentioned by
Hierocles.[5] According to
Procopius, Emperor
Justinian I (
r. 527–565) resettled the inhabitants of Euroea to an islet in a neighbouring lake and built there a strong city,[6] commonly thought to be on the site of
Ioannina.[2]
As a result of the
Slavic invasions, in 603 the Bishop of Euroea and the inhabitants, taking the relics of St. Donatus with them, fled to
Kassiopi on
Corfu.[2] The original site of Euroea is unclear:
Michel Le Quien identified it with modern
Paramythia, others with the nearby ancient settlement of
Photice.[3] It is now tentatively located near the village of
Glyki.[2][7][1]
Bishopric
The first (and only) mention of the bishopric in one of the Notitiae Episcopatuum is in the so-called "iconoclast notitia" (compiled some time after 787), where it is listed (as Εὐρόσου) as the second among the
suffragans of the
Metropolis of Nicopolis.[8]
^Darrouzès, Jean (1981). Notitiae episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae: texte critique, introduction et notes. La Geographie ecclesiastique de l’Empire byzantin (in French). Paris: Institut français d'études byzantines. pp. 32, 236.