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Metropolis of Ioannina

Μητρόπολις Ιωαννίνων
Cathedral church of St. Athanasios
Location
Country Greece (historically Ottoman Empire, Byzantine Empire)
Ecclesiastical provinceIoannina
Information
Rite Byzantine Rite
Established9th century (as bishopric), 1318 (as metropolis)
Cathedral Church of St. Athanasios, Ioannina
Current leadership
Parent church Patriarchate of Constantinople/ Church of Greece
Metropolitan Maximos Papagiannis
Website
http://www.imioanninon.gr/main/

The Metropolis of Ioannina ( Greek: Ιερά Μητρόπολις Ιωαννίνων, Iera Mitropolis Ioanninon) is a Greek Orthodox diocese centred on the city of Ioannina, in the Epirus of Greece. As one of the "New Lands", it belongs formally to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but is administered by the Church of Greece. As of June 2014, the Metropolitan of Ioannina is Maximos Papagiannis.

History

The exact time of Ioannina's foundation is unknown. It is commonly identified with an unnamed new, "well-fortified" city, recorded by the historian Procopius (De Aedificiis, IV.1.39–42) as having been built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I ( r. 527–565) for the inhabitants of ancient Euroia, [1] [2] but archaeological evidence for this is lacking; indeed, early 21st-century excavations have brought to light fortifications dating to the Hellenistic period (4th–3rd centuries BC), the course of which was largely followed by the later Castle of Ioannina. [3]

The name Ioannina appears for the first time in 879, in the acts of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, which refer to one Zacharias, Bishop of Ioannine, a suffragan of Naupaktos. [2] After the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, in 1020 Emperor Basil II ( r. 976–1025) subordinated the local bishopric to the Archbishopric of Ohrid. [2] In the treaty of partition of the Byzantine lands after the Fourth Crusade, Ioannina was promised to the Venetians, but in the event, it became part of the new principality of Epirus, founded by Michael I Komnenos Doukas. [4]

Following the assassination of the last native ruler, Thomas I Komnenos Doukas by his nephew, Nicholas Orsini, in 1318, the city refused to accept the latter and turned to the Byzantines for assistance. On this occasion, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos ( r. 1282–1328) elevated the city to a metropolitan bishopric, and in 1319 Andronikos II issued a chrysobull conceding wide-ranging autonomy and various privileges and exemptions on its inhabitants. [4] [5] The new metropolis was placed in 53rd place among the metropolitan sees subject to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but rose to 42nd place under Andronikos III Palaiologos ( r. 1328–1341), and further to 33rd place in c. 1470. [6] The suffragan sees of the new metropolis in the 14th century are not known, but are likely the same four sees as those attested for c. 1470: the bishoprics of Vela, Dryinoupolis, Bouthrotos/ Glyky, and Himarra. [7]

Under the regime of Thomas II Preljubović (1367–1384), the citizens and the local Church suffered greatly: Thomas confiscated property in favour of his Serb followers, and drove the Metropolitan Sebastianos to exile; nevertheless, he was able to repel successive attempts by the Albanian chieftains Peter Losha and John Bua Spata to capture the city, most notably the great surprise attack of 1379, whose failure the Ioannites attributed to intervention by their patron, Saint Michael. [8] [9] After Thomas' murder in December 1384, the citizens of Ioannina offered their city to Esau de' Buondelmonti. Esau took care to recall those exiled under Thomas, including the Metropolitan Gabriel, and restore the properties confiscated by him. Esau secured a period of peace for the city, which lasted until his death in 1411. The Ioannites then invited the Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, Carlo I Tocco, as their new ruler. Following the death of Carlo I in 1429, in October 1430 Ioannina surrendered to an Ottoman army. [10] [11]

Led by the Metropolitan, the notables of the city secured a charter, the "Order of Sinan Pasha" (ὁρισμὸς τοῦ Σινᾶν πασᾶ), which outlined the privileges of the city: the church bells would continue to be tolled, no mosques were to be erected, and the authority of the Metropolitan and the possessions of the Church were to be respected. [10] This privileged position lasted until 1611, when the city was engulfed by the peasant revolt led by Dionysius the Philosopher, the Metropolitan of Larissa. In its aftermath, Christians were evicted from the Ioannina Castle, and Muslim and Jewish families settled in their stead. The residence of the Metropolitan was moved from the Castle to the Church of St. Athanasios, where it remains to this day (the church was rebuilt in 1832 after it was gutted in a fire in 1820). [10] The original cathedral of the city, which lay in the southeastern part of the Castle, survived at least until 1430, but is recorded as being ruined by 1596/97. Columns from it were reused in the Fethiye Mosque, built by Ali Pasha in 1795. [10]

A separate bishopric for the region Zagori was established from the Metropolitan's jurisdiction in the late 16th century, but it was disestablished soon after. Its seat was probably the Rongovou Monastery. [10] In 1659, Sultan Ahmed III established the Exarchate of Metsovo as a special privilege for the villages of the region of Metsovo. The exarchate was under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and lasted until 1795. [10] Following the Asia Minor Disaster and the Greco-Turkish population exchange, in 1924 a separate Metropolis of Metsovo was established for the provisional settlement of bishops evicted from Asia Minor. Its first and only metropolitan was the former Metropolitan of Ganos and Chora, Timotheos (1924–1928). [10]

Bishops

Apart from Bishop Zacharias in 879, no incumbent of the see is known by name prior to its raising to metropolitan status. [10] From the 14th century, the episcopal list is as follows: [12]

Name Name in Greek Tenure Notes
Sebastian Σεβαστιανός 1365–1381
Matthew Ματθαῖος 1382–1385
Gabriel Γαβριήλ 1386–1408
Joseph Ἰωσήφ 1408
Proclus Πρόκλος
Neophytos Νεόφυτος 1480–1487
Nephon Νήφων 1500
Nilus Νεῖλος 1513
Theoleptus Θεόληπτος 1513 Subsequently Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 1513–1522
Gregory Γρηγόριος 1513
Sophronius Σωφρόνιος 1520
Nephon Νήφων 1526–1545
Macarius Μακάριος 1545–1549
Joasaph Ἰωάσαφ 1549–1571 1st tenure
Daniel Δανιήλ 1571–1580
Joasaph Ἰωάσαφ Β΄ 1580–1585 2nd tenure
Matthew Ματθαῖος 1585–1595 Subsequently Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 1596, 1598–1602, 1603
Neophytus Νεόφυτος 1597 1st tenure
Manasses Μανασσής 1605–1613
Matthew Ματθαῖος 1614
Neophytus Νεόφυτος το Β΄ 1616–1620 2nd tenure
Theocletus Θεόκλητος 1621–1632
Joannicius, formerly of Xanthi Ἰωαννίκιος ὁ ἀπό Ξάνθης 1632
Parthenius Παρθένιος 1632–1639 Subsequently Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 1639–1644
Callinicus Καλλίνικος 1639–1640 1st tenure
Joasaph Ἰωάσαφ 1640–1644
Callinicus Καλλίνικος 1644–1666 2nd tenure
Cyril Κύριλλος 1666–1689 1st tenure
Callinicus Καλλίνικος 1669–1670 3rd tenure
Cyril Κύριλλος 1670–1676 2nd tenure
Jacob Ἰάκωβος 1676–1680
Clement of Chios Κλήμης ὁ Χίος 1680–1715
Hierotheus Raptis Ἱερόθεος Ράπτης 1716–1735
Gregory of Byzantium Γρηγόριος ὁ Βυζάντιος 1736–1767 1st tenure
Gabriel of Smyrna Γαβριήλ ἐκ Σμύρνης 1767–1771 Subsequently Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 1780–1785
Gregory of Byzantium Γρηγόριος ὁ Βυζάντιος 1771–1776 2nd tenure
Hierotheus Ἱερόθεος 1776
Paisius Παΐσιος 1776–1780
Macarius Μακάριος 1780–1799
Hierotheus Tremoulas Ἱερόθεος Τρεμούλας 1799–1810
Gabriel Gagas Γαβριήλ ὁ Γκάγκας 1810–1826
Benedict of Byzantium Βενέδικτος ὁ Βυζάντιος 1826–1830
Joachim, formerly of Sofia Ἰωακείμ ὁ ἀπό Σόφιας 1830–1835
Joachim of Chios Ἰωακείμ ὁ Χίος 1835–1838 1st tenure.
Joannicius of Crete Ἰωαννίκιος ὁ Κρῆς 1838–1840
Joachim of Chios Ἰωακείμ ὁ Χίος 1840–1845 2nd tenure. Subsequently Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 1860–1863, 1873–1878
Joannicius Ἰωαννίκιος 1845–1854
Parthenius Παρθένιος 1854–1869
Sophronius Christidis Σωφρόνιος Χρηστίδης 1869–1899 1st tenure
Gregory Kallidis Γρηγόριος Καλλίδης 1889–1902
Sophronius Christidis Σωφρόνιος Χρηστίδης 1902–1906 2nd tenure
Gerasimos Tantalidis Γεράσιμος Τανταλίδης 1906–1910
Gervasios Orologas Γερβάσιος Ὡρολογᾶς 1910–1916
Spyridon Vlachos Σπυρίδων Βλάχος 1916–1922 1st tenure
Germanos Karavangelis, formerly of Amaseia Γερμανός Καραβαγγέλης, ὁ ἀπὸ Ἀμασείας 1923–1924
Spyridon Vlachos Σπυρίδων Βλάχος 1924–1949 Subsequently Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, 1949–1956
Demetrios Efthymiou Δημήτριος Ἐυθυμίου 1956–1958
Seraphim Tikas, formerly of Arta Σεραφείμ Τίκας, ὁ ἀπὸ Ἄρτης 1958–1974 Subsequently Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, 1974–1998
Theocletus Setakis Θεόκλητος Σετάκης 1975–2014
Maximos Papagiannis Μάξιμος Παπαγιάννης 2014–

References

  1. ^ Gregory 1991, p. 1006.
  2. ^ a b c Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 165.
  3. ^ Κάστρο Ιωαννίνων: Περιγραφή (in Greek). Greek Ministry of Culture. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  4. ^ a b Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 166.
  5. ^ Nicol 2010, pp. 83–89.
  6. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 87.
  7. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 87, 166.
  8. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 71, 166.
  9. ^ Nicol 2010, pp. 143–146.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ἡ ἱστορία τῆς Μητροπόλεως Ἰωαννίνων" (in Greek). Metropolis of Ioannina. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  11. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 72–73, 75, 166.
  12. ^ "Προκάτοχοι" (in Greek). Metropolis of Ioannina. Retrieved 20 August 2017.

Sources