Metropolis of Smyrna
The Metropolis of Smyrna (
History
Early Christianity and Byzantine era
The precise year when Christianity spread in Smyrna is unknown. It was perhaps introduced by
Already from the
In the 13th century, the city thrived under the Empire of Nicaea, while several churches and monasteries were erected, the most notable of them being the Lembon monastery.[3]
Ottoman era
During the 14th century, the Turkish raids and eventual capture of the city caused the local Church to decline and its territory to shrink. As a result, at the end of that century only the bishoprics of Phocaea and Magnesia were under the jurisdiction of the metropolis. Moreover, there are no surviving records of a local metropolitan after 1389. In December 1402 Smyrna was razed by the army of Timur. However, it appears that the Christian community survived the devastation of the city.[3][7]
After the Ottoman conquest of Smyrna, it appears that the local Christians enjoyed a special status, contrary to several adjacent metropolises that became inactive,[2] while with the Fall of Constantinople (1453) to the Ottomans, a major reorganization occurred in the ecclesiastical administration following the incorporation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate into the social structures of the Ottoman Empire.[8] Thus, although Christianity in Anatolia was in steady decline during that period, the diocese of Smyrna survived, even in a restricted area of jurisdiction and managed to retain its status as a metropolis of the Orthodox Church.[3]
During the 17th and 18th centuries a significant number of local saints (
In 1907, the administrative model of the local Greek Orthodox community still retained the traditional communal authorities of the Church and the Council of Elders (Greek: Δημογεροντία), but power was in fact exercised by a new body, the Central Committee, which comprised not only Ottoman Greeks but also citizens of the independent Greek kingdom.[2] Nevertheless, according to this model the metropolitan of Smyrna retained an essential role and represented both the Church and the Orthodox community of Smyrna in all their external affairs and supervised it together with the Council of Elders and the Central Committee. The significant role of the Church authorities became more evident in the activity of metropolitan Chrysostomos, especially in the promotion of Greek nationalism among the Smyrniote Greeks.[2]
Orthodox Christianity in Smyrna ended as a result of the
Since 2016
In the mid-2010s, several Greek churches in Izmir were renovated by the municipal authorities and opened for occasional service.[11][12][13]
On 29 August 2016, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople elected the elder Bartholomew Samaras as Metropolitan of Smyrna.
Religious monuments
According to 17th-century traveler accounts, the main Christian sites of interest in Smyrna, were the ministry of
Currently the municipality of Izmir has started a study to re-construct the ancient stadium on the skirts of Mount Pagos. Moreover, it also opened the former Saint Voukolos Church in Basmane district as a museum (2012) and as a Greek Orthodox church (2016).[citation needed]
Notable religious personalities
Early Bishops
- Apelles[15]
- Strataes, brother (or uncle) of Timothy
- Ariston
- Bucolus
- Polycarp[16]
- Papirius
- Camerius
- Eudaemon[17]
Martyrs of the Roman era
- Strataes
- Bucolus
- Papirius
- Camerius
- Eudaemon
- Polycarp
- Thrasea
- Eumenia
- Pothinus and Irenaeus of Lyons
- Dioscurides
- Pionius
New martyrs of the Ottoman era
- Nicholas of Karaman
- Dioscurus of Smyrna
- Demus of Smyrna
- Alexander of Salonica
- Procopius the new martyr
- Agathangelus the new martyr
- Nektarius the new martyr
- Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople, metropolitan bishop of Smyrna (1785-1797)
- Chrysostomos of Smyrna
Μodern Τimes
- Bartholomew of Smyrna (2016-)
See also
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Izmir
References
- ^ a b c Ascough, 2005: 8
- ^ a b c d e f Terezakis, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kiminas, 2008: 94
- ^ A look at the origin of the distinction between bishop and Presbyter.
- ^ Ascough, 2005: 36
- ISBN 9780884022329.)
{{cite book}}
:|first=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Johnson, 2005: 244
- ^ Terezakis, Yorgos. "Diocese of Nicomedia (Ottoman Period)". Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ a b c Johnson, 2005: 246
- ^ Vryonis, Speros (2000). The great catastrophes: Asia Minor/Smyrna--September 1922; Constantinople--September 6&7, 1955 : a lecture. Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle. p. 5.
- ^ First Divine Liturgy in Smyrna Since 1922 (in English)
- ^ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟ ΠΕΡΑΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΙΚΗΣ ΧΟΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΙΕΡΟΝ ΝΑΟΝ ΑΓΙΑΣ ΦΩΤΕΙΝΗΣ ΣΜΥΡΝΗΣ (8 Φεβρουαρίου 2015)
- ^ Τα Χριστούγεννα στην Σμύρνη
- ^ Johnson, 2005: 245
- ^ Romans 16:10
- ^ Bryan Cross, The Bishops of History and the Catholic Faith: A Reply To Brandon Addison (2014)
- ^ Herbermann, Charles George, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14.
Sources
- Ascough, Richard S. (2006). Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 9780889209244.
- Jonsson, David J. (2005). The clash of ideologies : the making of the Christian and Islamic worlds. [Longwood, Fla.]: Xulon Press. ISBN 9781597810395.
- Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.
- Terezakis, Yorgos. "Diocese of Smyrna". Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία. Retrieved 28 October 2012.