Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece

This is a timeline regarding the presence of Orthodoxy in Greece.

Apostolic era (33-100)

• ca. 47-48 Apostle Paul's mission to Cyprus.
• ca. 49 Paul's mission to Philippi, Thessaloniki and Veria.
• 49 Paul's mission to Athens.
• ca. 51-52 Metropolis of Korinthos founded in its Apostolic form (Paul's first mission to Corinth); Paul writes his two Epistles to the Thessalonians are written in
• ca. 54 Paul writes his First Epistle to the Corinthians.
• ca. 55 Paul revisits Corinth.
• ca. 56 Paul revisits Macedonia; he writes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
• ca. 61 Paul shipwrecked in Crete.
• ca. 95 Apocalypse of John written on the island of Patmos.
• ca. 96 Dionysius the Areopagite, of the Seventy, martyred.
• 124 Apostles Quadratus and Aristides present Christian apologies to Emperor Hadrian at Athens.
• ca. 130 Death of Apostle Quadratus, of the Seventy.

Ante-Nicene era (100-325)

• ca. 100 During the second and third centuries, Greece was divided into provinces including Achaea, Macedonia, and Moesia.
• ca. 251 Martyric death of Isidore of Chios under the persecutions of Decius.
• 306 Martyric death of Demetrios in Thessaloniki.
• 313 The first period in the history of the Church ended with the edict of toleration in 313 under Constantine the Great, which prepared the way for Christianity to become the state religion of the later Roman/Byzantine empire.

Patriarchate of Rome Era (325-733)

Nicene era (325-451)

• 325 First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea, condemning Arianism, setting the Paschalion, and issuing the first version of the Nicene Creed, also establishing the supremacy of honor of the Apostolic Sees as Rome, followed by Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
• ca. 337 Under Constantine the Great Greece was part of the prefectures of Macedonia and Thrace.
• ca. 330-337 Church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani - Hundred Doors (Paros) (literally: "church of the hundred doors") founded by St. Helen, during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
• ca. 395 Theodosius I divided the prefecture of Macedonia into the provinces of Creta, Achaea, Thessalia, Epirus Vetus, Epirus Nova, and Macedonia; the Aegean islands formed the province of Insulae in the prefecture of Asiana.
• ca. 431 Church of Cyprus autocephalous.

Early Byzantine era (451-843)

• 529 Emperor Justinian closes the School of Athens.
• 529-534 Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis issued; Justinian's Novella 131 formulated the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire (Pentarchy).
• ca. 590 Parthenon in Athens converted into a Christian church dedicated to Aghia Sophia.
• 662 Parthenon in Athens rededicated to the Mother of God (Panagia of Athens).
• Mid 6th c. Death of David of Thessaloniki.
• Late 6th c. St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki saves Thessaloniki from Avar-Slav siege.
• 692 The "Pentarchy" form of government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
• 7th c. Arab pirates attack coastal areas, many islands deserted.
• 720 Martyrdom of Nicholas the New of Vounina.

Patriarchate of Constantinople Era (733-1850)

• 733 Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian transfers Sicily and Calabria, Greece, and the Aegean from the jurisdiction of the Pope to that of the Ecumenical Patriarch in response to Pope St. Gregory III of Rome's support of a revolt in Italy against iconoclasm.
• 780 Metropolitan Gregory I.
• 803 Death of Irene of Athens, wife of Byzantine Emperor Leo IV; St. Luke's icon brought to Agiassos on Mytiline.
• ca. 829-842 Icon of the Panagia Portaitissa appears on Mount Athos near Iviron Monastery.
• 840 Panagia Proussiotissa icon found near Karpenissi.

Byzantine Imperial era (843-1204)

• 843 Empress Theodora secures return of icon-worship.
• 860 Cyril and Methodius of Thessaloniki mission to the Slavs.
• 881 Death of Theoktiste of Lesbos (November 9).
• 885 Mount Athos gains political autonomy, as Emperor Basil lays down the boundaries of the monastic republic of Mount Athos.
• 892 Death of Theodora the Myrrh-gusher of Thessaloniki.
• 904 Thessaloniki sacked and pillaged by Saracen pirates under Leo of Tripoli, a Greek pirate serving Saracen interests.
• 925 Death of Peter of Argos.
• ca.950 Monastery of Hosios Loukas founded by St. Luke the Younger Thebes, near Stiris in Greece.
• 960 Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas re-captures Crete for the Byzantines.
• 963 Athanasius of Athos establishes first major monastery on Mount Athos, the Great Lavra.
• 965 Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas gains Cyprus completely for the Byzantines.
• 980 Revelation of the Axion Estin (the hymn "It Is Truly Meet"), with the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.
• 1025 Greece is divided into themes including Crete, the Peloponnese, Hellas, Nicopolis, Larissa, Cephalonia, Thessalonica, the Cyclades and the Aegean.
• 1042 Founding of Nea Moni Monastery on Chios.
• 1054 The Great Schism between Orthodox East and Latin West.
• 1083 Metropolis of Paronaxia separates from the Metropolis of Rhodes.
• 1088-1093 Founding of monastery of John the Theologian on Patmos.
• 12th c. Skete life begins in Meteora.

Latin Occupation (1204-1456)

• 1204 Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople, laying waste to the city and stealing many relics and other items; Great Schism generally regarded as having been completed by this act; Venetians use the imperial monastery of Christ Pantocrator as their headquardters in Constantinople; Latin Occupation of mainland Greece under Franks and Venetians.
• ca. 1204-75 Martyrdom by Latins of monks of Iveron Monastery.
• 1211 Venetian crusaders conquer Byzantine Crete, retaining it until ousted by Ottoman Turks in 1669.
• 1222 The Byzantines recover Thessaloniki.
• 1235 St. Olympiada and nuns martyred by pirates on Mytilene of Lesbos
• 1249 Mystras citadel built by Franks in the Peloponnese.
• 1259 Byzantines defeat Latin Principality of Achaea at the Battle of Pelagonia, marking the beginning of the Byzantine recovery of Greece.
• 1261 End of Latin occupation of Constantinople and restoration of Orthodox patriarchs; Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos makes Mystras seat of the new Despotate of Morea, where a Byzantine renaissance occurred.
• 1274 Orthodox attending the Second Council of Lyons, accept supremacy of Rome and filioque clause.
• 1275 Persecution of Athonite monks by Emp. Michael VIII and Patr. John XI Beccus; death of 26 martyrs of Zographou monastery on Mount Athos, martyred by the Latins.
• 1281 Pope Martin IV authorizes a Crusade against the newly re-established Byzantine Empire in Constantinople, excommunicating Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and the Greeks and renouncing the union of 1274; French and Venetian expeditions set out toward Constantinople but are forced to turn back in the following year due to the Sicilian Vespers.
• 1283 Accommodation with Rome officially repudiated.
• 1309 Rhodes falls to the Knights of St. John, who establish their headquarters there, renaming themselves the "Knights of Rhodes"
• 1336 Meteora in Greece are established as a center of Orthodox monasticism.
• 1338 Gregory Palamas writes Triads in defense of the Holy Hesychasts, defending the Orthodox practice of hesychast spirituality and the use of the Jesus Prayer.
• 1341-47 Byzantine civil war between John VI Cantacuzenus (1347–54) and John V Palaeologus (1341–91).
• 1341-51 Three sessions of the Ninth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, affirming hesychastic theology of Gregory Palamas and condemning rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of Calabria.
• 1354 Ottoman Turks make first settlement in Europe at Gallipoli.
• 1359 Death of Gregory Palamas.
• 1360 Death of John Koukouzelis the Hymnographer.
• 1382 Founding of the Great Meteora Monastery.
• 1390 Ottomans take Philadelphia, last significant Byzantine enclave in Anatolia.
• 1391-98 Ottoman Turks unsuccessfully besiege Constantinople for the first time.
• 14th c. "Golden Age" of Thessaloniki, many churches and monasteries are built.
• 1422 Second unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Constantinople.
• 1426 Death of New Martyr Ephraim of Nea Makri.
• 1429 The Turks capture Thessaloniki.
• 1430 The monks of Mount Athos submit to Sultan Murad II and keep their autonomy.
• 1438 Council of Florence unsuccessfully tries to unit Greek East and Latin West.
• 1450 Death of Empress Helena Palaeologus (St. Ipomoni of Loutraki).
• 1452 Unification of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches in Hagia Sophia on West's terms, when Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, under pressure from Rome, allows the union to be proclaimed.
• 1453 Constantinople falls to invasion of the Ottoman Turks, ending Roman Empire; Hagia Sophia turned into a mosque; martyrdom of Constantine XI Palaiologos, last of the Byzantine Emperors; many Greek scholars escape to the West with books that become translated into Latin, triggering the Renaissance.

Ottoman Turkish Occupation (1456-1821)

• 1456 Turkish Occupation of Greece.
• 1456-1587 Byzantine Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1460 Parthenon Cathedral dedicated to the Mother of God turned into a mosque.
• 1462 Wonderworking icon of the Archangel Michael of Mantamados is created; Matrona of Chios reposes October 22.
• 1463 Martyric death of Raphael, Nicholas and Irene.
• 1472 Decrees of the Council of Ferrara-Florence repudiated by Patriarchate of Contantinople.
• 1511 Death of Joseph the Sanctified of Crete.
• 1530 Mother of God restores sight to blind youth through the'Cassiope icon of Corfu.
• 1546 Death of New Martyr John of Ioannina.
• Mid 16th c. Death of Nilus the Myrrh-gusher of Mt. Athos.
• 1556 Death of Maximos the Greek.
• 1559 Death of Iconographer Theophanes the Cretan.
• 1573-81 Correspondence between Patriarch Jeremias II and the Lutheran professors at Tubingen.
• 1579 Death of Gerasimos of Cephalonia.
• 1587-Present. The relatively modest Church of St George in the Phanar district of Istanbul becomes the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1589 Death of Philothei of Athens.
• 1590 Death of Timothy of Penteli (Athens).
• 1622 Death of Dionysius of Zakynthos (December 17).
• 1677 Bishop Henry Compton of London builds church for the Greeks in London.
• 1682 Greek church in London closed.
• 1687 Parthenon devastated by Venetian shelling.
• 1694 Plan for Worcester College, Oxford (then Gloucester Hall) to become a college for the Greeks.
• 1713 Theological School of Patmos founded.
• 1715 St. Spyridon saves Corfu from Turkish invasion.
• 1720 Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring (Poros) founded.
• 1728 The Ecumenical Patriarchate formally replaced the Creation Era (AM) calendar, in use for over 1000 years, with the Christian Era (AD).
• 1730 Death of John the Russian.
• 1735 Death of Athanasius of Christianapolis.
• 1753 School founded on Mount Athos.
• 1754 Hesychast Renaissance begins with the Kollyvades Movement.
• 1759 School on Mount Athos forced to close down.
• 1779 Death of Kosmas Aitolos.
• 1782 First publication of Philokalia on Mount Athos.
• 1795 Death of New Martyr Theodora of Byzantium (Mytiline).
• 1796 Nicodemus the Hagiorite publishes Unseen Warfare in Venice.
• 1800 The Rudder published and printed in Athens.
• 1805 Death of Makarios of Corinth, a central figure in the Kollyvades Movement.
• 1809 Death of Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain the "Hagiorite".
• 1819 Council at Constantinople endorses views of Kollyvades fathers.

Greek War of Independence (1821-1829)

• 1821 Greek War of Independance begins as Metr. Germanos of Patra declares Greek independence on Day of Annunciation (March 25), also Kyriopascha, at the Monastery of Agia Lavra, Peloponessos; martyrdom of Patr. Gregory V of Constantinople, Abp. Kyprianos of Cyprus, and Abp. Gerasimos of Crete in retaliation.
• 1823 Wonderworking Icon of Panagia Evangelistria found on Tinos, led by a vision from Pelagia of Tinos, becoming the most venerated pilgrimage item in Greece, at the Church of Evangelistria.
• 1827 Europe recognises the autonomy of Greece.
• 1828 John Capodistrias first president of Greece and confiscates Athonite metochia; Greek church opened in London (2nd time).
• 1829 Treaty of Adrianople ends Greek War of Independence, culminating in the creation of the modern Greek state.

First Hellenic Republic (1829-1832)

• 1832 European powers establish Greek protectorate; Otho I enthroned as Greek King.

Kingdom of Greece (1833-1924)

• 1832-35 "Bavarokratia" closes down 600 monasteries and nationalises monastic land-holdings
• 1833 The National Assembly at Nauplio declares the Church of Greece as independant from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• 1834 Suppression of many monasteries in the new Greek kingdom.
• 1837 School of Theology at the National and Capodistrian University of Athens founded.
• 1838 Death of New Martyr George of Ioannina.
• 1839 Theofilos Kairis of Andros condemned and imprisoned for teaching a form of Deism.
• 1844 King Otho I accepts constitution.

Autocephalous Era (1850-Present)

• 1850 Autocephaly of the Church of Greece recognised by Patriarch Anthimos IV of Constantinople; due to certain conditions issued in the "Tomos" decree, the Greek National Church must maintain special links to the "Mother Church".
• 1863 George I enthroned as King of Greece.
• 1866 Greek church takes the diocese of the Ionian Islands from Constantinople; the holocaust of Arkadi Monastery in Crete.
• 1871 Body of Patriarch Gregory V returned to Athens and entombed in cathedral.
• 1877 Death of Arsenios of Paros (August 18).
• 1878 Council of Athens, convened and presided over by Metropolitan Procopius I of Athens, condemned the Makrakists, obtaining closure of Makakris' "School of the Logos" on the pretext that it taught doctrines opposed to the tenets of the Church, and addressed an encyclical to the whole body of Christians in Greece that was read in the churches, charging Makrakis with attempting to introduce innovations.
• 1881 Turks cede Thessali and Arta regions to Greece; Thessaly and part of Epirus added to the Church of Greece.
• 1888 Death of Panagis of Lixouri (Cephalonia).
• 1901 "Evangelakia" riots in Athens Greece in November, over translations of New Testament into Demotic (Modern) Greek, resulting in fall of both government and Metropolitan of Athens, and withdrawal of publications from circulation.
• 1904 Ecumenical Patriarchate publishes the "Patriarchal" Text of the Greek New Testament, based on about twenty Byzantine manuscripts, the standard text of the Greek-speaking Orthodox churches today.
• 1905 Death of Apostolos Makrakis.
• 1907 Archim. Eusebius Matthopoulos founds Zoe Brotherhood.
• 1912 Epirus, Macedonia and eastern islands, from Northern territories of Greece, are liberated and come under the administration of the Greek Church.
• 1912-13 First and Second Balkan Wars; liberation of Thessaloniki from the Turks.
• 1913-14 Greeks anex Crete, Chios and Mytiline, World War I.
• 1917 Hierarchy of the Greek Church changed in accordance with political control of the country.
• 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish War; a million refugees flee to Greece joining half a million Greeks who had fled earlier; Pontic Greek Genocide eliminates the Christian population of Trebizond.
• 1920 Death of Nektarios of Pentapolis (Aegina); Dodecanese Islands ceded to Greece by Italy.
• 1922 Metropolis of Aitolia and Akarnania founded in its modern form; death of Ethnomartyr Metropolitan Chrysostomos (Kalafatis) of Smyrna, lynched by a Turkish mob Sunday September 10; Greek troops advancing on Constantinople are routed by Turks; the predominatly Orthodox Christian city of Smyrna is destroyed, ending 1900 years of Christian civilization.
• 1923 Exchange of Christian and Moslem population between Greece and Turkey; Treaty of Lausanne hands over control of the Holy Mountain to Greece; Patriarch ceases to be regarded as head of the Christian Orthodox Millet in Turkey; Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis promulgates reformed calendar.

Second Hellenic Republic (1924-1935)

• 1924 Death of Arsenios of Cappadocia; Constitution of the Holy Mountain agreed; Greek government adopts new calendar.
• 1925 School of Theology established at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
• 1926 Proposal for Mount Athos to be turned into a Casino by Dictator Pangalos.
• 1932 Death of Papa-Nicholas (Planas).
• 1933 Church of Greece bans Freemasonry.
• 1935 Old Calendar schism, when three bishops declared their separation from the official Church of Greece stating that the calendar change was a schismatic act.

Kingdom of Greece Restored (1935-1967)

• 1936 Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece founded.
• 1938 Death of Silouan of Mt Athos.
• 1939-49 WWII and subsequent Greek civil war, famine and widespread bloodshed.
• 1943 Germans destroy Kalavryta, massacre of townspeople and monks of Agia Lavra.
• 1945 October 17th, Archbishop Damaskinos serves as regent in an attempt to stabilise Greece.
• 1947 The Dodecanese Islands are liberated but remain under the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
• 1948 Death of Savvas the New of Kalymnos.
• 1950 Uncovering of the relics of St. Ephraim of New Makri.
• 1952 New Monastery of Panagia Soumela built in the village of Kastania, in Macedonia, Greece, housing the wonderworking icon of Panagia Soumela, becoming a center of religious pilgrimage.
• 1953 School of Theology on Mount Athos reopened.
• 1955 Most Orthodox Churches in Constantinople burned down during Turkish pogrom.
• 1959 Death of Blessed Elder Joseph (Spilaiotis) the Hesychast.
• 1960 Death of Anthimos of Chios.
• 1963 Second Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes; 1000th anniversary celebration of founding of Mount Athos.
• 1964 Panagia Malevi icon of the Mother of God begins gushing myrrh; third Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes.
• 1965 First Metropolitan for Piraeus is elected, His Eminence Chrysostomos (Tabladorakis) of Argolidos; Monastery of Panagia Pantanassa (Kranidiou) founded.
• 1966 Death of Righteous Father Ieronymos (Apostolides) of Aegina; Center for Byzantine Research established at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Military Dictatorship (1967-1974)

• 1970 Death of Amphilochios (Makris) of Patmos.

Third Hellenic Republic (1974-Present)

• 1975 Death of Papa-Dimitris (Gagastathis).
• 1980 Death of Elder Philotheos (Zervakos) of Paros.
• 1983 Death of Elder Arsenios the cave-dweller of Mt. Athos.
• 1986 Root of Jesse icon of the Mother of God in Andros begins gushing myrrh.
• 1988 Radio Station "Church of Piraeus 91.2 FM" begins transmitting in October; Mount Athos is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• 1991 Death of Elder Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) the Kapsokalivite (Evangelos (Bairaktaris)) February 7.
• 1992 Deaths of Gabrielia (Papayannis) and Chrysanthi of Andros.
• 1994 Death of Elder Paisios (Eznepidis) of Mt. Athos July 12.
• 1998 Death of Monk Ephraim of Katounakia; Thessaloniki Summit held to discuss Orthodox participation in WCC.
• 2000 Government of Greece orders removal of compulsory reference to religious affiliation on state identity cards, despite campaigns against this from the Church of Greece and the majority of the public.
• 2001 On the first trip to Greece by a Pope since AD 710, Pope John Paul II of Rome apologizes to Orthodox Church for Fourth Crusade.
• 2002 Metropolis of Glyfada is established as a new metropolis separating from Metropolis of Nea Smyrni.
• 2003 In May, Orthodox Churches in Europe commemorated the 550th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople.
• 2006 Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens visits Vatican.
• 2008 Abp. Ieronymos II (Liapis) of Athens elected; Glorification of George (Karslidis) of Drama.

Notes

• Some of these dates are necessarily a bit vague, as records for some periods are particularly difficult to piece together accurately.
• The division of Church History into separate eras as we do here will always be to some extent arbitrary, though we have tried to group periods according to major watershed events.
• This timeline is necessarily biased toward the history of the Orthodox Church, though a number of non-Orthodox events are mentioned for their importance in history related to Orthodoxy.

See also

• Church of Greece
• Timeline of Church History

Under the Patriarchate of Rome

The Byzantine "themes" of Greece rebelled against the iconoclast emperor Leo III in 727 and attempted to set up their own emperor, although Leo defeated them. Up to this time Greece and the Aegean were still technically under the ecclesiastic authority of the Pope, but Leo also quarreled with the Papacy; the defiant attitude of Popes St. Gregory II and St. Gregory III, who summoned councils in Rome to anathematize and excommunicate the iconoclasts (730, 732) on behalf of image-veneration, led to a fierce quarrel with the emperor. Leo retaliated however by transferring the territories of southern Italy, Greece and the Aegean from the papal diocese to that of the the Patriarch of Constantinople, in effect throwing the Papacy out of the Empire.

Names of the Greeks

The Greeks have been known by a number of different names throughout history. Their rise to great heights of power and lapse to near complete destruction were situations that were repeated more than once, which is perhaps why they are such a polyonymous people. The onset of every new historical era was accompanied by a new name, either completely new or old but forgotten, extracted from tradition or borrowed from foreigners. Every single one of them was significant in its own time. From ancient times to the present these included:

• Achaeans (Αχαιοί)
• Hellenes (Έλληνες)
• Graeci (Γραικοί)
• Romans (Ρωμαίοι)
• Byzantines (Βυζαντινοί)