Avlonari () is a village and a community (unit) of the Municipality

Kymi-Aliveri Kymi-Aliveri () is a municipality in the Euboea regional unit, Central Greece, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Aliveri. The municipal unit has an area of 804.983 km2. Municipality The municipality Kymi-Aliveri was formed at the ...

, in the eastern part of the Aegean island of

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It was the seat of the municipality of Avlon, and the medieval town and bishopric of Aulon, which remains a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

. The community includes the villages

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

, Dafni, Elaia and Lofiskos. Avlonari is situated on a hillside, 13km northeast of

Aliveri Aliveri () is a town and a community in the island of Evvoia, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit Tamyneoi, and the seat of the municipality Kymi-Aliveri. Aliveri is situated in the central part of the island, on the South Euboean Gulf. I ...

, 15km south of

Kymi, Greece Kymi (Greek: , ) is a coastal town and a former municipality (6,706 inhabitants in 2021) in the island of Euboea, Greece, named after an ancient Greek town of the same name. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ky ...

and 47km east of

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

Population

History

Modern Avlonari is usually identified with Avlon or Aulon (), a town and bishopric attested since the 9th century. Aulon appears in the ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...

'', commencing with that of

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...

() as a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, in the sway of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

. No names of its first-millennium bishops are known. The Byzantine-era church of St. Demetrios at Chania, in the lowland below Avlonari, built by reusing material from an earlier church, may have been the bishopric's seat. After the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

(1202–04), Euboea was captured by Crusaders, who divided the island and established Lombard baronies, and Aulon became a diocese of the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

. A Greek, Theodoros, was appointed, but destituted by the Latin Archbishop of Athens, for refusing to receive his consecration according to the

Latin rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

; Pope

Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

restored him after obtaining his liturgical submission (December 1208). yet a papal letter from July 1210 already mentions "bishop-elect", plausibly to replace the troublesome Greek Theodoros, whom Innocent III addressed two more letters in 1211. In about 1222, the see of Aulon (known in Italian as ) was merged with the Bishopric of Negroponte. This was disputed from 1235 on, leading to the restoration of a separate bishop for Aulon () in 1240. Aulon in attested as a fief in the 14th century, and in the 15th century, under Venetian rule, as an administrative district. The district was led by two captains (), who had their seats on fortresses in the nearby heights of Cuppa and Potiri. A three-story watch tower also survives in Avlonari itself. The town was raided by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

in 1423, and captured, along with the rest of Euboea by the Ottoman Empire in 1470. Under Ottoman rule, the bishopric of Aulon was merged with a new, Orthodox Metropolis of Euripus.

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, this Aulon is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

, being distinguished from an Adriatic diocese Aulon by using for the Euboean Aulon the Latin adjective ''Aulonensis'', while the Latin adjective regarding the other Aulon in

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

(modern Vlore, in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

) is ''Aulonitanus''.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 842 The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Catholic

. It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Tomás Juan Carlos Solari (1943.08.23 – 1948.09.20) as

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) (1943.08.23 – 1948.09.20); later Metropolitan Archbishop of

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

(Argentina) (1948.09.20 – death 1954.05.13) * Manuel Tato (1948.11.13 – 1961.07.11) as Auxiliary Bishop of

(Argentina) (1948.11.13 – 1961.07.11); later Bishop of

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

(Argentina) (1961.07.11 – death 1980.08.12) * Manuel Augusto Cárdenas (1962.04.07 – death 1998.07.28), first as Auxiliary Bishop of

(1962.04.07 – 1975.04.22), then as Auxiliary Bishop of Argentina of the Eastern Rite (1975.11.11 – 1992.02.11), finally on emeritate.

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic

Video on Avlonari from ERT's travelling program ''Traveling in Greece'' (''Menoume Ellada'')
{{Kymi-Aliveri div Populated places in Euboea Kymi-Aliveri Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Catholic titular sees in Europe Medieval Euboea

Population

History

Titular see

See also

References

Sources and external links