Metropolis Of Smyrna
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The Metropolis of Smyrna () is an ecclesiastical territory (
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
) of the
Ecumenical 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 heade ...
, modern
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. The Christian community of
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
was one of the
Seven Churches of Asia The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Seven Churches of Asia, are seven churches of early Christianity mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation. All of them were located in Asia Min ...
, mentioned by
Apostle John John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...
in the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
. It was initially an
archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
, but was promoted to a
metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...
during the 9th century. Although the local Christian element was reduced during the 14th and 15th centuries, it retained its ecclesiastical autonomy continuously until 1922.


History


Early Christianity and Byzantine era

The precise year when Christianity spread in Smyrna is unknown. It was perhaps introduced by
Apostle Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
or one of his companions.Ascough, 2005: 8 By the end of the 1st century the city already hosted a small Christian community, while its first head was one named Aristion. The Church of Smyrna was also one of the
Seven Churches of Asia The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Seven Churches of Asia, are seven churches of early Christianity mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation. All of them were located in Asia Min ...
, mentioned at the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
,
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
, written by
John of Patmos John of Patmos (also called John the Revelator, John the Divine, John the Theologian; ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Book of Revelation. Revelation 1:9 states that John was on Patmos, an Aegean island off the coast of Rom ...
. In ca. 110 AD,
Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch (; ; died 108/140), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (), was an early Christian writer and Patriarch of Antioch. While en route to Rome, where he met his Christian martyrs, martyrdom, Ignatius wrote a series of letters. This ...
wrote a number of epistles among them to the people of Smyrna and its bishop,
Polycarp Polycarp (; , ''Polýkarpos''; ; AD 69 155) was a Christian Metropolis of Smyrna, bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his bo ...
. The latter martyred during the middle of the 2nd century AD. Polycarp was martyred, the next bishop of Smyrna was Papirius. Papirius was later succeeded by Camerius, Smyrna was also the place of martyrdom of Saint Pionius, during the reign of
Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...
. Already from the
early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...
years Smyrna was an
autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...
archbishopric as part of the wider Metropolis of Ephesus. During the 9th century the local archbishopric was promoted to a metropolis.Kiminas, 2008: 94 At the time of its promotion, the diocese of Smyrna held the 39th position 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 ...
'', while during the reign of Emperor Leo VI (886–912) it held the 44th position. The city was also the place of exile of the monk
Theodore the Studite Theodore the Studite (; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantin ...
, who played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium. In the 13th century, the city thrived under the
Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by Walter Abel Heurtley, W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C ...
, while several churches and monasteries were erected, the most notable of them being the Lembon monastery.


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 Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Ancient Greece, Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Colonies in antiquity, Greek colonists from Phoc ...
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 Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...
. However, it appears that the Christian community survived the devastation of the city. After the Ottoman conquest of Smyrna, it appears that the local Christians enjoyed a special status, contrary to several adjacent metropolises that became inactive, while with the
Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
(1453) to the Ottomans, a major reorganization occurred in the ecclesiastical administration following the incorporation of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen Autocephaly, autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. ...
into the social structures of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. 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. During the 17th and 18th centuries a significant number of local saints (
new martyr The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr (-, ''neo''-, the prefix for "new"; and μάρτυς, ''martys'', "witness") is conferred in some denominations of Christianity to distinguish more recent martyrs and confessors from the old martyrs of the pe ...
s) are recorded in the city, where most of them rejected conversion to Islam and were tortured by the Muslim authorities. At that period the Christian community increased enormously, due to the general demographic boom of the region, as a result of the commercial development of Smyrna. The city became a center of the
Greek Enlightenment The Modern Greek Enlightenment (also known as the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment; , ''Diafotismós'' / , ''Neoellinikós Diafotismós'') was the Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment, characterized by an intellectual and philosophical movemen ...
culture, while several schools were erected, like the Evangelical School and the Philological Gymnasion. On the other hand, the local leadership of the Church was suspicious of progressive ideas, especially in education and supported a more traditional educational system. 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 (), 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 The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...
. 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.Terezakis, 2006 Orthodox Christianity in Smyrna ended as a result of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. In September 1922, during the events of the Great Fire of Smyrna, thousands of civilians lost their lives and the survivors found refuge to Greece. It is estimated that of a total of 459 priests and bishops of the metropolis of Smyrna, 347 of them were murdered by the Turkish army. Among them was also the metropolitan, Chrysostomos.


Since 2016

In the mid-2010s, several Greek churches in İzmir were renovated by the municipal authorities and opened for occasional service. 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
Apostle John John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...
, the tomb of Saint Polycarp, as well as the place of his martyrdom. However, the remains of the Roman stadium where he martyred were demolished by an Ottoman vizier, in 1675 and in modern times the site was built over.Johnson, 2005: 246 Today, the only surviving place in memory of Saint Polycarp is a cave where, according to the tradition, he was tortured. Currently the municipality of İzmir 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).


Notable religious personalities


Early bishops

*
Apelles Apelles of Kos (; ; fl. 4th century BC) was a renowned Painting, painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom much of modern scholars' knowledge of this artist is owed (''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia'' 35.36.79–97 and '' ...
* Strataes, brother (or uncle) of
Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...
* Ariston *
Bucolus In Greek mythology, Bucolus (; Ancient Greek: Βουκόλος means "cow boy" or "herdsman" from βους ''vous'' "ox" and κελεύω ''kelevein'' "command") is the name of four men: * Bucolus, son of Hippocoon, king of Sparta. * Bucolus, the ...
*
Polycarp Polycarp (; , ''Polýkarpos''; ; AD 69 155) was a Christian Metropolis of Smyrna, bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his bo ...
*Papirius *Camerius *
Eudaemon Arabia Felix (literally: Fertile/Happy Arabia; also Ancient Greek: Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία, ''Eudaemon Arabia'') was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen. Etymology The Latin term ...
Herbermann, Charles George
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14


Martyrs of the Roman era

* Strataes *Bucolus *Papirius *Camerius *Eudaemon *
Polycarp Polycarp (; , ''Polýkarpos''; ; AD 69 155) was a Christian Metropolis of Smyrna, bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his bo ...
*Thrasea *Eumenia * Pothinus and
Irenaeus Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by oppos ...
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 times

*Bartholomew of Smyrna (2016–)


See also

* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of İzmir


References


Sources

* * * * {{Seven churches of Asia Smyrna, metropolis
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
Smyrna, metropolis Smyrna, metropolis Smyrna, metropolis Smyrna, metropolis Smyrna, metropolis Smyrna, metropolis
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
Eastern Orthodox dioceses in Turkey Eastern Orthodox dioceses in Asia