View source for Metropolis of Patras

{{Short description|Metropolitan see of the Church of Greece}}
{{redirect|See of Patras|the Roman Catholic archdiocese|Latin Archbishopric of Patras}}
{{Infobox diocese
|jurisdiction     = Metropolis
|name             = Patras
|local            = Μητρόπολη Πατρών
|image            = 
|province         = [[Church of Greece|Greece]]
| coordinates            = {{coord|38|14|33|N|21|43|41|E|region:GR_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
|parishes        = 189<ref>[http://i-m-patron.gr/μητρόπολη-πατρών/ Holy Metropolis of Patras], i-m-patron.gr. Accessed 31 March 2024. (in Greek)</ref>
|churches        = 89 (chapels)
|metropolitan     = [[Chrysostomos Sklifas]]
|dean             = 
|cathedral        = [[St Andrew's Cathedral, Patras]]
|subdivisions     = [[Patras]]
|congregations    = 
| map               = 
| map_size          = 
| map_alt           = 
| map_caption       = 
|website          = [http://www.i-m-patron.gr/ Official website]
}}

[[File:Hagios Andreas Seitenansicht.jpg|thumb|right|The cathedral of Saint Andrew]]
The '''Metropolis of Patras''' ({{langx|el|Ιερά Μητρόπολις Πατρών}}) is a [[metropolitan see]] of the [[Church of Greece]] in the city of [[Patras]] in [[Achaea]], [[Greece]]. The see traces its origins to its patron saint, [[Saint Andrew]], in the 1st century. Historically, it has been one of the two pre-eminent sees of the [[Peloponnese]] along with the [[See of Corinth]]. The see has been part of the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] (the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]] until 1833, the Church of Greece since then), except for the period where the city was part of the [[Principality of Achaea]] and a [[Latin Archbishopric of Patras|Latin see]] was installed.

==History==
The see of Patras was founded, according to tradition, by [[Saint Andrew]], who was crucified there. His relics are still kept in the metropolitan cathedral of [[Saint Andrew of Patras]].

Until 733, Patras was subordinated to the [[See of Corinth]], and under the jurisdiction of the [[Patriarchate of Rome]]. In that year, Emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian]] transferred all the sees of the [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum|Illyricum]] to the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]].

Patras was later raised to an [[archbishopric]], which it remained until 806, [[Siege of Patras (805 or 807)|when it became]] a [[metropolitan see]]. It had four suffragans;<ref>Gelzer, "Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum", p. 557.</ref> then five about 940;<ref>Gelzer, "Georgii Cyprii Descriptio orbis Romani", p. 77.</ref> after 1453 it had only two, which successively disappeared.<ref>Gelzer, "Georgii Cyprii Descriptio orbis Romani", p. 634.</ref>

A celebrated [[stylite]] lived there in the tenth century, to whom [[St. Luke the Younger]] went to be trained.<ref>''[[Patrologia Graeca]]'' CXI, p. 451.</ref>

From 1180 until 1833, the see was officially termed "''Metropolis of Old Patras''" (Μητρόπολις Παλαιών Πατρών), to distinguish it from "New Patras", modern [[Ypati]]. Among the most prominent metropolitans of this period were the future [[Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople]] [[Timothy II of Constantinople|Timothy II]] and [[Gabriel IV of Constantinople|Gabriel IV]], as well as [[Germanos III of Old Patras|Germanos III]], who played an important role in the [[Greek War of Independence]].

==Latin see==
{{main|Latin Archbishopric of Patras}}
In 1205, [[William of Champlitte]] took possession of the city of Patras and installed canons; they in turn elected [[Antelm of Cluny]] as archbishop. It had five suffragans, [[Andravida]], [[Amyclæ]], [[Latin Bishopric of Modon|Modon]], [[Latin Bishopric of Coron|Coron]], and [[Cephalonia-Zante]]; even when Modon and Coron belonged to the Venetians they continued to depend on Patras. The ecclesiastical territory included the [[barony of Patras]], subject to the Aleman family and a vassal to the [[principality of Achaea]]. 

In 1276, the archbishops acquired control over the barony of Patras, which henceforth became practically independent from the rest of the Principality. The Latin archbishops held the barony 1408, when they sold it to [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. In 1429 it again fell into the power of the Greeks of the [[Despotate of the Morea]], who restored the Orthodox see. Patras was taken by the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1460.

The list of its Latin archbishops has been compiled by [[Michel Le Quien|Le Quien]],<ref>{{Oriens Christianus|volume=2|at=cols. 177–182}}</ref> [[Heinrich Gelzer]],<ref>In Gerland, "Neue Quellen zur Geschichte des lateinischen Erzbistums Patras", Leipzig, 1903), 247-55.</ref> [[Jules Pargoire]].<ref>In ''Échos d'Orient'', VII, 103-07.</ref> When Patras ceased to have residential Latin bishops, Latin [[titular bishop]]s continued to be appointed. This practice ceased after the [[Second Vatican Council]] and no further appointments to the [[titular see]] have been made since the death in 1971 of the last bishop to hold the title.

In 1640, the [[Jesuits]] established themselves at Patras, and in 1687 the Franciscans and Carmelites. In the nineteenth century the pope confided the administration of the [[Peloponnese]] to the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia|Bishop of Zakynthos]], in 1834 to the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Syros and Milos|Bishop of Syros]].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle= Patras}}


{{Dioceses of Greece}}

[[Category:Eastern Orthodoxy in Patras]]
[[Category:Dioceses of the Church of Greece|Patras]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox dioceses in Greece|Patras]]