The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation ( el, Καθεδρικός Ναός Ευαγγελισμού της Θεοτόκου) popularly known as the "Mētrópolis", is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

church of the

Archbishopric of Athens The Archbishopric of Athens ( el, Ιερά Αρχιεπισκοπή Αθηνών) is a Greek Orthodox archiepiscopal see based in the city of Athens, Greece. It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of the autocephalous Church of Greece. Its ...

and all

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

History

Construction of the cathedral began on Christmas Day, 1842 with the laying of the cornerstone by King Otto and

Queen Amalia Amalia of Oldenburg (; 21 December 181820 May 1875) was a Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavarian princess who became Queen of Greece from 1836 to 1862 as the wife of King Otto of Greece, Otto Friedrich Ludwig. She was loved widely by the Greeks due to ...

. Construction started under the architect

Theophil Hansen Baron Theophil Edvard von Hansen (; original Danish name: Theophilus Hansen ; 13 July 1813 – 17 February 1891) was a Danish architect who later became an Austrian citizen. He became particularly well known for his buildings and structures in A ...

and was continued by Dimitris Zezos,

Panagis Kalkos Panagis Kalkos ( el, Παναγής Κάλκος, 1818–1875) was one of the first Greek architects of the modern Greek state. Educated in Munich, he is a representative of a strict neoclassic style in architecture. He built some of the most char ...

and François Boulanger. Workers used marble from 72 demolished churches to build the cathedral's immense walls. Three architects and 20 years later, it was completed. On May 21, 1862, the completed cathedral was dedicated to the Annunciation of the Mother of God (Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου) by the King and Queen. The cathedral is a three-aisled, domed

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

that measures long, wide, and high. Inside are the tombs of two saints killed by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

during the Ottoman period:

Saint Philothei Saint Philothei of Athens, (also known as Philotheia or Philothea) ( el, Άγια Φιλοθέη η Αθηναία) (November 21, 1522 - February 19, 1589), née Revoula Benizelos (Ρεβούλα Μπενιζέλου), was a Greek Orthodox religio ...

and

Patriarch Gregory V Gregory V ( el, , born , ''Georgios Angelopoulos''; 1746) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808, and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St ...

. *

built a convent, was martyred in 1589, and her bones are still visible in a silver reliquary. She is honored for ransoming Greek women enslaved in

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

harems Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

. * Gregory V the Ethnomartyr,

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

, was hanged by order of

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...

and his body thrown into the

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

in 1821, in retaliation for the Greek uprising on March 25, leading to the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

. His body was rescued by Greek sailors and eventually enshrined in Athens. To the immediate south of the cathedral is the little Church of St. Eleftherios also called the "Little Mitropoli." In the

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

in front of the cathedral stand two statues. The first is that of

Constantine XI Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, ''Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos''; 8 February 1405 – 29 May 1453) was the last Roman (Byzantine) e ...

, the last emperor of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. The second is a statue of

Archbishop Damaskinos Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou ( el, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Δαμασκηνός Παπανδρέου), born Dimitrios Papandreou ( el, Δημήτριος Παπανδρέου; 3 March 1891 – 20 May 1949) was the archbishop of Athens ...

who was Archbishop of Athens during World War II and was

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for King George II and

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

in 1946. The Metropolitan Cathedral remains a major landmark in Athens and the site of important ceremonies with national political figures present, as well as weddings and funerals of notable personalities.

Gallery

File:Dome metropolis Athens, Greece.jpg, View of the dome File:Greece-0191 (2215882104).jpg, Entrance File:Greece-0190 (2215881916).jpg, Interior File:Μητρόπολη Αθηνών 4210.jpg, Interior File:Virgin Mary and Child, Cathedral of Athens.jpg, Virgin Mary with Child icon File:Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens Jesus.jpg, Jesus Christ painted around the late 1800s File:Shrine of Grigorios E.JPG, Reliquary containing the relics of Saint Gregory V of Constantinople Image:Shrine of Snt Filothei.JPG, The shrine of St Philothei File:Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens enthronement.jpg, Enthronement ceremony of Archbishop Ieronymos

Sources

Sacred Destinations
{{coord, 37.975253, N, 23.730158, E, display=title, source:nlwiki Cathedrals in Athens Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Athens Greek Orthodox cathedrals in Greece 1862 establishments in Greece Church buildings with domes