The Metropolis of Corfu, Paxoi and the Diapontian Islands ( el, Ιερά Μητρόπολις Κερκύρας, Παξών και Διαποντίων Νήσων) is a

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...

of the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Ekklēsía tē̂s Helládos, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its ...

. Its seat is the town of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

on the island of

in northwestern

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 ...

. It encompasses the entire

Corfu Prefecture Corfu ( el, Περιφερειακή ενότητα Κερκύρας) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Ionian Islands. The capital of the regional unit is the town of Corfu. The regional unit consists of the is ...

, i.e. not only the island of Corfu, but also the two small island groups of

Paxoi Paxos ( gr, Παξός) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, lying just south of Corfu. As a group with the nearby island of Antipaxos and adjoining islets, it is also called by the plural form Paxi or Paxoi ( gr, Παξοί, pronounced in Engl ...

and the

Diapontian Islands The Diapontian Islands or Diapontia Islands ( el, Διαπόντια Νησιά, Diapontia Νisia, also known as Othonoi Islands ( el, Νήσοι Οθωνοί, Νisoi Othonoi) are a Greek island group in the Ionian Sea. They are located the north ...

History

The foundation of the see of Corfu exists is attributed to the establishment of a shrine to

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

there by two disciples of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, Jason of Tarsus and Sosipatrus of Achaea. Its bishops are attested as participating in

ecumenical councils An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote ar ...

from 325 to 787, originally as

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

s of

Nicopolis Nicopolis ( grc-gre, Νικόπολις, Nikópolis, City of Victory) or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus Vetus. It was located in the western part of the modern state of Greece. The city was founded in 29 ...

and later of

Cephallenia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...

. As with the other sees of the Illyricum, it was transferred from the

See of Rome The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

to the overall jurisdiction of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

in the 8th century. It was raised to the status of 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 associate ...

in the second half of the 10th century, and finally became a

sometime in the third quarter of the 11th century. Following the conquest of the island by Western powers (the Genoese, Venetians, and Angevins) from the turn of the 13th century, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

archbishopric was established on the island, first attested in 1228. Under Catholic rule, the local Orthodox Christian population was served by a head priest (''

protopapas ''Protopapas'' ( el, πρωτοπαπάς, "first priest, archpriest") is a Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical office. The office appeared in Byzantine times, when the ''protopapas'' was a subaltern of a bishop, along with his own deputy, the ''deute ...

''). The Orthodox bishopric was not restored until 1800, after the

fall of the Republic of Venice The fall of the Republic of Venice was a series of events that culminated on 12 May 1797 in the dissolution and dismemberment of the Republic of Venice at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte and Habsburg Austria. In 1796, the young general Napoleon ...

and the establishment of the

Septinsular Republic The Septinsular Republic ( el, Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία, Heptanēsos Politeia; it, Repubblica Settinsulare) was an oligarchic republic that existed from 1800 to 1807 under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty in the Ionian Islan ...

References

Sources

* *

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Corfu (regional unit)

History of Corfu