The Metropolis of Kastoria ( el, Ιερά Μητρόπολις Καστοριάς) is one of the metropolises of the New Lands in Greece that are within the jurisdiction of the

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

but de facto are administered for practical reasons as part 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 ...

under an agreement between the churches of Athens and Constantinople. Kastoria is also a Latin Catholic titular see, and in the early 20th century hosted a Bulgarian Orthodox bishopric.

History

At first a

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 ...

of Thebes,''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 862 the bishopric was, at least by the reign of Basil II in the early 11th century, the first suffragan see of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. Le Quien mentions only three bishops, all of the period after the

East–West Schism The East–West Schism (also known as the Great Schism or Schism of 1054) is the ongoing break of communion between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches since 1054. It is estimated that, immediately after the schism occurred, a ...

: Joasaph in 1564, Hierotheus, who went to Rome about 1650, and Dionysius Mantoucas; but that list can easily be extended.Sophrone Pétridès, "Castoria" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1908)
/ref> In the early 20th century the town was the seat of a Bulgarian Orthodox bishopric with 2,224 families, 32 priests, and 22 churches. Today, for the

and the

the see is the Metropolis of Kastoria and Exarchate for

Upper Macedonia Upper Macedonia (Greek: Ἄνω Μακεδονία, ''Ánō Makedonía'') is a geographical and tribal term to describe the upper/western of the two parts in which, together with Lower Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was roughly divided. ...

, in the so-called "New Lands" of Greece. On October 3, 2019 the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople resolved to glorify seven New Martyrs of Kastoria, at the proposal of Metropolitan Seraphim (Papakostas) of Kastoria,
Οι αποφάσεις της Αγίας και Ιεράς Συνόδου του Οικουμενικού Πατριαρχείου
'' ΡΟΜΦΑΙΑ (Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο.). 03/10 18:44. Retrieved: 9 October 2019. including the following: :* New Martyr Markos Markoulis of Kleisoura, Kastoria, hanged in Argos Orestiko (1598) :* New Martyr Ioannis Noultzos, martyred together with his brother and brother-in-law in Kastoria (1696) :* New Martyr George of Kastoria, martyred by the Hagarenes in the

Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today i ...

region. :* New Hieromartyr Vasilios Kalapaliki, priest of Chiliodendro, Kastoria ( gr) (1902) :* New Hieromartyr Archimandrite Platon (Aivazidis), Protosyncellus of Metropolitan Germanos Karavangelis (1921) The "Synaxis of the Saints of Kastoria" is a moveable feast that is held on the ''Third Sunday of November''.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitans

* Kallinikos (Georgatos) 2021 * Seraphim (Papakostas) 1996–2020 * Gregorios III (Papoutsopoulos) 1985-1996 * Gregorios II (Maistros) 1974-1985 * Dorotheos (Giannaropoulos) 1958-1973 * Nikiphoros II (Papasideris) 1936-1958 * Ioakeim (Leptidis) 1911-1931 * Ioakeim (Vaxevanidis) 1908-1911 * Germanos (Karavangelis) 1900-1908 * Athanasios (Kapouralis) 1899-1900 * Philaretos (Vafeidis) 1889-1899 * Gregorios (Drakopoulos) 1888-1889 * Kyrillos (Dimitriadis) 1882-1888 * Constantine (Isaakidis) 1880-1882 * Hilarion 1874-1879 * Nicephorus I 1841-1874 * Athanasions (Mitilinaios) 1836-1841

Active Greek Orthodox Monasteries

For men

* Dormition of the Virgin Mary - Panagia Mavriotissa * Agion Anargyroi Melissotopos * Agia Paraskevi Vasileiadou * Agios Georgios Eptahoriou

For women

* Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin of

Kleisoura Kleisoura ( el, Κλεισούρα, "enclosure" or "pass") may refer to: *Kleisoura (Byzantine district), a Byzantine military frontier province *Kleisoura, Kastoria, a village and a municipality in Kastoria regional unit, Greece ** Battle of Kleis ...

* Saint Nicholas Tsirilovou * Panagias Faneromenis * Monastery of St. George Melanthiou

Latin bishopric

Some ten Latin bishops of Castoria are known from the 13th to the 15th centuries.Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi''
vol. 1
, p. 172
vol. 2
p. 120
vol. 3
, p. 157
vol. 4
p. 139
vol. 5
p. 148
vol. 6
p. 153; vol. 7, p. 140; vol. 8, pp. 190–191

Latin titular see

Castoria is listed by the Catholic Church as a titular bishopric since the 15th century. It is vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : * Silvestro de Benedetti,

Vallombrosian Benedictines The Vallombrosians (alternately spelled Vallombrosans, Vallumbrosians or Vallumbrosans) are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa ( la, Vallis umbrosa, shad ...

(O.S.B. Vall.) (1432.01.23 – ?) * Francis Sexello, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1507.01.07 – ?) * Juan López (1520.09.22 – ?) * François Daussayo, Augustinian Order (O.E.S.A.) (1531.03.18 – ?) * Gedeon van der Gracht (1536.01.10 – ?) * Charles Pinello, O.E.S.A. (1546.04.16 – ?) * Esteban de Esmir (1639.04.03 – 1641.01.05) * Johannes van Neercassel, Oratorians (C.O.) (1662.06.23 – 1686.06.06) * Gioachino Maria de’ Oldo (1725.03.03 – 1726.12.09) * Bishop-elect Paolino Sandulli, O.S.B. (1727.03.17 – ?) * John Mary of St. Thomas Albertini, Discalced Carmelites (O.C.D.) (1780.12.23 – 1783?) * Charles Lamothe, Paris Foreign Missions Society (M.E.P.) (1793.02.05 – 1816.05.22) * Jean-Jacques Guérard, M.E.P. (1816.05.23 – 1823.06.18) * Francisco Ferreira de Azevedo (1820.05.29 – 1844.07.25) * Jean-François Ollivier, M.E.P. (1824.04.06 – 1827.05.27) * Joseph-Marie-Pélagie Havard, M.E.P. (1828.03.21 – 1838.07.05) * John Fennelly (1841.04.30 – 1868.01.23) * Johann Jakob Kraft (1868.09.24 – 1884.06.09) * Francesco Gašparić (1884.11.13 – 1897) * Gaspar Felicjan Cyrtowt (1897.07.21 – 1910.04.07) * Marie-Augustine Chapuis, M.E.P. (1911.03.06 – 1913.05.21) * Ferenc Gossman (1913.07.01 – 1931.10.11) * Joaquín Alcaide y Bueso, Capuchin Franciscans (O.F.M. Cap.) (1931.12.15 – 1943.02.21) * Stanislas Courbe (1943.06.22 – 1971.04.22)

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Ιερά Μητρόπολη Καστοριάς
(''Metropolis of Kastoria''). {{coord missing, Greece Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Dioceses of the Church of Greece Kastoria Kastoria (regional unit) Kastoria Eastern Orthodox dioceses in Greece