Institutions

Very Good Greek, Modern (post 1453) Paperback. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Greek (Modern). 79 p. Not in OCLC. The Metropolis of Chalcedon is an ecclesiastical territory (diocese) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Christianity spread in Chalcedon during the 2nd century AD. The city was initially the see of a bishopric before being promoted to a metropolis at 451 AD, at the time of the Fourth Ecumenical Council. It is one of the four remaining active Greek Orthodox Church metropolises of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey today and the only one surviving in Asia Minor (Anatolia). During the 14th century, the metropolitan see remained vacant, due to the Ottoman conquest of the region. However, it was reorganized in the 15th century, possibly after the Fall of Constantinople and the subsequent incorporation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate into the millet system of the Ottoman society. The first recorded metropolitan of that time was Joseph, in 1477. In the following years, the jurisdiction of the metropolis was extended to the east. During the late 17th century the see of the diocese was transferred to Kuzguncuk (Ermoulianai, Chrysokeramos), where it remained until 1855. At that period a number of monasteries were established, like the one of Saint Panteleimon, which was declared Stauropegic. The metropolitan of Chalcedon was one of the five Elder metropolitans from the wider region of Constantinople, the other being those of nearby Herakleia, Cyzicus, Nicaea, and Nicomedia. Following an Ottoman decree of 1757, they had to be always present in the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and had direct access to the Ottoman Sultan, to whom they announced the election of the new Ecumenical Patriarch. From the mid-19th century, the local metropolis prospered thanks to the significant population increase and economic development of the local Orthodox population. In 1855 the see of the metropolitan returned to Chalcedon during the primateship of Metropolitan Gerasimos. Moreover, the newly erected church of Saint Euphemia became the new cathedral. The metropolitan mansion was built near the cathedral in 1902. This is the first and only known printed regulation book of the Greek Community in Chalcedonia (Kadiköy). Extremely rare.