The history of Rhodes Metropolis
The name of Rhodes is mentioned in the New Testament (Acts, 1), on the return of Paul to Jerusalem, during the third apostolic tour. Paul is considered to be the founder of the Church of Rhodes, while according to the tradition of Rhodes, the travelling companion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, Apostle Silas, also preached and performed miracles here.
It is not known when Rhodes first became a Bishopry. According to tradition, the first Bishop was Prochoros in the first century. In the second century, Bishop Eufranor was mentioned and in the second half of the third century, in the martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Clement (Klimis) and Agathangelos, Bishop Fotinos. Bishop Eufrosynos took part in the First Ecumenical Synod.
As regards ecclesiastical geography, the Diocese of Rhodes was promoted to a Metropolis around the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 6th century, because in the oldest known “taxin protochaedrias” (order of seniority) it is listed as 26th among the Metropolises of the Ecumenical Throne.
In the period until the occupation of Rhodes by the Knights of the Order of St John, the Metropolis of Rhodes flourished. Its Bishops participated in the Ecumenical Synods: Hellanikos or Hellanodikos in the 3rd, Theodosios in the 5th, Isidoros in the 6th and Leon in the 7th.
During the Hospitaller period, the Metropolis of Rhodes entered a critical period. The Metropolitan of Rhodes was expelled and a Latin Archbishop was installed in his place.
A slight change in the situation occurred in the middle of the 10th century due to the fall of Constantinople and the threat of a Turkish invasion. The Latins even allowed the installation of an Orthodox Metropolitan.
In 1522 Rhodes was conquered by the Turks. Euthymios was installed as the first Metropolitan, who was later hanged as the leader of a revolutionary movement.
In 1912, Rhodes, like the rest of the Dodecanese, came under Italian rule.
After the integration of the Dodecanese into Greece, the Metropolis of Rhodes entered the modern period of its history. In 2004, the islands of Symi, Chalki, Tilos and Kastellorizo were separated from it, forming the Diocese of Symi, while Nisyros was annexed to the Diocese of Koos.
The Holy Metropolis has remarkable experience, spanning over a decade, in the preservation and restoration of portable and non-portable monuments and in the establishment of a management network, which in its full development includes twelve museums and seven important monuments open to the public, scattered throughout the island.
Furthermore, the Educational Institution of the Metropolis operates a Department of Museums. The objective of the Metropolis and of its Department of Museums is to manage and draw up a strategy for the preservation, promotion and development of the cultural capital which is under the care of the church, within the administrative boundaries of the Holy Metropolis of Rhodes.
Website of the Holy Metropolis of Rhodes: https://www.imr.gr/
