Metropolis of Kitros, Katerini and Platamon

The Metropolis of Kitros, Katerini, and Platamon (Greek: Ιερά Μητρόπολις Κίτρους, Κατερίνης και Πλαταμώνος) is an Eastern Orthodox metropolis of the Church of Constantinople, but is de facto is administered (by agreement) for practical reasons as part of the Church of Greece.

The bishopric is centered on the ancient town of Pydna,^[1] on the coast of Thessaly^[2][3] although named for the nearby villages of Kitros, and Katerini.^[4] Confusingly the village of Platamon is today in the Metropolis of Larissa and Tyrnavos.

History

The see is ancient and has a tradition of both Orthodox and Roman Catholic^[5] bishops.

The Kitros bishopric is mentioned in the Notitia Episcopatuum of Leo VI the Wise (r. 866–912). Its bishop Germanus participated in the Photian Council of Constantinople (879). In the Fourth Crusade Kitros became a Catholic diocese, as witnessed by a letter of Pope Innocent III in 1208, to an unnamed bishop of the see.^[6] It returned to Orthodox control soon after, when the region was conquered by the Despotate of Epirus.

Today the Bepiscopal residence and two early Christian basilicas dating from the 4th and 6th centuries remain in nearby Pydna.^[7] Today there is a resident Orthodox, bishop while the see is also maintained by the Roman Catholic Church as a vacant titular see.^[8]

Known Bishops

• Germanus participated in the Photian Council of Constantinople (879)
• Panaretos, Bishop of Kitros, 996.^[9][10]
• un-named Catholic Bishop^[6]
• un-named Orthodox bishop in 1235^[11]
• Anonymous Orthodox bishop of Kitros^[12]
• John of Kitros^[13]
• un-named Bishop forced to flee slaughter of the inhabitants of Kitros in 1612.^[14]
• Nikolaos, 1840-1882
• Theocletos.^[15]
• Parthenios Vardakas, 1904-1933.^[16]
• Agathonikos (Fatouros) of Kitros
• Georgios, 2014.

Cathedral

The episcopal cathedral in Katerini

The Cathedral is in nearby Katerini.^[4]

Monasteries

• Monastery of St. Dionysios in Olympos (For Men)
• Monastery of St. Efrem in Kontariotissa (For Women)
• Monastery of St. Athanasios (For Women)
• Monastery of the Virgin (Panagia) in Makryrrachi (For Women)

References

1. Raymond Janin, v. Citrus, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XII, Paris 1953, coll. 998-999
2. Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1, p. 188; vol. 2, pp. XX e 129; vol. 3, p. 167; vol. 4, p. 151; vol. 5, p. 158.
3. Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, (Paris 1740), Vol. II, coll. 79-82.
4. Ιερά Μητρόπλις Κίτρους, Κατερίνης και Πλαταμώνος (in Greek). Ιερά Μητρόπολις Κίτρους, Κατερίνης και Πλαταμώνος. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
5. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, (Leipzig 1931), p. 429
6. Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 79-82
7. GReektouristguides.gr.
8. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 871
9. ROSEMARY MORRIS, TRAVELLING JUDGES IN BYZANTINE MACEDONIA (10th–11th c.) p338.
10. Rhoads Murphey, Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean (Routledge, 2016)p21.
11. Kenneth Meyer Setton, The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 (American Philosophical Society, 1976) p30.
12. The bishop of Kitros (eleventh/twelfth century) .
13. Wilfried Hartmann, Kenneth Pennington,The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500 (CUA Press, 27 Feb. 2012) p202.
14. Phokion Kotzageorgis, Ottoman Macedonia (late 14th – late 17th century) p132.
15. ATHANASIOS A. ANGELOPOULOS THE EPISCOPAL SYNOD OF THE METROPOLIS OF THESSALONIKI AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR TODAY p9
16. ATHANASIOS A. ANGELOPOULOS THE EPISCOPAL SYNOD OF THE METROPOLIS OF THESSALONIKI AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR TODAY p23.