Metropolis of Smyrna

The Metropolis of Smyrna (Greek: Μητρόπολη Σμύρνης) is an ecclesiastical territory (diocese) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, modern Turkey.

[3] The city was also the place of exile of the monk Theodore the Studite,[3] who played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium.

[8] Thus, although Christianity in Anatolia was in steady decline during that period, the diocese of Smyrna survived, even in a restricted area of jurisdiction and managed to retain its status as a metropolis of the Orthodox Church.

[3] During the 17th and 18th centuries a significant number of local saints (new martyrs) are recorded in the city, where most of them rejected conversion to Islam and were tortured by the Muslim authorities.

[9] At that period the Christian community increased enormously, due to the general demographic boom of the region, as a result of the commercial development of Smyrna.

In September 1922, during the events of the Great Fire of Smyrna, thousands of civilians lost their lives and the survivors found refuge to Greece.

[11][12][13] On 29 August 2016, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople elected the elder Bartholomew Samaras as Metropolitan of Smyrna.

According to 17th-century traveler accounts, the main Christian sites of interest in Smyrna, were the ministry of Apostle John, the tomb of Saint Polycarp, as well as the place of his martyrdom.