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161
Martyrdom of St Glykeria
Year of the martyrdom of Saint Martyr Glykeria, which came from Traianopolis. In her era there is evidence of a small Christian community in Traianopolis under the spiritual guidance of a priest. -
305
Traianopolis becomes seat of the Episcopate
The large increase in the number of Christians contributes to Traianopolis becoming a bishopric, before the great persecution of Diocletian in the year 305 AD. -
Period: 401 to
Traianopolis becomes seat of the Diocese
From the 5th century the bishop of Traianopolis holds the title of a Metropolitan. Three and later five episcopates belonged originally to the Diocese of Traianopolis. Traianopolis was for over a thousand years the center of the life of the Thracian region south of the Rhodope Mountains. -
Period: 501 to
Ainos becomes seat of the Archdiocese
From early Christian times, a neighboring city, Ainos, is declared a bishopric. It is a city known by Homer, with great commercial and cultural peak. Under Justinian (527-563 AD) it was declared seat of the Archdiocese. -
Period: Jan 1, 1100 to Jan 1, 1199
Ainos becomes seat of the Diocese
Ainos, under Alexios Komnenos (1081-1118) is declared seat of the Diocese. -
Jan 1, 1152
Foundation of the Monastery of Kosmosotira in Vira
The Comnenian dynasty had a special sensitivity regarding the area of Traianopolis-Ainos, which is proved by the construction of the notorious Holy Monastery of Kosmosotira of Vira (modern Feres) under the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos in 1152. -
Jan 1, 1365
The Episcopate of Maronia promoted to Diocese
After successive barbarian invasions Traianopolis declines and from 1365 is under Ottoman occupation. In the same year the Diocese of Maronia is promoted to Diocese. -
Martyrdom of 5 Neo-martyrs in Makri of Alexandroupolis
The Five NeoMartyrs (Manuel, Theodore, George and the other, George Jr. were coming from Samothrace, Michael from Cyprus). The NeoMartyrs in 1821 converted. Later they sensed their mistake, confessed their faith in Christ and died a martyr's death. -
Modern Alexandroupolis is detached from the Diocese of Maronia and is annexed to the Diocese of Ainos
In 1885 the small coastal village of Dede-Agats (today Alexandroupolis) and 13 other villages were detached from the Diocese of Maronia and were annexed to the Diocese of Ainos. Alexandroupolis, which was then a small village with the church of St Nicholas as a spiritual center, soon evolved into a town, favored greatly by the construction of the rail network, preceding the neighboring Ainos. -
Inauguration of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Alexandroupolis
The Cathedral of St. Nicholas, the first cell of the city around which the whole of Alexandroupolis was built, was constructed on the homonymous hill in place of an older smaller temple. -
The Elementary School "Leontarideios School" is built in Alexandroupolis
The Leontarideios school, which houses the Ecclesiastical Museum of the Holy Diocese of Alexandroupolis, is a neoclassical building of 1909 donated by the Maronite merchant Anthony Leontaridis. Till 1972 served as a high school. The exhibits in the museum were gathered from churches and monasteries in the area of administrative jurisdiction of the Diocese of Alexandroupolis, from private donations and from relics carried by the refugees during their relocation in Greece in 1922. -
Alexandroupolis is proclaimed as an independent Diocese of Alexandroupolis
On November 17 of the year 1922, under the Patriarch of Constantinople Meletios D Metaxaki, Alexandroupolis with synodical decision is declared an independent Diocese. Gervasios Sarasitis (1922-1934) was elected first Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis on the same day as the announcement of the new metropolis. -
Enlargement of the Diocese of Alexandroupolis with the addition of the island of Samothrace. It is called since then Diocese of Alexandroupolis, Traianopolis and Samothrace
On June 5th 1934 the Diocese of Soufli was abolished and the biggest part of it, along with the city of Soufli, was granted to the Diocese of Didimoticho and Orestiada. The southern part of the Diocese of Soufli was granted to the Diocese of Alexandroupolis, which was also widened to the south by adding to it the island of Samothrace, which broke away from the Diocese of Maronia. In 1934 Joachim Kavyris, from Imbros and Tenedos, Ikaria and Soufli, was elected Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis and -
Konstantios Chronis becomes Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis
In May 1967 Konstantios Chronis is elected Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis by the Synod of the Archbishop of Athens Hieronymus Kotsonis. -
Anthimos Roussas becomes Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis
On July 13th 1974 Anthimos Roussas was elected Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. -
Anthimos Koukouridis becomes Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis
On October 6th 2004 Anthimos Koukouridis, the then chancellor of the Diocese, was elected Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. -
Period: to
Assumption of Saint Theophan from Sigriani in Samothrace
Saint Theophanes from Sigriani (760-815), one of the major historians of the Byzantine Empire and particularly of the period of Iconoclasm, died in exile on the island of Samothrace.