Panagia Paramythia: Synodal sanction of the Establishment of the Patriarchal Throne in Russia

By Simeon Soltaridis

The ruins of the Vlach-Sarai or Panagia Paramythia, located between the 5th and 6th hill of the historical peninsula of the city, are important ecclesiastical and historical elements, the emergence of which will highlight the cultural form of the wider area.

 For this reason, it is necessary to support, at all costs, the effort of the Vakufio committee, headed by. Mr. Laki Vigka, so that the Church of Vlach-Sarai, as the Patriarchal Church after the Monastery of Pammakaristos, will once again receive its proper place in the ecclesiastical life of the Phanar.

 An additional significance of its history is that under its holy roof, the Great Church of Christ of Constantinople convened a Holy and Great Synod on the question of the validation of the Patriarchal value of the Church of Russia. "The establishment of the Patriarchal Throne in Russia" was ratified, as reported by Archim. Kallinikos Delikanis (ret. of Caesarea) in the aforementioned minutes, which includes the words of Patriarch Jeremias II.

The historical context in which the sanctioning of the establishment of the Patriarchal Throne in Russia took place acquires particular interest after the events of recent years and brings back to the fore the church where the document in question was signed, Panagia Paramythia or Vlach-Sarai.

 The minutes begin with: "of the Holy and Holy Great Synod, convened in the name of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ in the church of our most holy Theotokos and Pammakarist, the immortal Mary of the so-called Paramythia, in Constantinople...".  It is of special significance for the writer that this particular article is signed on January 21, the day of the Assembly of the Icon of Panagia Paramythia.

Patriarch Jeremias II

Manuel Gideon, among others, mentions the sanction, who writes that on February 12, 1593, a meeting was held in the Church of Paramythia "which sanctioned the establishment of the Patriarchate of Moscow by Jeremios of Constantinople".

 Regarding the importance, on the other hand, of the Patriarchal Church of Vlach- Sarai, notes Mr. Konstantinos Vetosnikov, Dr. of History and Dr. of Theology, scientific associate of the College of France (Collège de France) and Archon Hieronymus of the Great Church of Christ:

 "The synod met in 1593 at the Church of the Virgin of Vlach-Serai under the primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II and with the participation of the Patriarch of Alexandria Meletius, who also represented the Patriarch of Antioch Joachim and the Patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius. The ambassador of the kingdom of Russia was also present at the meetings of this council. A number of high priests also participated, as the text of the minutes says, "from every province of the Eastern Orthodox Church". The minutes refer to the synod as "Holy and Sacred Great Synod". At this meeting, "the second ratification of the conferment of the patriarchal title on the bishop of Moscow" took place.

Job's relics in the Monastery of the Sublime in Moscow

Russian sources, as well as their later interpreters, always seek to present the Russian metropolises of the wider region as a rampart in the papacy's penetration towards the East. They also refer, however, to the internal disputes between the papal states, where for various geopolitical reasons, alliances and camps were always very fluid. However, it is worth noting that the resistance and reaction of Theophanes the Greek to the Russian autocephalous was the cause of his persecutions in 1525 and 1531.

 The question of the Autocephaly of the Russian Church had started towards the end of 1490. It was a purely geopolitical issue, because Moscow wanted the center of the national ideology to be its own and not that of foreigners, not to come from Kiev and indirectly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

 Something that until present, apart from some historical periods, dominates in Russia and shows the Russian national ideology consisting first of all of nationalism, which uses faith to impose itself on the modern world since it shows the new and completely alien to the morals and our rules ecclesiology of the ideology: "where there is a Russian there is a Russian Church". This ethno-tribalism was condemned in 1872 at the Holy and Great Synod convened in our city. 

Job’s relics in the Kremlin Museum

However, sources, including Russian ecclesiastics, note that a long time before the granting of patriarchal status to Job of Moscow by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah II, when during his third tenure as Patriarchate he toured Russia on ecclesiastical affairs, he was not allowed to leave for Vasilefoussa, something brought up to date in his relevant article of January 11, 2022 by the Metropolitan of Drama Pavlos.

 In this, the dynamic Cypriot Hierarch asks his brother if he "knows about the imprisonment of the Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II recognition of the way of patriarchal status to the bishop of Moscow". Relevant information can be found by several authors such as the fierce Aristides Panotis and the infamous Akylas Millas.

 The Synod at the Church of Panagia Paramythia was convened after the "blackmailing" decision of Patriarch Jeremias so that the rest of the Patriarchs of the East would bear its burden, since normally such a decision belongs only to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Synod. Only an Ecumenical Council can confer the status of Autocephaly and the Patriarchal value of the protection of the Palaifate Thrones. The ecclesiastical burden and responsibility of these Churches is one thing and that of the newer ones is another.

 But the important moment of the synod was that after the ratification, there was a discussion about the position that the Moscow Patriarchate would have in the Diptychs. In the relevant Minutes, it is noted that "he has this type after the Holiness of Jerusalem in the holy diptychs and in the ecclesiastical assemblies", and it goes without saying that he does not belong to the aforementioned class of ambassadorial Thrones.

 All this and much more", adds Mr. Konstantinos Vetosnikov, "highlight the truth that for the Church of Russia, the Church of the Virgin Mary of Paramythia or Vlach Sarai has historical and canonical value since there the Patriarchs of the East ratified, with head of Constantinople, its patriarchal status.  It also, once again confirmed that Constantinople itself and the Great Mother Church of Christ was, in practice, the head of the Church of Russia as well as of the other Patriarchal Thrones, as stated in the relevant document".

The church as it is today.

From all that has been pointed out, it becomes clear that the Church of Vlach-Sarai is of particular importance for the Orthodox world, and indeed with the intense ecclesiastical policy practiced by the Church of Russia, as its current ruins once became the witnesses of historical truths.

It is, therefore, very natural that the committee of the Church and especially of the president Lakis Vigas wish to restore it, to return to its natural original form; and the resources are justifiably sought to start this blessed project, especially after the permission received from the local authorities. The ultimate goal is to restore it from the ground up so that everyone can see the splendor of the building, the architecture of which we will talk about in the next article.

 On the other hand, in an area that is regenerating at a very rapid pace, it is a moral, as well as a historical obligation of the authorities, to keep alive the traces of the historical events that not only marked the local Orthodox community but had a geopolitical impact that is reflected to this day on the world politics- economic-religious chessboard. History is always the springboard to understand modern reality. In a few words, the Church of Paramythia was the scene in which one of the most memorable moments of church history unfolded.

 For these reasons and others, this church is considered important and should receive the corresponding attention today.

 The successive disasters it suffered, with the last fire of 1974, completely destroyed this historic Church. In defiance of the times and after receiving the relevant registration of the property, the Church and the damaged areas around it, on the page of the land register in the name of the Foundation of the Virgin of Paramythia, the way was opened for the restoration of the entire complex. Both of the church and the adjacent buildings are within the courtyard area. The committee is working feverishly to raise financial resources in order to rebuild from the ground up.

 Even though the church of Panagia Paramythia is considered small, its architecture and church building are of particular interest, because it is a historical monument of great importance in the course of Orthodoxy both in the city and far beyond its narrow borders.

 It was founded in the area that was the center of Orthodoxy. During the Ottoman administration, the Orthodox were not divided into nations, writes the art historian Hairi Fechmi Yilmaz, as for the Ottoman Empire "the Orthodox were one nation". This is how they appeared in the sources. For example, "the Orthodox Vlachs of Romania or the Middle East were one nation". 

 At this time, we are talking about the millet, based on religion and not so much ethnic origin. Thus, the area on the shores of the Golden Horn Bay, and especially Phanar, with the Patriarchate as its nucleus, was considered the center of the entire Orthodox world.

 Gerlach notes that the Church of Vlach-Sarai was rebuilt on top of a palace in the 16th century for the Princes of Wallachia. It is not known exactly when the palace was rebuilt, but it is said to have been granted by Sultan Suleiman in 1529 to the Rulers from Wallachia, although this information is not confirmed. However, it was donated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople by the descendants of the Rulers of Wallachia; and in 1587, it became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate after Pammakaristo.

As the area has a large area, terraces have been constructed to create flat sections and to allow the construction of buildings. The irregular plot in which the Vlach-Sarai is built is also shaped on such terraces. Access to the building is only from the first floor. Of course, there is also a side entrance. Worthy of attention is a monumental plane tree in the courtyard.

On the "Blue German Maps" of the city, dated 1916, the area where the building is located is shown in detail. The street in front of the church is marked as "Ulah Sarai Kilisesi sokagi", i.e. street of the Vlach Church, in Latin letters.  On the insurance (fire protection) map, drawn by the surveyor Zak Pervić, in 1929, on behalf of the "Central Directorate of Insurers of Turkey", the church building and its surroundings appear in great detail.

On this map the church, which is the largest building in the complex, appears as a stone-built structure, while next to it the two sides of the building are marked as wooden structures, which may have been designed as a "pareklision", as marked on the map in Greek designation. Inside the courtyard, there are four wooden buildings. These are two-story and one-story constructions.

In general, the church reflects the qualities of the Christian architecture of the pre-Reformation period [i.e. before 1839]. However, as noted in an inscription in Greek, which is on the wall of the church, on May 1, 1840, the building was rebuilt from scratch. Thus, it is concluded that the wooden narthex and the other spaces must have been built in this period.

Hairi Fechmi Yilmaz in his related study writes that the Church in its first reconstruction was architecturally simple and austere, while the churches after the Tanzimât (reforms of 1839-1876) are built very differently and brilliantly.

Ozyegin University Professor Alssandro Camiz and his team note that "the masonry differs in its construction material since a different mortar was used." While for masonry foundations, he claims that they have a special technique that gives it excessive durability. He also mentions the ceiling and says that "after the walls are strengthened, the ceiling must be rebuilt after studying ceilings of the same period".

Before the fire in the early 1830s, the Church was wooden, while the iconostasis and pulpit throne were all wooden. Everything was destroyed in the fire except for the masonry, which was "gyavgiri" i.e. stone. The bell tower is from the Tanzimât period, i.e. 1833. As is the narthex.

 During this period, it was rebuilt with the financial assistance of the community of Salmatovrouki, and it lasted until 1974 when it was again destroyed by fire. The relative findings of the Church and not of the foundations go back to this era.

According to the architect Savvas Chileni, the Church was "a simple four-sided stone-built basilica with a gabled roof. And he continues "In the sketch of Millas, the wall of the western side is preserved, which protrudes from the two lateral sides in memory of what the wooden building that burned in 1784 was like. The vertical elements that can be seen in the photo are the positions of the wooden columns that supported the roof trusses and when they burned, all that was left were the gaps in the smoked walls...."

The original church is rectangular, and it had a round arch projecting towards the eastern side, which was the sacred Vima. It had one window, while later the church was expanded into three aisles with three niches that had one window.

 The art historian Mr. Yilmaz in his study notes that there were four windows to the north and three to the south which were semi circularly arched. Mr. Yilmaz continues and emphasizes that instead of a fourth window to the south there was a door, just as there was a door to the east. While there is a small door, there is also one to the sacred Vima.

 Elsewhere he notes "The wooden narthex on both sides and the western wall of the southern entrance are also of stone and are integrated with the western facade of the church." And he continues "The western facade of the church ends in a triangular pediment due to its gabled roof.  In the center of the roof ridge is a cross of sorts.

On the facade there are two rows of windows with stone surrounds. The window in the center above has a balustrade, which at the junctions of the horizontal and vertical bars has cubes with cut-off corners. In the two other windows, there are balustrades that have rhomboidal lamellas at their joints. The lower windows are almost square.'

The stone structure of the central church is made of mudstone and in between there are pieces of irregularly cut bricks. In the corners, the pieces of stone are larger in size.  Among the masonry materials there are a small number of black stones, green volcanic stones and pieces of marble.

 In the Ottoman era until the issuance of the decrees of the Reforms, in the places of worship of non-Muslims, the use of luxurious building materials, such as carved stones and marble, were not allowed. For this reason, in general the masonry gives the impression that it was built with stones collected on site.

While he maintains that the roof is covered externally with Turkish tiles and only the east and west walls were covered with Marseille type tiles. Finally, he emphasizes that various floor traces can be seen on the floor. Marble slabs are generally used.

It is therefore understandable that apart from the historical value, the church has a great architectural importance since it presents a church structure which bears elements of the Christian and Ottoman periods.

All of the above piqued the interest of the Vakoufios board of trustees, and after the lawsuits and trials that led to the registration of the property in the land register in favor of the Vakoufios of the church of Panagia Paramythia, related studies to repair the building began. Archaeological investigations and excavations were carried out where the foundations were found. For now, however, they stopped due to a lack of financial resources, as a result of which the promotion of the Church is delayed. Of course, the efforts do not stop and the hope of the reconstruction of this historical monument remains alive.