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Panagia Portaïtissa of Kydonies / Ayvalık: the Consequences of the 1923 Population Exchange for a metochion of the Athonite Monastery of Iveron

La Panagia Portaïtissa de Kydonies/Ayvalık : les conséquences de l’échange de population de 1923 sur un metochion du monastère athonite d’Iveron
Kydonies/Ayvalık’ın Panagia Portaïtissa’sı: 1923’teki nüfus mübadelesinin Iveron’daki Athonite manastırının metochionu üzerindeki sonuçları
Vanessa R. de Obaldía
p. 103-128

Résumés

Résumé : dans un vieux quartier de la ville côtière égéenne d’Ayvalık/ Kydonies, l’ancien sanctuaire grec orthodoxe du metochion athonite a été construit à la fin du xixe siècle et dédié à l’icône de la Panagia Portaïtissa (Notre Dame, Gardienne de la porte) conservée au monastère d’Iveron du mont Athos en Grèce. L’église en pierre, le logement des moines et le jardin sont aujourd’hui une propriété privée. Des informations importantes, venues d’archives inédites écrites en turc ottoman et en grec, jettent une lumière nouvelle sur un site sacré jusque-là peu étudié. Dans cet article, plusieurs aspects de l’histoire tourmentée du sanctuaire de la fin de l’ère ottomane jusqu’à aujourd’hui sont mis au jour. L’objectif de cette étude est double. En premier lieu, révéler les conséquences matérielles de l’échange de populations sur les lieux de culte chrétiens orthodoxes à travers le cas peu étudié d’un metochion appartenant au monastère athonite d’Iveron. En second lieu, comprendre les relations entre le Mont Athos, l’Empire ottoman et la République turque au cours de deux époques consécutives et les conséquences complexes du traité de Lausanne sur les lieux de culte chrétiens orthodoxes et particulièrement sur les metochia athonites.

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Texte intégral

  • 1  The author uses the contemporary name of the city throughout the article for the sake of consisten (...)
  • 2  Greek sing. μετοχιών and pl. μετόχια often translated as economic networks or dependencies. They w (...)

1In the old quarter of the Aegean coastal city of Ayvalık (Αϊβαλί) also known as Kydonies (Κυδωνιές),1 a tiled-roof stone building situated on the corner of a sloping plot of land is faintly silhouetted on the city’s eastern edge. It was a shrine once graced with the name Portaïtissis (Πορταϊτίσσης) in dedication to the icon of Panagia Portaïtissa (Our Lady the Gatekeeper) preserved at Iveron Monastery, as were several other of the Monastery’s metochia.2 Today, it is encompassed by a verdant orchard of grape vines and olive trees, complimented by graceful cypresses which are clearly visible from behind the stone wall surrounding the property. Bougainvillea elegantly winds its way up the portico’s arched columns, its delicate purple flowers providing a splash of colour among the rich green. The former shrine’s main entrance on the south side is a tall rustic wooden door topped by a lintel and above that a pointed window against which rests a rusted plaque bearing the date of construction: 1899. Upon stepping through the double door, there appears a white-washed interior that still bears the scars of the region’s painful recent history: an iconostasis is bare without icons, a colourful stained-glass window above the semi-circular apse hides a broken cross, the large stone slabs of the altar steps lie unevenly from the destructive activities of the treasure hunters looking for material wealth inside a spiritual sanctuary.

Figure 1. The former shrine of the metochion of Portaïtissa

Figure 1. The former shrine of the metochion of Portaïtissa

Courtesy of the author, 24 August 2022.

Methodology and sources

2The objective of this study is twofold. Firstly, to reveal the material consequence of the population exchange for Christian Orthodox places of worship through the little-studied case of a former metochion belonging to the Athonite monastery of Iveron. Important information from unpublished archival sources written in Ottoman Turkish and Greek sheds new light providing the Ottoman perspective on the holy site formerly insufficiently analysed through secondary narratives. Secondly, to understand the relations between Mount Athos and the Ottoman state following the tanżīmāt (reform edicts), and then the Turkish Republic during two consecutive eras, in addition to the complex consequences of the 1923 Population Exchange on Athonite metochia, in terms of their distribution, registration, and indemnification. Accordingly, multiple layers of the unconventional history of the shrine shall be uncovered during the turmoil of the late Ottoman and early Republican eras until today.

  • 3  N.B. The address of the property along with maps identifying its location have been omitted out of (...)
  • 4  Foundouli, 2000, p. 2-3.

3The majority of studies published on Athonite metochia have been undertaken outside the Ottoman historiographical framework and without referencing Ottoman archival sources. The originality of this article is its complementing existing studies on metochia in general and on Iveron’s metochion of Portaïtissa specifically including unstudied Greek archival documents. The author’s official request on 22 August 2022 to the Patriarchal Archive of the Ecumenical Patriarchate located in Phanar met with a reply that after a careful search, no information regarding the former metochion of Panagia Portaïtissa could be found among the codices of Patriarchal Correspondence.3 The lack of archival sources in the Greek language was confirmed by the late Ioannis M. Fountoulis (1927-2007), in his book titled Ή Παναγία Φανερωμένη τῶν Κυδωνιῶν (Αϊβαλί) [Panagia Phaneromeni of Kydonies (Aïvalí)]. The liturgical historian and theologian has a poignant connection with the town from which his own parents were expelled. He attributes it to the destruction of the records from the Metropolis of Ephesus and the Metropolis of Kydonies under which Ayvalık was subsequently administered, apart from two liturgical books/manuscripts (leitougikon and synaxarion) and a collection of miracles.4

  • 5  Fr. Theologos oversees the archival documents dated after the annexation of Mount Athos to the Gre (...)
  • 6  Email from Fr. Theologos dated 3 May 2022.

4The author has likewise been in email communication with monks at Iveron Monastery. Father (hereafter Fr.) Theologos Iverites, head librarian and archivist, located eighteen documents pertaining to Iveron’s metochion in Ayvalık dated between 1913 and 1925 in the Monastery’s Greek archive.5 Although it was not possible to obtain copies of them before the publication of this article, Fr. Theologos clarified that most of them deal with some disputes between Iveron Monastery, Hieromonk (priest-monk) Hilarion who was the oikonomos (steward) of the Metropolis of Kydonies established in 1907, the leaseholders of its fields, and Bishop Gregorios of Kydonies.6

  • 7  Strathis, 2002, p. 196-342.
  • 8  Iverites, 2023.
  • 9  Gündoğmaz İpek, 2003, p. 145-164.

5As for secondary sources, there is one comprehensive study about Athonite metochia in Ayvalık by Fr. Demetrios Strates titled Αγιορείτικα Μετόχια στις Κυδωνιές (Αϊβαλί) [Mount Athos Metochia in Kydoniés (Aivalí)] with a voluminous section about the Portaïtissa metochion containing transcription of correspondence in Greek between the metochion and Monastery and some facsimiles.7 A more recent study has also been written about two neo-martyrs of the Portaïtissa metochion, called Gabriel and Arkadios, to be published in the ecclesiastical newspaper Ορθόδοξος Τύπος [Orthodox Press]. The author and kodikographos (keeper of minutes at the monastery’s council of seniors), Fr. Maximos Iverites, reconstructs important biographical information of the monks of the metochion as well as Iveron’s relationship with the local people of Ayvalık and the property itself.8 Finally, a detailed architectural analysis of the city’s former churches including Portaïtissa is provided by Gülay Gündoğmaz İpek’s unpublished Master of Arts thesis titled Ayvalık Tarihi Kent Merkezindeki Kiliselerin İncelenmesi [The Analysis of Churches in Ayvalık’s Historical City Centre].9

  • 10  The catalogue is kept within the monastery’s library. Email from Fr. Evgenios Iverites dated 3 May (...)
  • 11  Boa, İ.AZN.85/24, 1-5. The facsimiles of all the documents and their respective transliterations a (...)

6There is no mention of the property in the unpublished draft catalogue of the Ottoman Turkish archive of Iveron Monastery by the Ottoman historian Vasilis Demetriades.10 Therefore, there are no relevant Ottoman documents in situ at the monastery. Nonetheless, there are a total of five documents (nine folios) from the Edicts of [the Ministry of] Justice and Religious Confessions [İrāde ʿAdliye ve Mezāhib] in the Ottoman Archive Complex of the Presidential State Archives Directorate [Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Arşivleri Başkanlığı Osmanlı Arşivi Külliyesi] (henceforth BOA).11

Figure 2. A postcard of Ayvalık edited in 1905 by Jean (Ioannes) Kontaxis

Figure 2. A postcard of Ayvalık edited in 1905 by Jean (Ioannes) Kontaxis

Courtesy of Ayvalık Belediye Tarihçesi, URL: https://ayvalik.bel.tr/​kurumsal/​belediye-tarihcesi/​

From Kydoniés to Ayvalık

  • 12  According to Ioannεs M. Foundouli, the Icon of the Phaneromeni was lost when it was taken to Anato (...)
  • 13  For a comprehensive study based on the monastic archives see Strathis, 2002, p. 59-195 and 343-357
  • 14  The 12 parishes were as follows: Mesi Panagia (koimisi, dormition), Agia Triada, Saint Zoodochos P (...)
  • 15  Rum refers to a Christian Orthodox descendant of the Byzantine Empire who speaks Greek and is an O (...)
  • 16  Clogg, 1972, p. 633-667.

7Ayvalık was a place of monasteries, churches, and chapels with healing wells and springs. Sacred precincts were created with a copy of the icon of Portaïtissa and the icon and holy spring of Phaneromeni for veneration by the faithful.12 There was also a presence of the spiritual, intellectual, and artistic heart of Orthodoxy through the properties owned by three Athonite monasteries in the city: Iveron, Dionysiou, and Pantokrator, the latter two of which no traces remain.13 There were eleven parishes (ἐνοριῶν) with a church in each14 and two shrines (προσκυνημάτων) as well as social institutions and the organisation of the communities of Rum Orthodox Ottoman subjects resembled that of Istanbul.15 The modern founder of Ayvalık, oikonomos Ioannεs Dimitrakellis, established the church-hospital-­school Panagia ton Orphanon complex in 1780 defining the city’s identity, with education and healthcare becoming (and to a certain extent remaining) the city’s gracious charisms.16 Its prosperity as a commercial center of great importance encouraged diplomatic presence and was the birthplace of renowned literary and artistic personas such as the prose writer Elias Venezis, the author and artist Fotis Kontoglou, and the renowned liturgical historian and theologian Ioannεs M. Foundoulis.

8Nonetheless, the city was devastated and abandoned in 1821, and the population expelled in 1917 and 1922, all of which have been well-documented by both sides from different perspectives. The “Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations” [in Greek: Σύμβαση Περί Ανταλλαγής των Ελληνικών και Τουρκικών Πληθυσμών; in Turkish: Türk ve Yunan Nüfuslarının Mübadelesine İlişkin Sözleşme] was Article vi of the Treaty of Lausanne signed on 30 January 1923 in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922. The article formalised the expulsion of the Christian Orthodox and of the Muslims and their renunciation of their property rights on residential, administrative, industrial, commercial, and religious buildings. Ayvalık’s Orthodox community settled in mainland Greece and was replaced with primarily Turkish Muslims from Lesbos, Crete, Bosnia, and Thrace. The exchanged populations shared the same traumatic experience of being uprooted, forced to leave their homes, abandon their possessions, then settled in unknown lands and forbidden from ever returning.

  • 17  A pioneer in this subject is historyprofessor Morack, 2017; Morack, 2020, p. 129-152; Morack, 2015 (...)
  • 18  Uçar &İnce-Güney, 2007; Saban-Ergi, 2017; Tuğrul, 2017; Saban-Ergi, 2010; İnce- Güney, 2016, p. 35 (...)
  • 19  For more on the conversion and restoration of churches in Ayvalık see Uçar, 2014, p. 7‑18; Uçar, 2 (...)

9One of the more complex aspects of the exchange concerned properties left behind: their distribution, registration, and indemnification. A Mixed Commission of Greek, Turkish, and neutral members was formed to address these issues which were never implemented due to its eventual disbandment in 1930. Henceforth, the fate of the properties and indemnification for the exchanged populations were determined by national laws and implemented by local authorities.17 Since the Turkish Republic was not powerful enough to enforce uniform policy, it is possible that policies varied according to place, influenced by local decision-making and networks. As specifically regards Ayvalık, the population decrease along with a change in the religious demographics and identity of the city from Christian to Muslim, led to a significant initial loss of its religious and cultural heritage. Policies at the level of central government and their implementation by the local political and administrative bodies also had their effect. Christian Orthodox churches became state property of the Turkish Ministry of Finance, and many were subjected to functional transformation and adaptive reuse according to circumstances. Consequently, sacred spaces became buildings to serve the spiritual and practical needs of the new population, such as mosques, tobacco or alcohol stores, an oil factory, and even a stable.18 Of the city’s eleven churches, all have lost their original function: six were demolished, three have been converted into mosques (Kato Panagia, Ioannes Prodromos, Georgios of Lydda), one into a museum (Taxiarchis), and one is a ruin (Triada). Of the chapels without parishes, none remain, having been allocated or sold to private individuals according to size and location, whereas the two shrines were transformed into a museum (Phaneromeni) and a private property (Portaïtissa).19

Figure 3. Fr. Maximos Iverites outside the east wall of the former metochion during a visit to Ayvalık on 27 April 2009

Figure 3. Fr. Maximos Iverites outside the east wall of the former metochion during a visit to Ayvalık on 27 April 2009

Courtesy of Fr. Maximos

The Athonite Monastery of Iveron and its metochia

  • 20  For more on the history of Iveron see Lefort et al., 1994, Introduction; Papachrisanthou, 1992.
  • 21  Otkhmezuri, 2022; Chichinadze, 2022, p. 135-146.
  • 22  For more on Greek manuscripts see Iverites, 2014, and on Georgian manuscripts see Gippert, Outtier (...)

10Iveron Monastery is one of the oldest and most venerable of the twenty Athonite monasteries. The large and impressive monastic compound is situated in a small, picturesque cove on the northeastern most trisection of the coast of the Halkidiki Peninsula. The monastery became known as Iveron (of the Iberians, i.e., Georgians) in honour of its founder and former general Tornike Eristavi, later to be known as Saint John the Iberian, who is said to have established the Georgian monastery ca. 980 on the foundations of an older Monastery of Clement which is historically attested.20 The library is richly stocked with many printed books from the monastery’s metochia in the Balkans, Anatolia (Asia Minor), Russia, and the Greek parishes in Western Europe.21 There is also a significant collection of 2365 Greek manuscripts which date from the beginning of the 11th century by the scribe Theophanes (980s-1020s) as well as medieval Georgian manuscripts.22 In addition to the literary and artistic treasures preserved at Iveron, it also houses the miraculous icon of Panagia Portaïtissa to which numerous of the monastery’s metochia are dedicated (see fig. 6).

  • 23  A full database of Athonite metochia was created by the Institute of Historical Research/National (...)
  • 24  For other appellations, positioning (latitude and longitude) dimensions, summaries, and bibliograp (...)
  • 25  Nikopoulos, 2022.
  • 26  Kermeli, 2000, p. 39-53; Alexander, 1997, p. 149-200; Fotić, 1994, p. 33-54.
  • 27  For some studies on metochia see Androudis & Simonopetritis, 2020, p. 91-148; Fotıć, 2007, p. 109- (...)

11The Athonite monasteries possessed significant amounts of properties both within and outside of the Athonite peninsula during the eras of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.23 Those of Iveron Monastery included rural metochia for agricultural purposes consisting of crop fields in Agioi Apostoloi, Achra, Arsenikeia, Gomati, Leontaria, Melitziani, Ierissos (Pyrgoudia and Kotsaki), Stratoni, in addition to a church in Ezova and Chios, monasteries in Agia Anysia, Thessaloniki, and Moscow, a composite in Georgia, a vivarium in Konokofolea, a house and shop in Constantinople, a vineyard in Loggos and Provlakas, as well as unidentified metochia in Agia Paraskevi and Sivris.24 Those in Macedonia were encroached upon by private individuals taking advantage of the post-Byzantine turbulence during the conquest of Sultan Murad I (r. 1362 - 1389),25 while those in the Balkans were expropriated during Sultan Selim II (1524-1574)’s infamous confiscation crisis to fund war efforts and systematise landed property laws.26 Furthermore, many Athonite metochia in Anatolia transferred ownership following the massacres, displacements, and the forced population exchange of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Those in Greece were expropriated by the state following the establishment of the Kingdom in 1830, as well as the exchange of populations in 1922. Nonetheless, the churches of some metochia which were founded during the late Ottoman era have survived and have maintained their original function.27

12Fr. Maximos describes the contact between Mount Athos and the population of the city: “The relations of the Kydonians with Mount Athos are attested already from the beginnings of the organisation of the city in the 17th century, and their names are mentioned in the Athonite parrhesiai (codices of name-remembrance). These relations were strengthened by the establishment of three metochia in the city by Iveron, Dionysiou, and Pantokratoros during the early and mid-18th century. The Iverites built a church dedicated to Panagia Portaïtissa, which served as one of the main shrines of the Kydonians, along with that of Panagia Phaneromeni of Herakleitsa in Eastern Thrace.

Figure 4. The west façade of the former shrine of Portaïtissa on which the motif of a cross is visible.

Figure 4. The west façade of the former shrine of Portaïtissa on which the motif of a cross is visible.

Courtesy of the author, 24 August 2022

Unstudied Archival Sources and Testimonies

  • 28  Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 13 May 2023.
  • 29  Email from Fr. Theologos dated 15 May 2023.
  • 30  Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 7 May 2023.

13Panagia Portaïtissa was the last sacred precinct to be built in Ayvalık. It would have been designated as a shrine because of the presence of a copy of the miraculous icon of the same name preserved at Iveron Monastery, which was thought to bear much of the holiness of the original, in a place of worship administered by Iverites monks who would have been considered to bear some of the holiness of their monastery. Therefore, its role would have been as a place of veneration for the believer and pilgrim (προσκυνητής, lit. “venerator”).28 Based on the size of the complex, it would have functioned as a small monastery and place of worship for the two monks residing there who would have followed a monastic regimen as much as their duties allowed, instead of as a farm for agricultural production, even with its vegetable garden, olive grove, and fields.29 Portaïtissa was also not a parish because, as a metochion, it was outside the system of parish administration under the local bishop and being instead an extension (under canon law) of the monastery, and thus directly under the episcopal jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Nonetheless, it may of course have functioned de facto as a kind of “parish” for local believers, if applying the word in its non-technical sense.30

  • 31  The plot’s surface is given according to the measurement on the official website of Tapu ve Kadast (...)
  • 32  For a detailed architectural survey of the building see Gündoğmaz İpek, 2003, p. 145-164.

14It is situated in the north-west corner of a plot of land measuring 1,154.31 meters square which is located to the north of Ayvalık city centre at 150 meters from the shore.31 It is the smallest place of worship in the city with a ground floor area of 135 meters square and a height of 8 meters. From the exterior it has a height of 13.05 meters, a width of 7.35 meters and a width of 10.50 meters with the exonarthex. The building has a rectangular form with the apse-oriented east like all churches. It has a basilica plan with one nave and one apse, but with no gallery, dome or columns. There are seven openings onto the outside in the form of six rectangular arched windows and one main entrance on the southwest wall. The door opens out onto a colonnaded and arcaded exonarthex, the top of which is arranged as a barrel vault supported by five columns topped by a sloping roof with wooden beams on the bottom and tiles covering the top.32 A two-story house is located on the south-west corner which would have housed the monks. Exiting through the garden door, there are four steps descending to a cobbled street which runs parallel to the building’s northwest façade. A fountain facing the street is imbedded into the natural stone wall which surrounds the plot.

15The five documents from the Edicts of (the Ministry of) Justice and Religious Confessions (İrāde ʿAdliye ve Mezāhib) in the Ottoman Archive Complex of the Presidential State Archives Directorate (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Arşivleri Başkanlığı Osmanlı Arşivi Külliyesi) shed light on the Ottoman approach to Athonite church foundation. The first document is a table from the Sublime Porte’s Treasury Archives (Bāb-ı ʿĀlī Ḫazīne-i ʿEvrāḳ) which enumerates the other three documents providing a summary of the edict, and a description of the other enclosed documents as well as their date and number. They are as follows: one imperial rescript (irāde-i seniye) no 168 dating to 5 cemāziyü’l-āḫır 1327 (24 June 1909); two drawings (resim) no 988, an architectural plan of the building dated 3 nisān 1323 (16 April 1907) and a street plan dated 2 kanunu’l-evvel 1323 (15 December 1907); a certificate dated 19 şaʿbān 325 (27 September 1907) sealed or signed by nine council members; and a document of permission (tezkire) dated 4 cemāziu’l-evvel 327 (24 May 1909).

16From these Ottoman documents it can be ascertained that the edifice of Panagia Portaïtissa measuring 12 meters long, 7 meters wide, and 6 meters high, was built ex novo without a construction permit. However, it had previously received an edict issued on the sultan’s behalf by a high court known as the Imperial Council (Divān-i Hümāyūn) during the post-Reform (Tanżīmāt) period in consideration of the ritual and spiritual needs of the Rum residing within that neighbourhood. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch consequently intervened by petitioning for a permit. Following a survey of the property, the Ministry transferred the matter to the Council of State (Şūrā-ı Devlet), a certificate was provided by the Ministry of Justice and Religious Confessions which eventually resulted in an official permit granting permission on 24 June 1909. The metochion’s plot of land was of freehold status (ṣırf mülk) and had been donated to the Athonite monastery by some philanthropic benefactors (eṣḥāb-i ḫayrāt); the properties constructed on the land were immoveable in kind.

  • 33  The fermān has not been digitised.

17In a Greek translation of an undated fermān issued by Sultan Mehmed V or Mehmed Reşad (r. 1909-1918), the above-mentioned dimensions and permission are confirmed. It recorded that the church of Iveron Monastery’s metochion measuring 1933 square cubits, was 12 meters long, 7 wide, and 6 high and was in the monastery’s ownership since the year 1899.33 This document represents an imperial re-affirmation of the permissibility of church construction ex novo in the Ottoman provinces.

18More information can be ascertained about the dedication of the metochion’s church and the extent of the properties in the region from the Greek language documents in Iveron Monastery’s archive. In a letter written by the Greek Sub-Consul in Ayvalık on 19 September 1915, the metochion is named as «Πορταϊτίσσης» [Portaïtíssis]; meaning that it was dedicated to the icon of Panagia Portaïtissa, as was the case with several other of Iveron’s metochia. Furthermore, in a statement dated 5 June 1925 addressed by Iveron’s monks to the Committee of the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations, about its ownership of immoveable properties in Ayvalık, lists the following properties:

  • A two-story house surrounded by land and some metochia in Tabakaria, a neighbourhood of tabakḫāne (leather factories), measuring 1933 square cubits, bought according to the fermān of 24 cumāzīul’-evvel 1327 (13 June 1909);
  • A church;
  • A vegetable garden of 3 acres;
  • An olive grove of 50 acres in the village [köy] of Boldge, bought from a private individual called Demetrios Vasileiou with a contract dated 25 August 1856;
  • A plot of 160 square cubits (33.45 square metres) in the district of Tabakaria;
  • Fields of 250 acres in Boldge Village, bought from a private individual called Aekaterine Panagiotou, according to a contract dated 3 July 1870.”34
  • 35  Iverites, 2023.
  • 36  I would like to thank Anastasios Nikopoulos for his explanations and juridical comments.
  • 37  At Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü (TKGM) Parsel Sorgulama Uygulaması [Parcel Inquiry Application (...)
  • 38  In person interview with current owner on 24 August 2022 whose name is not mentioned to protect th (...)

19The second part of the history of the shrine of Portaïtissa is inextricably linked to the population displacement.35 Even though Mount Athos as a quasi-independent Monks Republic was not regulated by the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, the legal status of its metochia in Turkish territory was nonetheless affected.36 Following the 1923 exchange of populations and properties, Iveron’s former metochion was allocated to a family from Lesbos (Midilli) and was registered in the name of a woman called Ayşe. All Christian symbols were removed by whitewashing the interior walls and breaking a cross located in the apse window. The rock floor succumbed to damage by treasure hunters searching for non-existent gold and gems. During its short post-1923 history, it was also used by Ayşe’s husband as a warehouse and a stable for horses. The latter is confirmed by the original registration of the plot as a “bahçeli kargır ev ve dam” (stone house with a garden and a stable), the stable being the church.37 After Ayşe passed away, her son-in-law put it up for sale in 2003. The property was purchased by a Turkish woman in 2003 with the intention of using it as a residence and she remains the owner.38 In appreciation of the monument’s historic and cultural value, she undertook careful restoration works.

  • 39  Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 10 August 2022.
  • 40  Foundouli, 2000.

20In 2006, the former abbot (prohegoumenos) of Iveron Monastery, Fr. Vasileios Iverites visited Ayvalık with the community’s secretary Fr. Christophoros Iverites and accompanied by the then Fr. Kyrillos from Mytilene, now Metropolitan of Imbros and Tenedos, who used to visit the city frequently. They were informed by the guard who let them into the property upon their visit that there were lamps hanging in the former shrine a few years before, but they were no longer present.39 Ioannis M. Fountoulis described the building as functioning as a warehouse in 2007.40

  • 41  Iverites, 2023. Fr. Evgenios explains that “presumably there would have been relics sealed into th (...)

21During Fr. Maximos’ visit to the location on 27 April 2009, he observed from the outside that it was in good condition and the photo he took attests to a well-maintained garden and surrounding wall. Moreover, he stated that the metochion’s artifacts of value (κειμήλια), among which were probably communion chalices, gospel books, priestly vestments, chandeliers, and icons, are now housed in the Pergamum Museum (Bergama Müzesi) after the confiscation of the property in 1922/1923 and the archival documents are in the Turkish State Archive located in Istanbul.41

Figures 5-6. Architectural plans of the former Church
of Portaïtissa.

Figures 5-6. Architectural plans of the former Church of Portaïtissa.

Courtesy of BOA, İ.AZN.85/24/02-03.

  • 42  I thank Damien Dessane for sharing this observation.

22These Ottoman and Greek archival documents are further evidence of the tolerance shown towards the ritual and spiritual needs of non-Muslims residing within its empire. Portaïtissa which demonstrates the development of confessional freedom of worship in the Anatolian provinces of the Ottoman Empire proceeding and following the introduction of the Tanżīmāt reforms. Moreover, certain architectural features of the church suggest a subtle adoption and integration of Ottoman architecture into Rum designs. As a case in point are Portaïtissa’s six unusual, pointed windows which are Ottoman rather than Gothic, and resemble those of Kanelo Café and the Demarcheion (municipality) built ca. 1899, Georgalas Hotel built ca. 1897 and Prophet Elias Church reconstructed in 1895.42 Within the wider context of a worldwide economic crisis, diplomatic tensions with France and Britain following the Hamidian massacres of 1894-96, the Christian Orthodox were able to build a church in a small neighbourhood of leather workers and gain a permit from the Ottoman state posteriorly. In the middle of this Ottoman utopia, it was the smallest and last place of worship to be built and was named: the Keeper of the Gate.

Figure 7. The icon of Panagia Portaïtissa housed in the parecclesion of Iveron Monastery

Figure 7. The icon of Panagia Portaïtissa housed in the parecclesion of Iveron Monastery

Courtesy of monastirika.gr

The Icon of Panagia Portaïtissa and the monks of the metochion

  • 43  Email from Fr. Theologos dated 15 May 2023.
  • 44  For an image of the chapel see Mount Athos: The Holy Mountain, URL: http://www.macedonian-heritage (...)
  • 45  Lefortet al., 1994, p. 6.
  • 46  For more on the icon of Panagia Portaïtissa, its historical written narratives, miracles, cult, an (...)

23Our Lady of Portaïtissa is one of the most celebrated and earliest recorded miracle-working icons of the Theotokos (Bearer of God). According to Iverite tradition, a pious widow and her son from Nicea placed their icon on the sea waves to save it from the destructive policies of the reign of Theophilus the Iconoclast. The icon stood upright and headed towards the west, and later appeared in the cove of the Monastery of Clement (later Iveron) within a pillar of fire reaching to the heavens. At the bidding of the Theotokos, Saint Gabriel the Georgian, a devout Georgian anchorite and ascetic, walked across the waves to rescue the miraculous icon from the sea in the first half of the 12th century.43 Consequently, as a major feast day, Iveron Monastery celebrates the coming of the Portaïtissa icon to the Monastery on Easter Tuesday. A parekklesion (chapel) was built at the monastery’s entrance to house the icon at the Theotokos request and thus acquiring the appellation Portaïtissa (the Keeper of the Gate).44 She remains the palladium of Iveron Monastery which has been given the additional title of “Monastery of the most holy Theotokos who is called Portaïtissa” (also spelt Portiatissa and Portiotissa).45 A cult arose around the miraculous icon which spread to the Balkans and Russia and encouraged the production of copies.46

  • 47  Iverites, 2023.
  • 48  Strathis, 2002, p. 317.

24The establishment of a house of worship at Iveron’s eponymous metochion in Ayvalık required the presence of Athonite monks from the brethren of the monastery. They had a continuous presence there from 1764 until 1922, with the exception of the period after the destruction of the city in 1821.47 Yet even in such an environment, the Athonite monks faced perils due to the economic situation as described by Iveron Monastery’s administrator in Ayvalık, “I bring you the knowledge that my predecessor Fr. Misail was attacked by village robbers who stole from him about 7,000 grosia (ġurūş) and all his furniture. He is injured and bedridden in Pergamon. The 9th of September 1877 in Kydonies. The prohegoumenos Galaktion of Iveron.”48

  • 49  It is possible that they died later because of the hardships endured during the death marches into (...)
  • 50  Fr. Maximos postulates that Hieromonk Parthenios was Gabriel’s confessor and although there is no (...)

25From the source of the Register of Monks (monachologion) of Iveron Monastery for the year 1913, Fr. Maximos has ascertained the names and some prosopographical information about the two Iverite monks and neo-martyrs who resided at the metochion of Portaïtissa and who he claims were killed during the massacre of Rum Orthodox clergy in 1922: the Hieromonk (priest-monk) Gabriel from Berovo and his assistant the Hierodeacon (deacon-monk) Arcadios from Kydonies who were only 36 and 29 respectively when they met their tragic end.49 Gabriel’s father confessor was Hieromonk Parthenios (1885-1973) who was from his hometown and who was the prosmonarios (churchwarden) of the Portaïtissa chapel at Iveron Monastery from 1901 onwards. It is for him alone that a face can be placed to the name with the survival of a photograph of the 85-year-old Hieromonk Parthenios (fig. 7). At the bottom of this photo the following is written in brown ink: “Parthenios Hieromonachos Pnevmatikos (Priestmonk Parthenios the Father Confessor)/ from Berovo in Macedonia / Iveron Monastery on 17/2/1933” and in the right margin “And Prosmonarios Portaïtissis (Churchwarden of the Portaïtissa Chapel) /for many years/Ath.” is written in pencil. Also, in the upper part, in similar letters: “Keep this.”50

Figure 8. Hieromonk Parthenios the Father Confessor

Figure 8. Hieromonk Parthenios the Father Confessor

Courtesy of Iveron Monastery photographic collection

Conclusion

26Sitting on a bench admiring the garden under the exonarthex of Panagia Portaïtissa, I noticed its later connection to the original place of worship. Indeed, this architectural element does not appear on the archival plans dated 1323/ 1907; rather, it is a later addition dated after 1899 and most probably before 1923. It is possible that the monks decided to construct this exonarthex after they received the imperial rescript of 1327/ 1909 and post-construction permit. Such details are material evidence that highlight the endurance and longevity of a sacred precinct dedicated by the Iverites to Panagia Portaïtissa as the protectress of the city which experienced multiple transitions from a shrine and place of worship and pilgrimage, to a stable, then a warehouse, and finally to a historical monument.

27I listened to the current owner explain how much of her time, effort, and money she had expended into renovating the historical building according to its original design and into cultivating the garden. She intends to maintain the former metochion as a neutral space which transcends religious and national boundaries, while preserving it as a family space which she enjoys with her daughter and grandchildren who visit during the school holidays. The former metochion of Portaïtissa was a symbol of the willingness of Rums and Ottoman Turks for harmonious coexistence under Ottoman rule. Today, it is a symbol of the success of private Turkish individuals in the preservation of Türkiye’s monuments of historical, religious, and cultural value in the face of a traumatic history of displacement and destruction. It will no doubt be a legacy for future generations which shall encourage interreligious dialogue and understanding and remain the “keeper of the gate” of peace between the two countries.

Acknowledgements

28The research for this article was made possible through a generous grant from [Yeniköy Panayia Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi ve Mektebi Vakfı] Yeniköy Panayia Rum Orthodox Church and School Endowment in honour of Ayvalık (Kydonies) Metropolitan Athenagoras [Yeniköy Panayia Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi ve Mektebi Vakfı], and with special thanks to Laki Vingas. My sincerest expressions of gratitude and appreciation are for Fr. Evgenios, Fr. Maximos, and Fr. Theologos of Iveron Monastery who provided archival and photographic sources as well as their invaluable comments, corrections, and encouragement. Furthermore, much credit and heartfelt thanks go to friends and colleagues for their thoughtful assistance and contributions, in alphabetical order: Evangelia Achladi, Serdar Ateşer, Tinatin Chronz, Damien Dessane, Nicholas J. Livanos, Ellinor Morack, Anastasios Nikopoulos, and Hasan Sercan Sağlam. All remaining mistakes are mine alone.

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Bibliographie

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Articles and Book Chapters

Achladi Evangelia, 2022, “Rum Communities of Istanbul in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: A Historical Survey”, in Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, vol. 9 (1), p. 19-49.

Alexander (Alexandroupoulos) John C., 1997, “The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away: Athos and the Confiscation Affair of 1568-1569”, in Ο Άθως στους 14ο-16οΑιώνες [Athos in the 14th-16th Centuries], Αθωνικά Σύμμεικτα [Athonite Assemblies] 4, The National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, p. 149-200.

Androudis Paschalis [Ανδρούδης Πασχάλης] & Simonopetritis Monk Kosmas [Σιμονοπετρίτης Κοσμάς], 2020, “Άγνωστες μαρτυρίες για το μετόχι της Μονής Βατοπεδίου στο Πόρτο Λάγος στους βυζαντινούς και οθωμανικούς χρόνους” [Unknown testimonies about the metochia of the Vatopedi Monastery in Porto Lagos in Byzantine and Ottoman times], in Makedonika, p. 91-148.

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Clogg Richard, 1972, “Two Accounts of the Academy of Ayvalık in 1818-1819,” in Revue des études sud-est européennes, vol. 10, p. 633-667.

Fotić Alexandar, 1994, “The Official explanations for the confiscation and sale of monasteries (churches) and their estates at the time of Selim II”, in Turcica, vol. 24, p. 33-54.

İnce-Güney Yasemin, 2016, “Appropriation and Authenticity: The case of Transforming Churches into Mosques in Ayvalık”, in Iconarp International Journal of Architecture & Planning, vol. 4 (2), p. 35-57.

Iverites Elder Maximos, 2023, “Οἱ Ἰβηρῖται Νεοσιομάρτυρες τῆς Μικρασιατικῆς Μαύρης Βίβλου τοῦ 1922 – 1-4 ov” [The Iberian New Martyrs of the Asia Minor Black Book of 1922 -1-4], in Ορθόδοξος Τύπος [Orthodox Press].

Iverites Monk Theologos, 2014, “Άγνωστη υμναγιολογική παραγωγή του Αγίου Όρους από τα μέσα του 18ου αι. Έως το 1927 μέσα από τα έργα έξ ιυμνογράφων” [Unknown hymno-hagiographical production of Mount Athos from the mid-18th century to 1927 in the works of six hymnographers], in Άγιον Όρος και Λογιοσύνη. Πρακτικά Συνέδριου. Θεσσαλονίκη 22-24 Νοέμβριου 2013 [Mount Athos and Scholarship. Conference Proceedings Thessaloniki 22-24 November 2013], Mount Athos Centre, Thessaloniki.

Kermeli Eugenia, 2000, “The Confiscation and Repossession of Monastic Properties in Mount Athos and Patmos Monasteries, 1568-1570,” in Bulgarian Historical Review, vol. 28 (3-4), p. 39-53.

Kotzageorgis Phokion, 2004, “Ένα Αγιορείτικο Μετόχι στη Κομοτηνή” [An Athonite Metochion in Komotini], in Περί Θράκης: Επιστημονική περιοδική έκδοση 16 [About Thrace : Scientific periodical publication 16], p. 279-288.

Morack Ellinor, 2020, “Claiming ‘imagined property’: Tasfiye Talebnames and the Lost Material World of Migrants after the Greek-Turkish Population Exchange,” in Diyâr, vol. 1 (1), p. 129-152.

Morack Ellinor, 2015, “Refugees, Locals and ‘the’ State: Property Compensation in the Province of Izmir Following the Greco-Turkish Population Exchange of 1923,” in Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, vol. 2 (1), p. 147-166.

Steppan Thomas, 1994, “Überlegungen zur Ikone der Panhagia Portaitissa im Kloster Iwiron am Berg Athos”, in Naredı-Raıner Paul von (ed.), Sinnbild und Abbild. Zur Funktion des Bildes, Kunstgeschichtliche Studien-Innsburg (Veroffentlichungen der Universitat Innsburg, 198), Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, p. 23-49.

Uçar Hatice, 2005, “Ayvalık'ta bir Kilise Restorasyonu” [A Church Restoration in Ayvalık], in Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi [Journal of Social Sciences Institute of Atatürk University], vol. 6 (2), p. 49 – 59.

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Notes

1  The author uses the contemporary name of the city throughout the article for the sake of consistency and with every respect for the city’s Rum and Greek Orthodox religious and cultural heritage and past. The etymology of the city’s previous name is contested and will not be elaborated on further in this study. Likewise, the author uses the contemporary designations for the region Anatoli and the country after the Turkish Republic officially changed its name from Turkey to Türkiye as of 1 June 2022 through a letter from the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu addressed to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

2  Greek sing. μετοχιών and pl. μετόχια often translated as economic networks or dependencies. They were immoveable properties owned by the monasteries of Mount Athos on and outside the Athonite Peninsula.

3  N.B. The address of the property along with maps identifying its location have been omitted out of respect for the current owner’s privacy. The official letter addressed to the author bears the Prof. No. 61, is dated 7 October 2022, and is signed by the former Archivist and Grand Archimandrite Dr Agathangelos.

4  Foundouli, 2000, p. 2-3.

5  Fr. Theologos oversees the archival documents dated after the annexation of Mount Athos to the Greek State in 1913, there are no extant Greek documents about the metochion of Portaïtissa prior to these.

6  Email from Fr. Theologos dated 3 May 2022.

7  Strathis, 2002, p. 196-342.

8  Iverites, 2023.

9  Gündoğmaz İpek, 2003, p. 145-164.

10  The catalogue is kept within the monastery’s library. Email from Fr. Evgenios Iverites dated 3 May 2022.

11  Boa, İ.AZN.85/24, 1-5. The facsimiles of all the documents and their respective transliterations according to İslâm Ansiklopedisi style are included within the appendix. Translations are according to the Redhouse Turkish/Ottoman – English Dictionary Alkim, Antel, Avery, et al., 1997. The author takes responsibility for all shortcomings in both.

12  According to Ioannεs M. Foundouli, the Icon of the Phaneromeni was lost when it was taken to Anatolia in 1922 by priests who were subsequently executed with other Orthodox priests; Foundouli, 2000, p. 16. However, Fr. Maximos postulates that the original at the metochion in Herakleitsa was hurriedly brought to the monastery 1922 and then provisionally granted to a church of the same name built by refugees settled in Nea Herakleitsa near Kavala; Iverites, 2023. Nonetheless, the image of the icon and its cult survived among the first generation of refugees; Foundouli, 2000, p. 27-28.

13  For a comprehensive study based on the monastic archives see Strathis, 2002, p. 59-195 and 343-357.

14  The 12 parishes were as follows: Mesi Panagia (koimisi, dormition), Agia Triada, Saint Zoodochos Pigi (Life Receiving Spring), Basileos, Taxiarchis (Archangel Michael), Ioannes Prodromos (John the Baptist), Nikolaos, Demetrios, Prophet Elijah, Charalambos, and Georgios of Lydda. Georgios Chiopolite (from Chios) was the saint patron of the city and David a martyr linked to the city. The Agiasma of Phaneromeni was not a parish but a shrine offering spiritual healing within the precinct of the parish of Charalambos. Strathis, 2002, p. 357.

15  Rum refers to a Christian Orthodox descendant of the Byzantine Empire who speaks Greek and is an Ottoman subject. Achladi, 2022, p. 19-49.

16  Clogg, 1972, p. 633-667.

17  A pioneer in this subject is historyprofessor Morack, 2017; Morack, 2020, p. 129-152; Morack, 2015, p. 147-166.

18  Uçar &İnce-Güney, 2007; Saban-Ergi, 2017; Tuğrul, 2017; Saban-Ergi, 2010; İnce- Güney, 2016, p. 35-57.

19  For more on the conversion and restoration of churches in Ayvalık see Uçar, 2014, p. 7‑18; Uçar, 2005, p. 49-59; Aktepe, 1994.

20  For more on the history of Iveron see Lefort et al., 1994, Introduction; Papachrisanthou, 1992.

21  Otkhmezuri, 2022; Chichinadze, 2022, p. 135-146.

22  For more on Greek manuscripts see Iverites, 2014, and on Georgian manuscripts see Gippert, Outtier, Kim, et al., 2022, p. 251-284; Otkhmezuri, 2022, p. 186-187, 251-284.

23  A full database of Athonite metochia was created by the Institute of Historical Research/National Hellenic Research Foundation, under the supervision of Kriton Chryssochoidis titled “Λατρεία και οικονομία: Τα οικονομικά δίκτυα του Αγίου Όρους, 10ος-18ος αιώνας” [Worship and economy: The economic networks of Mount Athos, 10th-18th century], in Κύρτου Πλέγματα - Δίκτυα οικονομίας, εξουσίας και γνώσης στον ελληνικό χώρο από τους προϊστορικούς χρόνους έως τη σύγχρονη εποχή [Convex Grids - Networks of economy, power, and knowledge in the Greek area from prehistoric times to the modern era], URL : https://kripis2.anavathmis.eu/3-3 (accessed 31/5/2023).

24  For other appellations, positioning (latitude and longitude) dimensions, summaries, and bibliographical sources of these metochia see ibid.

25  Nikopoulos, 2022.

26  Kermeli, 2000, p. 39-53; Alexander, 1997, p. 149-200; Fotić, 1994, p. 33-54.

27  For some studies on metochia see Androudis & Simonopetritis, 2020, p. 91-148; Fotıć, 2007, p. 109-111; Kotzageorgis, 2004, p. 279-288; Strathis, 2002; Ἡ ἐξακτίνωση τοῦ Ἁγίου Ὄρους στὸν κόσμο: τὰ μετόχια, 2015.

28  Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 13 May 2023.

29  Email from Fr. Theologos dated 15 May 2023.

30  Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 7 May 2023.

31  The plot’s surface is given according to the measurement on the official website of Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü (TKGM) Parsel Sorgulama Uygulaması [Parcel Inquiry Application of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre], URL: https://parselsorgu.tkgm.gov.tr (accessed 31/5/2023)

32  For a detailed architectural survey of the building see Gündoğmaz İpek, 2003, p. 145-164.

33  The fermān has not been digitised.

34  The documents have not been digitised. They were described in an email from Fr. Theologos dated 3 May 2022 as was the above-mentioned fermān.

35  Iverites, 2023.

36  I would like to thank Anastasios Nikopoulos for his explanations and juridical comments.

37  At Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü (TKGM) Parsel Sorgulama Uygulaması [Parcel Inquiry Application of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre], URL: https://parselsorgu.tkgm.gov.tr/ (accessed 31/5/2023).

38  In person interview with current owner on 24 August 2022 whose name is not mentioned to protect their identity.

39  Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 10 August 2022.

40  Foundouli, 2000.

41  Iverites, 2023. Fr. Evgenios explains that “presumably there would have been relics sealed into the church’s altar if it was ever officially consecrated by a bishop, as provided for in the service of consecration of a church, but such relics are not usually accorded any particular veneration by the faithful because they are not accessible and not known to most.” Email from Fr. Evgenios dated 7 May 2023.

42  I thank Damien Dessane for sharing this observation.

43  Email from Fr. Theologos dated 15 May 2023.

44  For an image of the chapel see Mount Athos: The Holy Mountain, URL: http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/MonasteryImages/iveron/PAREKKLISI.html.

45  Lefortet al., 1994, p. 6.

46  For more on the icon of Panagia Portaïtissa, its historical written narratives, miracles, cult, and literature see Chryssochoidis, 2005, p. 133-142; Chentsova, 2010; Vocotopoulos1996, p. 27-30; Steppan, 1994, p. 23-49; Fonkich, 2004; Bury, 1897, p. 71-99.

47  Iverites, 2023.

48  Strathis, 2002, p. 317.

49  It is possible that they died later because of the hardships endured during the death marches into Anatolia. Venezis, 1931.

50  Fr. Maximos postulates that Hieromonk Parthenios was Gabriel’s confessor and although there is no proof, it is likely given that they were from the same hometown. The inscriber of this note is the scholar Hieromonk Athanasios Iberitis (1885-1973) from Kalavryta, about whom the late monk Theokletos Dionysiatis wrote an extensive essay. Iverites, 2023; Ιερομόναχος Αθανάσιος Ιβηρίτης (1885 – 26 Νοεμβρίου 1973) [Hieromonk Athanasios Iberitis (1885 – November 26, 1973)], URL: https://www.pemptousia.gr/2015/11/ieromonachos-athanasios-iviritis-1885-26-noemvriou-1973/.

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Table des illustrations

Titre Figure 1. The former shrine of the metochion of Portaïtissa
Crédits Courtesy of the author, 24 August 2022.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 475k
Titre Figure 2. A postcard of Ayvalık edited in 1905 by Jean (Ioannes) Kontaxis
Crédits Courtesy of Ayvalık Belediye Tarihçesi, URL: https://ayvalik.bel.tr/​kurumsal/​belediye-tarihcesi/​
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 66k
Titre Figure 3. Fr. Maximos Iverites outside the east wall of the former metochion during a visit to Ayvalık on 27 April 2009
Crédits Courtesy of Fr. Maximos
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 252k
Titre Figure 4. The west façade of the former shrine of Portaïtissa on which the motif of a cross is visible.
Crédits Courtesy of the author, 24 August 2022
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 365k
Titre Figures 5-6. Architectural plans of the former Church of Portaïtissa.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 92k
Crédits Courtesy of BOA, İ.AZN.85/24/02-03.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 96k
Titre Figure 7. The icon of Panagia Portaïtissa housed in the parecclesion of Iveron Monastery
Crédits Courtesy of monastirika.gr
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-7.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 51k
Titre Figure 8. Hieromonk Parthenios the Father Confessor
Crédits Courtesy of Iveron Monastery photographic collection
URL http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/docannexe/image/23764/img-8.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 406k
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Pour citer cet article

Référence papier

Vanessa R. de Obaldía, « Panagia Portaïtissa of Kydonies / Ayvalık: the Consequences of the 1923 Population Exchange for a metochion of the Athonite Monastery of Iveron »Cahiers balkaniques, 51 | 2025, 103-128.

Référence électronique

Vanessa R. de Obaldía, « Panagia Portaïtissa of Kydonies / Ayvalık: the Consequences of the 1923 Population Exchange for a metochion of the Athonite Monastery of Iveron »Cahiers balkaniques [En ligne], 51 | 2025, mis en ligne le 22 avril 2025, consulté le 09 juillet 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ceb/23764 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/13xwf

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Auteur

Vanessa R. de Obaldía

Goldsmiths College University of London

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