At first a suffragan of Thebes,[2] the bishopric was, at least by the reign of Basil II in the early 11th century, the first suffragan see of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. Le Quien mentions only three bishops, all of the period after the East–West Schism: Joasaph in 1564, Hierotheus, who went to Rome about 1650, and Dionysius Mantoucas;[3] but that list can easily be extended.[4]
In the early 20th century the town was the seat of a Bulgarian Orthodox bishopric with 2,224 families, 32 priests, and 22 churches.[4]
On October 3, 2019 the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople resolved to glorify seven New Martyrs of Kastoria, at the proposal of Metropolitan Seraphim (Papakostas) of Kastoria,[7][8][9] including the following:[note 2]
"Codified in the 1928 Patriarchal and Synodical Act, the "New Lands" were entrusted to the temporary stewardship of the Church of Greece, provided that the Church respected the terms of the Act. The Act subsequently has been incorporated into several pieces of Greek legislation (Laws 3615/1928, 5438/1932, 599/1977, and Article 3, paragraph 1 of the current Greek Constitution), thereby recognizing the ecclesiastical agreement between the two sides."[1]
Victor Roudometof. Greek Orthodoxy, Territoriality, and Globality: Religious Responses and Institutional Disputes. Report.Sociology of Religion. Vol. 69 No. 1. 22 March 2008. Pg. 67(25). ISSN1069-4404.