List of archbishops of Athens

For the Latin archbishops, see Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Athens.

The following is a list of bishops, metropolitans, and archbishops of Athens. The Church of Athens was created by Paul the Apostle during his second missionary journey, when he preached at the Areopagus, probably in 51 AD. According to the Acts of the Apostles (17:16–34), after the sermon, many became followers of Paul, thus forming the kernel of the Church in Athens. The see of Athens has been unilaterally declared autocephalous on 4 August 1833 (officially recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on 11 July 1850) and was elevated to an archbishopric on 31 December 1923. As the head of the Church of Greece, the holder has styled Archbishop of Athens and All Greece (Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αθηνών και πάσης Ελλάδος).

Paul the Apostle delivering the Areopagus sermon in Athens. Raphael, 1515

Bishops of Athens

No.	Incumbent	From	Until
Roman period (1st century – 395 AD)
1	Hierotheus (uncertain)	?	52
2	Dionysius I (first bishop according to some sources[1])	52	96
Vacant		96	117
3	Narcissus	117	c. 120
4	Publius	c. 120	125
5	Quadratus	125	129
Vacant		129	?
6	Leonidas [el]	?	250
7	Olympius	?	?
8	Pistus	?	c. 325
9	Clematius	c. 325	?
Byzantine period (395–1205 AD)
10	Modestus	c. 431	c. 451
11	Athanasius I	c.451	c. 458
12	Anatolius	c. 458	c. 459
13	John I	c. 459	c. late 5th century
Vacant		6th century	c. 680
13	John II	c. 680	c. 694
15	Contias	c. 694	c. 702
16	Theocharistus	c. 702	c. 704
17	Marinus	c. 704	c. 714
18	John III	c. 714	?

Metropolitans of Athens

Pre-modern period

No.	Incumbent	From	Until
Byzantine period (395–1205 AD)
19	Gregory I	c. 780	c. 810
20	Adamantius	c. 810	c. 819
21	John IV	c. 819	9th century
22	Theodosius	9th century
23	Hypatius	9th century
24	Demetrius I	9th century
25	Germanus I (Archbishop)	9th century	841
26	Demetrius II	841	846/857
27	Gabriel I	846/857	858/860
28	Gregory II	858/860	9th century
29	Cosmas	9th century	869/870
30	Nicetas I	869/870	881?
31	Sabbas I	c. 881
32	Anastasius	881?	889
33	Sabbas II	889	914
34	George I	914	922
35	Nicetas II	922	927
36	Constantine	927	965?
37	Philip	965?	981
38	Theodegius	981	c. 1007
39	Michael I	c. 1007	c. 1030
40	Leo I	c. 1030	1061
41	Leo II	1061	1069
42	John V	1069	c. 1087
43	Nicetas III	c. 1087	1103
44	Nicephorus	1103	c. 1112
45	Gerasimus?	?	?
46	George II Bourtzes	c. 1156/7
47	Nicholas I Hagiotheodorites	1160	1175
48	Michael II	12th century
49	Theophylactus	12th century
50	George III	12th century	c. 1172
51	George IV	c. 1172	c. 1180
52	Michael II Choniates	1182	1222?
Latin period (1205–1456 AD), holders in exile or titular until 1388
53	Meletius I	1275	1289
54	Elias	1289	c. 1300
55	Neophytus I	c. 1300	c. 1336
56	Anthimus I	c. 1336	1366
57	Nicodemus	1371	c. 1387
58	Dorotheus I	1388	1392
59	Macarius I	1392	c. 1432
60	Gerbasius	c. 1432	1440
61	Phantinus	1440	1443?
62	Theodore	1443?	c. 1453
Ottoman period (1456–1821/27 AD)
63	Isidore	c. 1456
64	Dorotheus II		c. 1472
65	Anthimus II	c. 1489	c. 1492
66	Neophytus II	c. 1492	c. 1528
67	Lawrence	1528	1546
68	Callistus	1550	1564
69	Sophronius I	1565	1574?
70	Nicanor [el]	1574	1592
71	Theophanes I [fr]	1592	1597
72	Neophytus III	1597	1602
73	Samuel	1602	1602
74	Nathaniel	1602	1606
75	Anthimus III	1606	1611?
76	Cyril I	1611	1619?
77	Metrophanes	1619	1620?
78	Theophanes II	1620?	1633
79	Sophronius II	1633	1636
80	Daniel	1636	1665
81	Anthimus IV	1665	1676
82	Iakovos I	1676	1686
83	Athanasius II	1686	1689
84	Makarius II	1689	1693
85	Anthimus V	1693	1699
86	Cyril II	1699	1703
87	Meletius II	1703	1713
88	Iakovos II	1713	1734
89	Zachary	1734	1740
90	Anthimus VI	1741	1756
(90)	Anthimus VI	1760	1764
91	Bartholomew	1764	1771?
92	Neophytus IV	1771?	1775
(91)	Bartholomew	1775	1780
93	Gabriel II	1781?	1781?
94	Benedict	1781	1785
95	Athanasius III	1785	1787
(94)	Benedict	1787	1797?
(95)	Athanasius III	1797?	1799
96	Gregory III	1799	1820
97	Dionysius II [el]	1820	1823

Modern period

No.	Primate	Portrait	Reign		Notes
98	Gregory IV		16 September 1827	March 1828
99	Anthimus VII		March 1828	27 July 1833
100	Neophytus V [el]		2 December 1833	10 January 1862	Bishop in 1833–1850
101	Michael IV [el]		13 January 1862	2 August 1862
102	Theophilus [el]		8 August 1862	15 July 1873
103	Anthony		9 August 1873	15 May 1874
104	Procopius I [el]		8 June 1874	11 February 1889
105	Germanus II [el]		17 July 1889	30 January 1896
106	Procopius II [el]		23 October 1896	21 November 1901
107	Theocletus I [el]		17 November 1902	11 October 1917	1st tenure
108	Meletius III		13 March 1918	29 November 1920
(107)	Theocletus I [el]		29 November 1920	16 December 1922	2nd tenure
109	Chrysostomos I		8 March 1923	31 December 1923

Archbishops of Athens and All Greece

No.	Primate	Portrait	Reign		Notes
110	Chrysostomos I		31 December 1923	22 October 1938
111	Damaskinos		5 November 1938	1 December 1938	1st tenure. Election cancelled by the regime of Ioannis Metaxas
112	Chrysanthus		12 December 1938	2 July 1941	Resigned in the aftermath of the German invasion of Greece, after refusing to swear-in the collaborationist government of Georgios Tsolakoglou
(111)	Damaskinos		2 July 1941	20 May 1949	2nd tenure
113	Spyridon		4 June 1949	21 March 1956
114	Dorotheus (III)		29 March 1956	26 July 1957
115	Theocletus II [el]		7 August 1957	8 January 1962
116	Jacob III [el]		13 January 1962	25 January 1962
117	Chrysostomos II		14 February 1962	11 May 1967	Forced to resign by the military regime following the coup d'état on 21 April 1967
118	Ieronymos I		14 May 1967	12 December 1973	Resigned following the Athens Polytechnic uprising and the coup d'état on 25 November 1973
119	Seraphim		12 January 1974	10 April 1998
120	Christodoulos		28 April 1998	28 January 2008
121	Ieronymos II		7 February 2008	Incumbent

Timeline

See also

• Church of Greece
  • Archbishopric of Athens
• Catholic Church in Greece
  • Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Athens