# The Church of Greece declared autocephalous (23 July 1833)

URL: https://allhistories.com/greece/timeline/1833-the-church-of-greece-declared-autocephalous
Themes: Rulers & Successions

On 23 July 1833 (4 August N.S.), the regency, with the support of Greek clergy led by Theoklitos Farmakidis, declared the Church of the Kingdom of Greece independent of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church was placed under a Holy Synod supervised by the state, on the model of Protestant German churches, with the king as its formal head. Many small monasteries were dissolved and their lands taken over. The Patriarchate regarded the move as uncanonical and recognised the autocephaly only in 1850, with the Tomos of 29 June.

## Why it matters
Autocephaly made the Orthodox Church a national institution closely bound to the Greek state, a relationship that endures.

Ruler at the Time: [Otto](https://allhistories.com/greece/rulers/otto)

Prime Minister: Spyridon Trikoupis (English Party)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Church of Greece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Greece)
- [Wikipedia — Theoklitos Farmakidis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoklitos_Farmakidis)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Church of Greece](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Church+of+Greece)
- [Wikipedia — Kingdom of Greece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Greece)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Greek history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Greek_history)