Location information

Monastery of the Holy Trinity - Theological Shool

KIZIL ADARA (Island complex) TURKEY
The Holy Theological School at Chalki
  The Holy Theological at Chalki is located at the top of a hill called the Hill of Hope, on the island of Chalki, one of the Princess islands. It’s approximately one hour by boat from the shores of Constantinople. On the grounds of the School is the monastery of the Holy Trinity which was founded during the Byzantine period, though the exact date of its establishment is unknown. The reestablishment and reconstitution of the monastery are associated with the Ecumenical Patriarchs Mega Photio, Mitrophani III, and Germanos IV. When Germanos IV (1872-1845) visited the monastery in 1842 and saw the School’s reconstruction and reconstitution which was approved by the Turkish authorities. On the 1st of October 1844, with a special ceremony to mark the occasion, the operation of both the Holy Monastery and the Theological School were resumed.
  The building which originally housed the Monastery was a wooden structure. It comprised rooms for the professors, class rooms, an infirmary, administrative offices and Patriarchal quarters. The library of the School was housed in a nearby two story stone building. However, the earthquake of June 28th 1894 completely destroyed all the facilities except for the church and this led to a halt in the School’s operation.
  The Holy Monastery and the Theological School of Chalki owe its presentday form to the contribution made by the benefactor Pavlos Skilitsis Stefanovik. It was he who charged the architect Periklis Fotiadis with the design and construction of the new facilities which took the form of the Greek letter P. The School’s complex is composed of a basement, ground floor and two stories. The inauguration took place on October 6th 1896, after which the functioning of the School was resumed. During the 50s modifications were made to the complex in order to satisfy new needs and requirements. New contemporary fixtures for bathrooms, central heating, kitchen, and cold storage were installed; the entire roof was repaired, the infirmary and the administrative offices were reorganized. During this same period numerous repairs were made to the Monastery’s church.
  The School’s building are surrounded by gardens whose aesthetic design and creation were overseen by Bishop Prinkiponison Dorotheos. Behind the altar of the Monastery’s church and in a special location just beyond the garden are located the graves of Patriarchs, bishops and teachers of the School.
  The Holy Theological School of Chalki was established in order to meet the educational needs of the church of Constantinople and of Orthodoxy in general. Other contributing causes included the renaissance in learning which occured during the 19th century; the need for ecclesiastical and theological instruction of the orthodox clergy; the orderly and systematic cultivation of theological knowledge; the need to confront western ideologies with an anti-Christian bias, such as materialism and sociophilosophical systems with rigorous argumentation; and finally the need to confront the proselitization efforts which were being conducted by western Christian denominations at the expense of Orthodoxy.
  The history of the Holy Theological School of Chalki, from its establishment in 1884 until today, contains five distinct periods: the first is from 1844 up to 1999. During this period, with some exceptions, the School had seven grades, four high school level and three theological grades. In the second period from 1999 to 1923, the high school division was dissolved and the School functioned as an Academy with five grades. In the third period from 1923 to 1951 the old seven grade system was restored. In the fourth period, from 1951 to 1971, the School had seven classes, three at the high school level and four theological grades. In 1971 the School was closed according to a law that was promulgated by the Turkish goverment which prohibited the operation of private institutions of higher learning. Thus, since 1971, despite occasional promises by the Turkish authorities, the School has been closed. However, Orthodox faithful and friends of Orthodoxy visit and congregate at the School, and recently, under the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios, international ecological conferences and seminars with international patricipation have been hosted at the School.
  The Holy Theological School of Chalki operated under the various Educational laws that were promulgated in 1845, 1853, 1857, 1867, 1874, 1898, 1903, and 1951. The law of 1903 provided the legal framework under which the modern day School operated. This law underwent modification in 1923 (and in subsequent years), in accordance with the Regulations of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Turkey regarding Minority schools in Middle Level Education. The 1951 Code was ratified by the Turkish Republic. Regarding the regulation the School’s internal operations, such as matters pertaining to conduct, discipline, and administration, there exist special internal rules that are drafted by the School itself.
  The Theological School of Chalki is an institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and therefore the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Throne that surrounds the Patriarch, are its immediate patron, regulator, and spiritual guide. Matters pertaining to the School are handled by a special committee known as the «Ephors of the Holy Theological School of Chalki». This Committee operates out of a special office located at the Patriarchate and it reports directly to the Holy Synod. Among its responsibilities are the School’s budget, staff appointments, student admissions, and more broadly the supervision of the School.
  The internal regulation of the School is the responsibility of its Director, who is called the Scholarch. An archimandrite may be appointed to the post of Scholarch but usually, he is either a bishop or an archbishop. He serves as the director of the teaching staff and as the prior of the monastic brotherhood whose members are also the School’s students. The Scholarch is assisted by the teaching staff, the Secretary, the superintendent of the student body, the librarian, the secretary of administration are the household manager. The Scholarch is usually appointed from amongst the unmarried clerics of the teaching staff. Scholarch who directed thw School for a number of consecutive years during the 19th century were Constantinos Typaldos (1844-1864) and the archimandrite Germanos Grigoras (1868-69, 1877-97?). During thw 20th century the Scholarchs of the school were the Metropolitan of Selefkia, Germanos Strinopoulos (1907-1922), the Metropolitan Ioakim Pelekanos (1924-1931), the Metropolitan of Philadelfia, Emilianos (1032-1942), the Metropolitan of Neokessaria, Chrisostomos Koronaios (1942-1950), the Metropolitan of Ikonion, Iakovos Stefanidis (1951-1955) and the Metropolitan of Stavropolis, Maximos Repanelis (1955-1991).

This extract is cited May 2003 from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople URL below, which contains images.

• http://www.epnet.gr/sxolixalkis/english.htm (26 img.)