# Photice

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'''Photice''' or '''Photike''' ({{langx|grc|Φωτική}}) was a city in [Epirus](/source/Epirus) in the [Roman](/source/Roman_Greece) and [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Greece) periods. In the [late Middle Ages](/source/late_Middle_Ages) it was known as '''Hagios Donatos''' (Ἅγιος Δονᾶτος).<ref name="TIB">{{Tabula Imperii Byzantini | volume = 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fx-QgAACAAJ|language=German|pages=236–237}}</ref>

==History==
The city was likely settled since [Classical Antiquity](/source/Classical_Antiquity), but is only known in later times.<ref name="TIB"/> It appears in the 6th-century ''[Synecdemus](/source/Synecdemus)'', and according to [Procopius of Caesarea](/source/Procopius_of_Caesarea), it was restored by [Justinian I](/source/Justinian_I) ({{reign|527|565}}). [Procopius](/source/Procopius) says that it originally stood in a marshy situation, and that Justinian built a citadel upon a neighbouring height.<ref>Procop. 4.1; {{Cite Hierocles|p. 652}}</ref> That citadel was likely named after [Saint Donatus](/source/Donatus_of_Evorea); in the lists of Justinian's buildings provided by Procopius, there are two forts of that name in the province of [Epirus Vetus](/source/Epirus_Vetus).<ref name="TIB"/>

The city is attested as a [bishopric](/source/bishopric), a [suffragan see](/source/suffragan_see) of the [Metropolis of Naupaktos](/source/Metropolis_of_Naupaktos), since the [Council of Chalcedon](/source/Council_of_Chalcedon) in 451.<ref name="TIB"/> Only a few of its bishops are known: John (at the Council of Chalcedon), Diadochus (signatory of a letter on the murder of [Proterius of Alexandria](/source/Proterius_of_Alexandria) to Emperor [Leo I the Thracian](/source/Leo_I_the_Thracian)), Hilarius (signatory of a letter to [Pope Hormisdas](/source/Pope_Hormisdas)), Manuel (at the time of [Germanus II of Constantinople](/source/Germanus_II_of_Constantinople)), Antony (in 1564), and Nicholas ({{circa|1720}}).<ref>{{Oriens christianus | volume = 2 | at = coll. 143-144 }}</ref> From the 10th century, the see was moved to nearby [Bela](/source/Bela_(Epirus)), probably for a short time at first; by the 13th century, the bishopric resided permanently at Bela.<ref name="TIB"/> By that time, Photice itself was known as Hagios Donatos; the ''chastel de Saint Donnat'' was promised as his wife's dowry to [Philip of Taranto](/source/Philip_I%2C_Prince_of_Taranto) by [Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas](/source/Nikephoros_I_Komnenos_Doukas), [Despot of Epirus](/source/Despot_of_Epirus).<ref name="TIB"/>

In the revolt of Epirus in 1338/39 against the [Byzantine emperor](/source/Byzantine_emperor) [Andronikos III Palaiologos](/source/Andronikos_III_Palaiologos) ({{reign|1328|1341}}), Hagios Donatos remained loyal to the emperor.<ref name="TIB"/> In 1367 or 1368 the town, under its ruler Bardas, abandoned the allegiance to the Serbian ruler of Epirus, [Thomas Preljubović](/source/Thomas_Preljubovi%C4%87), but in 1380 Thomas purchased its possession.<ref name="TIB"/> In 1411 the town submitted to [Carlo I Tocco](/source/Carlo_I_Tocco), who later appointed his second son, Torno, as its governor.<ref name="TIB"/> [Paramythia](/source/Paramythia), which eventually succeeded the settlement, is attested at about the same time. The Ottomans knew the town as "Aidonat Kalesi".<ref name="TIB"/>

==Location and remains==
Its site is located near the modern area of Limponi,<ref>{{Barrington Atlas|page=54}}</ref><ref>{{Cite DARE|31629}}</ref> some 2&nbsp;km northwest of Paramythia.<ref name="TIB"/> Remains of the fortifications on a rocky plateau, stretching in an east–west direction with sheer cliffs to the west, include walls up to 5&nbsp;m high, remains of a gate with tower, and of a square [keep](/source/keep).<ref name="TIB"/> The wider area features a number of Byzantine monuments:

At the site of Balsamari, remains of a three-[aisle](/source/aisle)d Byzantine [basilica](/source/basilica), probably dating to the 11th century, dedicated to [Saint Photeine](/source/Saint_Photeine). Its dimensions are 13.7&nbsp;m × 12.3&nbsp;m, and its walls survived in places up to 2.5&nbsp;m in height.<ref name="TIB"/> West of Balsamari, at Palioklisi, remains of an early Christian basilica on a hilltop. Probably three-aisled, some 20&nbsp;m × 14&nbsp;m large, with walls up to 2&nbsp;m high, in the [apse](/source/apse) up to 4.5&nbsp;m.<ref name="TIB"/> West of Plioklisi is the Panagia Lampobithra (or Lampovitsa), a ruined small, one-aisled church, some 7&nbsp;m × 5&nbsp;m large.<ref name="TIB"/>

In Paramythia itself lies the Church of the Dormition or Great Church (Μεγάλη Εκκλησία), a late Byzantine three-aisled basilica.<ref name="TIB"/> Some 100&nbsp;m to the north are remains of a Byzantine bath-house.<ref name="TIB"/> Some 3&nbsp;km south of Paramythia, near the village of [Chrysavgi](/source/Chrysavgi), remains of a three-aisled basilica (6th/7th century).<ref name="TIB"/>

==Catholic titular see==
A [titular see](/source/titular_see) of Photice ({{langx|it|Fotice}}) was established by the [Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church) in 1933.<ref name="GCatholic">{{cite web | url = https://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0813.htm | title = Titular Episcopal See of Photice | publisher = GCatholic.org | accessdate = 21 December 2018}}</ref> It has had two incumbents, and has been vacant since 1978:<ref name="GCatholic"/>
* Joaquim de Lange, C.S.Sp. (1952.04.18 – 1978.05.26)
* Joseph-Wilfrid Guy, O.M.I. (1929.12.19 – 1937.06.02, 1942.11.07 – 1951.12.08)

==References==
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{{coord|39|28|44|N|20|29|56|E|format=dms|display=title|source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/31629}}

Category:Populated places in ancient Epirus
Category:Former populated places in Greece
Category:Cities in ancient Epirus
Category:Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire
Category:Medieval Epirus
Category:Byzantine sites in Epirus (region)
Category:Catholic titular sees in Europe

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Photice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photice) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photice?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.