Patmiada Ecclesiastical School
The Patmiada Ecclesiastical School was founded by the Holy Hierodeacon Makarios Kalogeras in the year 1713, the year in which Kalogeras returned to his hometown after long years of study at the Great School of the Nation in Constantinople. Possessed by great zeal for the “transfer” of the excellent education, of which he himself became the possessor, and with a high goal to help in the spiritual cultivation of his contemporaries Greeks, fighting the generalized climate of ignorance at that time, he settled in the Seat (Kathisma), of the Holy Apocalypse and with determination began there to give lessons. Thus, the School operated at the Apocalypse for the first time. In fact, from 1719 and in accordance with an earlier practice followed by the Monastery of St John the Theologian, Makarios began to pay rent to the monastery for the Kathisma, which was continued by his successors in the School, St Gerasimos Byzantios and the monk Basil Koutalinos.
From the foundation of the School, as early as 1713, certain areas of the Apocalypse were used not only as classrooms but also as dormitories for the students. In the following years, however, the number of students increased, making it imperative that the housing issue of the School should be resolved once and for all. Thus, with the sponsorship mainly of Manolakis Ypsilantis, a personal friend of Makarios, but also of others, among whom the financial contribution of the Guild of the Constantinople’s furriers must be mentioned, a separate building was built next to the Apocalypse to house the Patmiada, known today as the “Old Patmiada”.
Despite the absence of historical evidence for the exact date of the foundation of Palea Patmiada, it was established that 1729 was considered to be its inaugural year, a perception to which we are led by cross-checks with indirect calculations. As regards its teaching programme, the School of Patmos provided – mainly – Middle and Higher Education, Encyclical and Philosophy. Many times, however, although it did not aim at providing elementary education, it was not absent from its programme, since the teaching of reading and writing was essential, especially for the young Patmos. In the context of secondary and higher education, and according to the data we can derive from the surviving “Matemataria”, they taught Philology and Philosophy, Rhetoric, Theology, Ecclesiastical Music and Physics.
As regards the educational methods followed in Patmiada, at least during the period of Makarios, we can say that they were inspired by and were similar to those of the Great School of Genus. And this is understandable, since Makarios had as his teacher the famous Iakovos Manos the Argive and his experiences from his many years of study in Constantinople were intense. So it was logical, then, to follow and try to implement the same educational standards.
Patmiada Ecclesiastical School, among other things, claims yet another pioneering status for the difficult times of the Ottoman rule, as it was the most important Greek centre for copying texts, either to cover the unbearable financial shortage, which did not allow the purchase of the rare and expensive text editions, or for the execution of external orders.
The School entered a new phase of its history, after the integration of Dodecanese with the Central Greece. The integration marked the beginning of the fourth and last historical phase of the Patmiada Patriarchal School’s operation (1947- present), which was particularly fruitful.
Subsequently, on 1 October 1947, the inauguration of the “New Patmiada” was held with great pomp. Its first Director was the Rhodian theologian Professor Emmanuel Bakiris. However, in the absence of adequate and modern buildings, the Holy Monastery, on the initiative of the then Abbot and Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos and President of the School’s Board, Archimandrite Simeon Revidis (1946-1951), took care to create the buildings that exist to this day, by providing a plot of land of 10 acres and a considerable amount of money which was collected from Patmians and other expatriates.
The Patmiada School has been operating continuously since then, offering commendable educational work which nowadays aims at the primary and secondary education of students from Patmos, from the rest of Greece and from all over the world. The operation of the boarding school relies on the help and even more on the small and larger donations of its benefactors around the world. The present Headmaster of the Foundation is Mr. Ioannis Zarkadoulas who carries out his work with great merit, often not under the most favourable conditions.
Tel. Contact: 22470 31278