Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will make an official visit to the Metropolis of Ilia from Saturday 2 September 2023 until Wednesday, 6 September 2023.
The program of the Patriarchal visit is as follows:
On Saturday, 2 September 2023, at 10am, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will arrive at Andravida airport where he will be welcomed with head of state honours. At 11am, The Patriarch will arrive in the Municipality of Andravida-Kyllini, at the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, equal to the Apostles, where an official Doxology will be held. At 11:45am Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will arrive at the Town Hall, where he will be declared an honorary citizen of the Municipality of Andravida-Kyllini by the Mayor Mr. Ioannis Lentzas, and then he will sit down to an official lunch in Kyllini.
On Saturday afternoon, the Patriarch will arrive at Pyrgos, where he will be declared an honorary citizen of the city by the mayor Mr. Panagiotis Antonakopoulos, while afterwards he will attend a traditional dance performance by Lykeion ton Ellinidon (The Hellenic Lyceum) and other associations, in the town square of Pyrgos.
On Sunday, 3 September 2023, in the morning, a Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the Metropolitan Church of Saint Nicholas of Pyrgos, followed by a visit to the Region and the office of the Vice-Regional Governor, while at 12:15pm the Patriarch will go to the Metropolitan Palace of Eleia, where he will pay a ceremonial visit to Metropolitan Athanasios of Ilia and Oleni.
In the evening, at 8:00pm, he will visit the Holy Monastery of Skafidia where he will be taken on a tour, while he will also attend a concert by the Mixed Choir of Myrtountia and the Mixed Choir of the Hellenic Lyceum as part of the International Festival of Ancient Feia.
On Monday, September 4, he will visit the Region of Western Greece, to attend an Environmental conference, with collaborating institutions being the Holy Metropolis of Eleia and Oleni, the Patriarchal Foundation for Patristic Studies, the sustainability tutoring centres of the Municipalities of Pyrgos and Andravida-Kyllini, Neapolis Sykeon and South Pelion, the Association of the Friends of Nature, on the subject: “The common environmental condition in the natural and urban environment in Elis and Macedonia”.
On Monday afternoon, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will be guided around the city of Pyrgos and then he will attend a theatrical performance at the “Apollo” Municipal Theatre, by the amateur theatre group of Krestena “Ekfrasis” with the play “To Paniyiri” by Dimitris Kehaidis.
On Tuesday, 5 September 2023, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will visit holy Churches of the Metropolis of Eleia and will have meetings with cultural associations of the region, while in the afternoon of the same day he will attend the closing of the International Ancient Feia Festival and will meet at the Aldemar hotel with well-known chefs, on the subject of local gastronomy. An official meal will follow, while on Wednesday, 6 September 2023, after his tour of the Merkouri and Britziki estates, he will depart from Andravida airport for Constantinople.
