Photice orPhotike (Ancient Greek:Φωτική) was a city inEpirus in theRoman andByzantine periods. In thelate Middle Ages it was known asHagios Donatos (Ἅγιος Δονᾶτος).[1]
The city was likely settled sinceClassical Antiquity, but is only known in later times.[1] It appears in the 6th-centurySynecdemus, and according toProcopius of Caesarea, it was restored byJustinian I (r. 527–565).Procopius says that it originally stood in a marshy situation, and that Justinian built a citadel upon a neighbouring height.[2] That citadel was likely named afterSaint Donatus; in the lists of Justinian's buildings provided by Procopius, there are two forts of that name in the province ofEpirus Vetus.[1]
The city is attested as abishopric, asuffragan see of theMetropolis of Naupaktos, since theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451.[1] Only a few of its bishops are known: John (at the Council of Chalcedon), Diadochus (signatory of a letter on the murder ofProterius of Alexandria to EmperorLeo I the Thracian), Hilarius (signatory of a letter toPope Hormisdas), Manuel (at the time ofGermanus II of Constantinople), Antony (in 1564), and Nicholas (c. 1720).[3] From the 10th century, the see was moved to nearbyBela, probably for a short time at first; by the 13th century, the bishopric resided permanently at Bela.[1] By that time, Photice itself was known as Hagios Donatos; thechastel de Saint Donnat was promised as his wife's dowry toPhilip of Taranto byNikephoros I Komnenos Doukas,Despot of Epirus.[1]
In the revolt of Epirus in 1338/39 against theByzantine emperorAndronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341), Hagios Donatos remained loyal to the emperor.[1] In 1367 or 1368 the town, under its ruler Bardas, abandoned the allegiance to the Serbian ruler of Epirus,Thomas Preljubović, but in 1380 Thomas purchased its possession.[1] In 1411 the town submitted toCarlo I Tocco, who later appointed his second son, Torno, as its governor.[1]Paramythia, which eventually succeeded the settlement, is attested at about the same time. The Ottomans knew the town as "Aidonat Kalesi".[1]
Its site is located near the modern area of Limponi,[4][5] some 2 km northwest of Paramythia.[1] 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 m high, remains of a gate with tower, and of a squarekeep.[1] The wider area features a number of Byzantine monuments:
At the site of Balsamari, remains of a three-aisled Byzantinebasilica, probably dating to the 11th century, dedicated toSaint Photeine. Its dimensions are 13.7 m × 12.3 m, and its walls survived in places up to 2.5 m in height.[1] West of Balsamari, at Palioklisi, remains of an early Christian basilica on a hilltop. Probably three-aisled, some 20 m × 14 m large, with walls up to 2 m high, in theapse up to 4.5 m.[1] West of Plioklisi is the Panagia Lampobithra (or Lampovitsa), a ruined small, one-aisled church, some 7 m × 5 m large.[1]
In Paramythia itself lies the Church of the Dormition or Great Church (Μεγάλη Εκκλησία), a late Byzantine three-aisled basilica.[1] Some 100 m to the north are remains of a Byzantine bath-house.[1] Some 3 km south of Paramythia, near the village ofChrysavgi, remains of a three-aisled basilica (6th/7th century).[1]
Atitular see of Photice (Italian:Fotice) was established by theRoman Catholic Church in 1933.[6] It has had two incumbents, and has been vacant since 1978:[6]
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