Greece - Ioannina, Saint Athanasios Metropolis Church

At the location where the Cathedral of Saint Athansios nowadays is located, was a Monastery dedicated to Saint Athanasios the Great. After the failed movement of Dionysios the Philosopher in 1611 and the expulsion of christians from the castle of Ioannina, the church of Saint Athanasios replaced a cathedral inside the castle and became the third cathedral of Ioannina. However, in August 1820 the temple was destroyed by a large fire during the siege of Ali Pasha.

During the presidency of the Metropolitan of Ioannina Ioakeim, in 1832, and at the expense of benefactors, a bigger church was rebuilt from the ground up. The frescoes in the church date back, according to an inscription, to 1835. The ornate wood-carved iconostasis is "baroque", made of walnut wood, and is the work of four wood carvers from Gorgopotamos (Konitsa). The imposing tower-shaped bell tower was built in 1909.