The First-called

The patron saint and protector of the city of Patras, Saint Andrew, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and, indeed, His first disciple (John 1:41), hence his title “Protoclete” (First-Called). Andrew the Apostle, like his brother Peter, was born in the Galilean city of Bethsaida, located next to Lake Gennesaret, which was also the birthplace of the other two brother apostles, John and James. He was a disciple of John the Baptist and was the first to follow Jesus Christ when the Baptist identified Him with the words: “ Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). Andrew subsequently confessed Him as the Lord.

The first missionary journey

After Pentecost, Saint Andrew obeyed the Lord's command (Matt. 28:19) and embarked on a long and arduous apostolic journey. While there is no specific reference to his travels in the New Testament, it is certain that he preached Jesus Christ in regions where prosperous, populous cities of the Hellenistic diaspora were thriving. He preached in Nicaea of Bithynia, Nicomedia, and Chalcedon of the Propontis, as well as in the cities of the Hellenistic Kingdom of Pontus, Sinope (where he endured severe persecutions but was miraculously rescued), Amisos (modern Samsun), and Trebizond. From there, he travelled to Scythia, i.e. South Russia, Crimea, and up to the Caucasus (including the Kerch Strait on the Sea of Azov), and went as far as Kherson in Ukraine (on the Dnieper River). His entire mission was a long and demanding task, even by modern standards.

Founder of the church of Byzantium (Constantinople)

Saint Andrew continued his mission in Byzantium, where the city of Constantinople was later established. He is recognised as the founder of the church in Byzantium and its apostolic originator. From there, he travelled to Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, and ultimately concluded his journey in Achaia.

Mission and teaching

Given his extensive missionary travels in Greece, Saint Andrew is referred to as the “Apostle of the Greeks”. In the New Testament (John 12:20) an incident is mentioned that encapsulates a symbolism and may have been deeply engraved in the Apostle's psyche, predetermining his future course. In this incident, Saint Andrew introduces some Greeks who wanted to meet Him and heard from His mouth the phrase: “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified”. Besides, the very name of Saint Andrew is Greek.

The Holy Tradition, both in the East and the West, unanimously acknowledges the arrival of the Apostle Andrew in Patras. This is fully confirmed by authentic early Christian testimonies (Hippolytus of Rome, 2nd century AD, “On the Twelve Apostles”, Jerome “Epistle to Marcellus”, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Nicephorus Callistus). Additionally, relevant references and descriptions are found in early Christian texts, as well as in non-ecclesiastical works, in the Acts and Martyrdom as early as the 4th century AD.

In Patras, the Apostle performed numerous miracles and healings, drawing many to the Christian faith, such as Maximilla, the wife of the Roman Proconsul Aegeas, whom he cured of an otherwise incurable illness. He also cured Aegeas’ brother, Stratocles, who became a Christian and was later ordained as Bishop of Patras by the Apostle Andrew while the Apostle was in prison, shortly before his martyrdom.

Martyrdom in Patras

Because of all this, and particularly due to his wife’s insistence on embracing the Christian faith, Aegeas became infuriated and ordered the Apostle’s arrest, torture, and eventual martyrdom by crucifixion. According to the testimony of Hippolytus of Rome, the Saint was crucified on olive wood. The crucifixion took place near the coast “at the edge of the sea sand”, at the site where the old Church now stands, where the Saint used to preach. The most probable account places the martyrdom of Saint Andrew in 66 AD, during the reign of Emperor Nero. The Romans generally crucified their condemned prisoners in two main ways: either by tying them to the cross with ropes (cruciatus ligatus), as they did with the two thieves, or by nailing them (cruciatus clavis), as in the case of Christ. The governor Aegeates chose to tie Andrew to a traditional cross with ropes. The tradition that Saint Andrew’s cross was X-shaped is a later development, originating in the 13th century with Western influences, as there is no mention of it in the early accounts of his biographers. The version suggesting that he was crucified in an inverted manner is slightly older and appears in 11th-century martyrologies.

When Saint Andrew was crucified, many Christians went to the proconsul Aegeates, protesting his unjust sentence and asking him to remove the righteous man of God, Andrew, from the Cross so that Achaia might find peace. Upon seeing the crowd and hearing the Christians, Aegeates agreed. The Christians rushed to inform the crucified Saint that Aegeates intended to take him down from the Cross. But the Saint prayed to the Lord, asking that this not be allowed, saying: "Do not permit, O Lord, that I who have been hung upon the wood should be loosed again; do not allow that I who have been suspended upon the mystery of Your Cross should be taken down in likeness to You." And after praying for the last time and glorifying the Lord, he gave up his spirit into the hands of Christ. Maxillima took down the Saint’s lifeless body and buried it "near the shore." (Epiphanius, Monk and Presbyter – Concerning the Life, Acts, and End of the Holy, Most Praiseworthy, and First-Called Apostle Andrew, PG 120, col. 227)

Transfer of the relic to Constantinople

Until the 4th century, the relic of the Saint remained intact in Patras. Saint Artemius, acting as envoy of Emperor Constantius II (337-361), transferred it to Constantinople in 353 or, more probably, in 357, to be placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles. According to the historian Constantine Paparrigopoulos, this church was consecrated in 336 AD by Constantine the Great, who constructed twelve reliquary cases to honor the Twelve Apostles, with the intention of eventually placing their relics in them.

Transfer of Saint Andrew’s Head in Patras

According to one version, the Holy relic of Saint Andrew’s Head was neither transferred from Patras to Constantinople nor returned from there as a gift by Emperor Basil I (867–886 AD) following the intervention of the noble widow Danielis, a wealthy woman from Patras. The holy relic was transferred from Patras to Rome via Corfu by the Despot of Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, the brother of the last Emperor of Constantinople, Constantine Palaiologos, in 1460, and handed it over to Pope Pius II, two years later, in 1462.

The delivery was made through the apostate Cardinal Bessarion, formerly Metropolitan of Nicaea, following a glorious ceremony. Since then, the holy relic has been kept in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome..

Transfer of the relics by the Franks

According to an undocumented version, the Saint’s relic was seized by Cardinal Peter of Capua during the sack of Constantinople and was then transferred to Gaeta in Italy and then to Amalfi in 1208 AD, where it was kept at the city cathedral. According to information provided by Pouqueville, in 1527 the relic of the saint except the head was in Rome, where it was desecrated by German soldiers.

Return of the Holy Head by the Vatican

On 26 September 1964, 502 years later, during the episcopacy of the late Metropolitan Constantine of Patras, the relic was reintroduced to our city in an official ceremony attended by 31 archpriests and a Vatican delegation. Its return was granted on 22 June 1964 by Pope Paul VI, following an appeal by the local authorities and the Metropolis of Patras, with the support of the then Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras. The relic was placed in the Old Church 'from Saint Peter’s Basilica of Rome to Saint Andrew’s Basilica of Patras' until the consecration of the New Church (Cathedral of Saint Andrew). Since then, this holy relic has been cherished in the Cathedral of Saint Andrew and is kept in a new reliquary (following the destruction of the original one in 1970). The new reliquary, crafted in the Byzantine style, is designed to house the Saint’s Head. It serves as a pilgrimage site for the country and the entire Christian world—a sacred relic that surrounds, guards, and protects the city of Patras and the nation from all danger and adversity

Return of the Cross from Marseille

The same Cathedral also houses the Cross of the Apostle's martyrdom. The Cross was transferred in 1979, through the efforts of Metropolitan Nikodimos of Patras, from the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseilles, France, where it had been kept since before 1250.

Until the retrieval of the Holy Head in 1964, the only holy relic of Apostle Andrew kept in Patras was a fragment of the Saint's finger. This relic had been received from Mount Athos and donated to the city in 1847 by the Russian nobleman and courtier Andrey Muravyev. Since then, it has been kept at the Old Church of Saint Andrew in an elaborate reliquary within a marble larnax. On this larnax, a large silver-coated icon of the Saint has been placed in a supine position for the reverent veneration of the faithful.

At the ceremony for the return of Saint Andrew’s holy head, the then Archimandrite Nikodimos Vallindras and subsequently Metropolitan Nikodimos of Patras composed and set to music a solemn and inspiring acolouthia, which is chanted at the anniversary celebration. He also composed and set to music a relevant Apolytikion to commemorate the return of the Cross of the Apostle's martyrdom.