Bela (Epirus)

Bela or Vela (Greek: Βελά) was a medieval fortress town and bishopric in Epirus, northwestern Greece.

Bela is located near the site of the modern Vella Monastery, some 2 km south of Kalpaki.^[1] The name is of Slavic origin.^[1] The fortress survived until the mid-20th century, when it was documented by N. G. L. Hammond; however, the Second World War and its aftermath, as well as the operation of a quarry on the eastern side of the hill, have destroyed most of the remains described by Hammond.^[2]

Bela first appears in the mid-10th century, when the Byzantine Empire's Notitiae Episcopatuum mention the see of "Photice, that is Bela" (Φωτικῆς ἤτοι Βελᾶς), implying that the seat of the bishopric of Photice, a suffragan of the Metropolis of Naupaktos, had been moved to Bela. This move was temporary, since from the mid-11th century, Photice is again mentioned without further additions.^[3] Its only recorded bishop during that time, Constantine, is known from a 10th-century episcopal seal.^[4]

From the early 13th century, however, Bela is attested as a separate bishopric, held by Manuel Makres.^[1] It is possible that during the 13th century, Bela formed also a province (theme), but this is unclear.^[1] It appears that by 1367, Bela and nearby Dryinopolis were no longer suffragans of Naupaktos, but of the Metropolis of Ioannina, as indeed is confirmed from the late 15th century on.^[1]

In 1380, Bela was captured by the Ottoman Turks under Lala Şahin Pasha,^[5] but in 1382 it came under the control of John Spata's son-in-law Marchesano.^[2]

Bela is the location of the Roman Catholic titular Diocese of Bela. The see, Eastern Orthodox throughout its existence, was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric.^[6]

• Soustal, Peter; Koder, Johannes (1981). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 3: Nikopolis und Kephallēnia (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-7001-0399-8.

39°51′54″N 20°37′01″E / 39.86500°N 20.61694°E / 39.86500; 20.61694