Patriarch Gregory V

Patriarch of Constantinople. A native of Dimitsana, Georgios Angelopoulos was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 1797, taking the name of Gregory V. Restoring the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, the principal Greek Orthodox cathedral in present day Istanbul, his tenure was highlighted by uneasiness and uprisings, leading to his deportation to Mount Athos to Prince Islands and again to Mount Athos through the years. On the brink of the Greek War of Independence, blamed by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II for being unable to stop the riots, he was taken out of the named patriarchal cathedral on Easter Sunday and hanged in full patriarchal vestments. His body was taken down after three days and drawn through the city streets, being ultimately thrown into the Bosphorus. Recovered by Greek sailors, it was taken to the metropolitan cathedral of Athens, where it remains to this day, housed in a splendid shrine of marble.