Efi Dimopoulou, Assist.Professor & Tassos Labropoulos, Surveyor Engineer, National Technical University of Athens

1Joint FIG Commission 3 and Commission 7 Workshop “Information and Land Management. A Decade after the Millennium”Commission 3 Annual Meeting, 15-17 November 2010, Sofia, Bulgaria

Management of Church Owned Land in Greece: Challenges, Policies and Best Practices

Photo: decafinata/Flickr

Greek Constitution of 1975 : Religion - Eastern Orthodox ChurchAutocephalous and administered by the Holy Synod of serving Bishops and the Permanent Holy Synod.

The Greek Church is the second largest landowner in Greece after the State! 129,230 ha rural land (73,530 grazing land, 36,700 ha forest land and 18,990 agricultural land)

40,000 ha land in question 800 real estates, 12 million euros annual revenues

bishoprics and hundreds of wealthy monasteries in Greece

Real Property of the Church of Greece

Central Ecclesiastical Financial Service – E.K.Y.O. (Public Entity), successor of O.D.E.P.

6,700 (estimated) Public Law Entities (archdiocese, bishoprics, churches, monasteries and religious foundations), with independent financial management

Within-the-plan areas property valuation: 700 million euros

Total ecclesiastic property valuation: 15 billion euros?

Plus R.P. of 2,500 monasteriesIslands and islets

Real Property of the Church of Greece

1. The Holy Monastery of Ano Xenia: The monastery estimates the value of its real property at more than GRD 180 million.2. The Holy Monastery of Ossios Loukas: The monastery estimates the value of the commercially exploitable real property at more than GRD 130 million, excluding all the monastery's own buildings and agricultural land.3. The Holy Monastery of Agia Lavra Kalavriton: Their value exceeds GRD 485 million, excluding the monastery complex and the churches.4. The Holy Monastery of Metamorphosis Sotiros:  The monastery assesses the value of its property at more than GRD 465 million.5. The Holy Monastery of Asomaton Petraki: it values GRD 43,230 million and it also owns marble quarries on Mount Parnassus.6. The Holy Monastery of Chryssoleontissa Eginis:   It estimates its wealth at more than GRD 880 million. 7. The Holy Monastery of Phlamourion Volou: Its property includes two forests, agricultural land and blocks of flats. 8. The Holy Monastery of Mega Spileo Kalavriton: their value is said to exceed GRD 950 million.

The (applicant) monasteries' property:

The Orthodox Church's and its Institutions' Historical Background The Church of Greece and its Institutions,

established long before the creation of the Greek State, accumulating substantial immovable property by donation over the centuries.

A great percentage of this property has already been expropriated during the first years of existence of the Greek State, for social purposes

Title deeds acquired during the Byzantine and Ottoman empires have been either lost or destroyed. 

With such a long period of land occupation, the adverse possession’s requirements against the State and third parties are met, even without legal titles, since there was no land registration in Greece before 1856.

In 1952 the Greek legislature took measures to expropriate a large portion of monastery agricultural property.  By that time, the monasteries no longer discharged the same social, educational and cultural functions they had assumed before the Greek State was established.

In 1988 a friendly settlement concluded between the Greek Church and the State.

Links with the Hellenic State

The Church of Greece, one of the country’s biggest owners of prime real estate, has until now been largely exempt from taxes even though the state pays priests’ salaries.

The fact that we are going through a major crisis would make it easier for the Church to contribute to the Greece’s economy, by accepting raise of taxes. Church income from real estate holdings would be taxed at 20 percent, cash bequests will face a levy of 10 percent and property bequests a 5 percent charge.

The Church of Greece is promising the government a battle over the finance ministry’s decision to impose a 20 percent tax on church income, claiming that this property is used for charity. Until 2004, local churches paid a 35 percent tax on their annual income, but that was later abolished.

Links with the Hellenic State

The valuation, management and development of the real property of the Greek Church within the current system of its relations with the State, is among the most complex and intricate political issues.

A great part of the ecclesiastic real estate property is not delineated or registered, complicating the possibilities of exploiting the Church property.

On the other hand, sometimes, the State exploits the Church’s land, so as to create green areas within the cities.

The registration of Church’s property to the Hellenic Cadastre might, • contribute to the assessment of its size? or• reveal a complex land ownership situation?

The full registration of R.P. is fundamental for good land administration!!

Case Studies

Major boundary dispute

Agricultural land management

Best practice in land management

Area of Stavros at the northern coast of the Prefecture of Chania, Crete

Crete in Greece

Chania in CreteStavros in Chania

Stavros

Case Studies: #1: Stavros - Study Area

Habitat Agenda

Corine land-cover

Cadastral map

Case Studies: #1: Stavros - Maps

Case Studies: #1: Stavros - Dispute

Hellenic State claim(red line - 1974)

Aghia Triada claim(yellow polygon - 1965)

Holy Church ofChorafakia claim

(green polygon - 1979)

Final Court decisionin favor of Aghia Triada

(blue line - 1990)

Case Studies: #2: Kastraki - Location

The “wooden forest”of Meteora

Case Studies: #2: Kastraki - Study Area

Kastraki farm

Case Studies: #2: Kastraki - Maps

PERCENTAGE PER OWNER FOR THE WHOLE KASTRAKIOwner Area (ha) percentage

Kastrakina 1.905 39,8%Small Owners of Kastraki 304 6,4%

Holly Monastery of Metamorfosi Sotiros(Big Meteoro)

1.709 35,7%

Holly Monastery of Varlaam 343 7,2%Holly Monastery of Aghia Triada 4 0%

Unknown owner 520 10,9%Total Area of Kastraki 4.785 100%

PERCENTAGE PER LAND-COVER FOR THE PROPERTY OF THE MONASTERIES

Land cover Area (ha) percentageAgricultural 36 1,8%Vineyards 3 0,1%

Fields 16 0,8|%Heath 147 7,2%

Bushes 56 2,7%Non-dense forests 799 39,1%

Dense forests 935 45,8%Other forests 33 1,6%

streams 17 0,8%Total 2.043 100%

Case Studies: #3: Attica - Data Collection

Case Studies: #3: Attica - Data Management

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ΜΕΓΑΡΟ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΗΣ

References

Central Ecclesiastical Financial Service – E.K.Y.O. at: http://www.ekyo.gr/index_en.htmlCouncil of Europe: European Court of Human Rights (1994) The Holy Monasteries v. Greece, 10/1993/405/483-48, 21 November 1994, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/402a045b4.html Folina S (2009) Land Ownership of Meteora Monasteries . Thesis, NTU of AthensHatziyanni D. (2010) Investigation of the Monastic Land Property in Crete. Thesis, NTU of AthensMenounou E and Pandermaraki Ch (2002) Development of a Land Information System for the Registration and Management of the Church Property. Thesis, NTU of Athens.