Argyrios, also rendered Argyrus, was a young Greek layman martyred at Thessaloniki in 1806 during the Ottoman period. Born in 1788 in the village of Epanomi near Thessaloniki, he moved to the city as a youth and worked as an apprentice to a tailor. He is venerated as one of the New Martyrs, those Orthodox Christians who suffered death for their faith under Ottoman rule.
According to his life, he confronted a man who had abandoned Christianity for Islam and urged him to return to the Orthodox faith. The confrontation was overheard, leading to his arrest, interrogation, and execution by hanging while he was about eighteen years old. He is commemorated on May 11.
Timeline 3 moments
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1788Birth at EpanomiArgyrios was born in the village of Epanomi, near Thessaloniki.
Early 1800sApprentice in ThessalonikiAs a youth he moved to Thessaloniki, where he worked as an apprentice to a tailor.
May 11, 1806Martyrdom at ThessalonikiAfter confronting a Christian who had converted to Islam and urging him to return to Orthodoxy, Argyrios was arrested by Janissaries and brought before the local Kadi. Refusing to deny his faith, he was put to death by hanging in the Kapani marketplace at about eighteen years of age.
Contributions & Legacy
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Martyrdom
The accounts of his life relate that Argyrios confronted a former Christian who had renounced his faith and embraced Islam, urging him to return to the Orthodox Church. Janissaries who overheard the exchange attacked him and attempted to compel him to convert through threats and beatings.
He was brought before the local Kadi, the Muslim judge, who by these accounts initially found that his advocacy of his faith was not a punishable crime. The Janissaries insisted that his words against Islam warranted death. Pressed during interrogation to deny Christ, Argyrios declared that he had been born a Christian and would die a Christian. He was executed by hanging on Friday, May 11, 1806, in the Kapani marketplace of Thessaloniki, at approximately eighteen years of age.
Relics & Shrines
By tradition his relic was preserved by the Brenda family and later transferred to the Monastery of Saint Menas in Anthousa, Attica. Accounts further relate that Metropolitan Pavlos brought a portion of the relic to New York. He is honored liturgically with an Apolytikion, Kontakion, and Megalynarion.
Veneration
Argyrios is numbered among the New Martyrs of the Ottoman period and is commemorated on May 11. Some liturgical calendars list him together with the New Martyr Dioscorus of Thessalonica on the same day, and his name appears with variant spellings including Argyrus and Argyres.
