Agia Theodora

Theodora Petraliphaina was born in Thessalonica, the daughter of the sebastokrator John Petraliphas. She married Michael II Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus and Thessaly, soon after 1231, while still very young. He later banished her and, after about five years, called her back.

When she was widowed she retired to the convent of St George that she had founded in Arta. It later became known as the Church of St Theodora, and her tomb became a place of pilgrimage. She is the patron saint of the city and is commemorated on 11 March.

A note on the sources

Her life survives mainly in a short hagiography by a monk named Job, whose identity is uncertain and whose account contains chronological and genealogical errors. That is why her birth date differs between sources.

See on the map