There have long been a vision and a hope that an Orthodox Metropolia will be established for Western Europe. South-west of Russia, this is an area of some 3.3 million square kilometres, only some 20% larger than prosperous Kazakhstan, to the south-east of Russia. True, Western Europe has a population which is 25 times greater. But whereas 25% of Kazakhstan’s population is Orthodox, in Western Europe the figure is more like 2.5%. Where should Orthodox churches be built or open in this long-envisioned and awaited Western European Metropolia? Clearly, capital cities should have churches, as was the vision of Tsar Nicholas II and his predecessors, who between them already built many churches in Western Europe. Clearly, the answer to our question must be to build and open churches where Orthodox already live, in other words, in the larger centres of population, but which are still accessible from smaller towns and villages.

Consulting a recent list of the largest 500 towns and cities in Europe with a population of 100,000 or more, the smallest is my native town, Colchester. The largest is Moscow, considerably larger than London, which is the second in the list. However, if we exclude those European towns and cities which are in Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church), the former Yugoslavia (the canonical territory of the Serbian Orthodox Church), and in other countries with Local Orthodox Churches or organisations, such as Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland, Cyprus, Albania, Slovakia, the Czech Lands, and also the parishes in Finland, both those under the Russian Church and those at present under Constantinople, we are left with a list of 326 towns and cities. These 326 out of 500 towns and cities are located in the following countries, in order of the size of their population: Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. They have a collective population of some 406 million and nearly 190 million, almost half, live in the urban areas of these 326 towns and cities of 100,000 plus. If all these urban areas were to have at least one Orthodox church, open to the native people of Western Europe, say, 500 churches in all, we could say that the Orthodox mission to all Western Europe would have a well-founded Metropolia. For most of the rest of the population lives within 50 km (30 miles) of one of these urban areas.

Some would point out that many of these towns and cities already have at least one Orthodox church. This is true. However, one of the current problems is that many Orthodox churches in those towns and cities are ethnically closed. In England as elsewhere, for example, there are Orthodox parishes that cater exclusively for only one group, Greeks, Russians, Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Georgians or even ex-Anglicans. There are far fewer churches that cater for several nationalities and groups, yet that is precisely what is required in our present circumstances. In mixed communities, Orthodox are stronger together and those new to the Church can integrate more easily, learning from lifelong Orthodox the Orthodox way of life. These towns and cities, with their populations, are:

City Country City Population Urban Area Population
1 London UK 7,393,800 11,230,500
2 Berlin Germany 3.289.500 3,942,600
3 Madrid Spain 2.905,100 5,078,100
4 Rome Italy 2,649,500 3,552,600
5 Paris France 2,113,000 11,293,200
6 Budapest Hungary 1,858,100 2,598,300
7 Hamburg Germany 1,688,300 3,260,700
8 Vienna Austria 1,543,100 2,038,200
9 Barcelona Spain 1,497,700 3,871,400
10 Milan Italy 1,302,000 4,051,500
11 Stockholm Sweden 1,239,100 1,621,700
12 Munich Germany 1,161,100 2,341,700
13 Copenhagen Denmark 1,096,100 1,096,100
14 Dublin Ireland 993,300 993,300
15 Napoli Italy 992,700 3,620,300
16 Birmingham UK 985,900 3,202,800
17 Koln-Ruhr Area Germany 966,800 11,297,800
18 Brussels Belgium 958,800 1,740,300
19 Turin Italy 898,400 1,617,600
20 Marseille France 815,100 1,532,400
21 Oslo Norway 787,400 787,400
22 Valencia Spain 741,900 1,406,600
23 Amsterdam Netherlands 719,500 1,536,300
24 Sevilla Spain 704,500 1,135,600
25 Palermo Italy 684,800 947,500
26 Frankfurt Germany 645,500 2,717,800
27 Genoa Italy 628,800 679,000
28 Glasgow UK 609,400 1,086,200
29 Zaragoza Spain 607,000 607,000
30 Essen Germany 589,900 589,900
31 Rotterdam Netherlands 589,100 1,133,200
32 Dortmund Germany 588,300 588,300
33 Stuttgart Germany 575,400 2,330,300
34 Dusseldorf Germany 568,300 568,300
35 Lisbon Portugal 558,100 2,612,300
36 Malaga Spain 539,300 748,200
37 Bremen Germany 528,200 1,008,900
38 Duisburg Germany 517,700 517,700
39 Hannover Germany 516,800 1,106,100
40 Goteborg Sweden 503,700 744,400
41 Nurnberg Germany 486,800 1,008,500
42 Liverpool UK 466,600 3,630,100
43 sGravenhage Netherlands 444,400 699,300
44 Lyon France 444,100 1,665,700
45 Antwerp Belgium 444,100 947,600
46 Sheffield UK 421,800 1,104,900
47 Leeds UK 420,300 1,498,500
48 Dresden Germany 413,600 1,030,800
49 Leipzig Germany 409,800 1,417,600
50 Bristol UK 409,300 614,800
51 Toulouse France 406,200 975,000
52 Manchester UK 394,300 394,300
53 Bochum Germany 387,600 387,600
54 Edinburgh UK 380,500 665,600
55 Bologna Italy 380,300 545,700
56 Florence Italy 375,500 825,100
57 Wuppertal Germany 368,600 368,600
58 Murcia Spain 366,300 366,300
59 Las Palmas Spain 366,000 366,000
60 Bilbao Spain 351,100 879,300
61 Palma Spain 350,700 350,700
62 Catania Italy 337,800 830,700
63 Nice France 334,100 943,000
64 Zurich Switzerland 333,400 965,700
65 Bari Italy 331,700 331,700
66 Bielefeld Germany 322,000 1,419,000
67 Valladolid Spain 319,400 319,400
68 Leicester UK 319,100 319,100
69 Cordoba Spain 316,100 316,100
70 Bonn Germany 311,800 311,800
71 Kingston on Hull UK 309,100 309,100
72 Mannheim Germany 305,900 1,456,000
73 Coventry UK 295,000 411,200
74 Bradford UK 290,400 290,400
75 Vigo Spain 287,800 287,800
76 Alicante Spain 283,600 283,600
77 Cardiff UK 279,500 677,700
78 Nantes France 278,800 718,700
79 Gelsenkirchen Germany 278,100 278,100
80 Karlsruhe Germany 277,500 580,500
81 Venice Italy 272,100 272,100
82 Nottingham UK 271,400 632,300
83 Strasbourg France 270,500 652,300
84 Gijon Spain 268,300 268,300
85 Stoke-on-Trent UK 266,700 266,700
86 Monchengladbach Germany 266,400 266,400
87 Wiesbaden Germany 266,000 266,000
88 Muenster Germany 265,500 265,500
89 Porto Portugal 263,600 1,210,700
90 Messina Italy 259,000 259,000
91 Wolverhampton UK 258,100 258,100
92 Chemnitz Germany 256,100 1,081,800
93 Verona Italy 256,100 256,100
94 Belfast UK 255,100 489,500
95 Augsburg Germany 252,300 252,300
96 Plymouth UK 249,900 249,900
97 Halle Germany 245,300 245,300
98 Granada Spain 244,900 244,900
99 Malmo Sweden 244,000 1,340,000
100 Braunschweig Germany 242,400 242,400
101 A Coruna Spain 241,000 241,000
102 Aachen Germany 240,300 1,238,600
103 Krefeld Germany 238,200 238,200
104 Utrecht Netherlands 232,800 610,800
105 Kiel Germany 231,700 231,700
106 Magdeburg Germany 230,000 230,000
107 Montpellier France 229,400 464,800
108 Derby UK 227,900 227,900
109 Graz Austria 223,000 223,000
110 Reading UK 222,700 222,700
111 Ghent Belgium 222,400 222,400
112 Oberhausen Germany 221,900 221,900
113 S C de Tenerife Spain 220,700 220,700
114 Aarhus Denmark 219,000 219,000
115 Vitoria Spain 218,400 218,400
116 Bordeaux France 216,600 935,100
117 Trieste Italy 214,500 214,500
118 Lubeck Germany 213,200 213,200
119 Southampton UK 211,500 733,600
120 Padova Italy 211,500 211,500
121 Rennes France 211,000 526,700
122 Debrecen Hungary 208,900 208,900
123 Taranto Italy 207,800 207,800
124 Hagen Germany 205,500 205,500
125 Freiburg Germany 203,000 203,000
126 Eindhoven Netherlands 201,300 201,300
127 Charleroi Belgium 201,000 201,000
128 Oviedo Spain 200,700 200,700
129 Bergen Norway 200,600 200,600
130 Elx Spain 199,800 199,800
131 Erfurt Germany 195,100 195,100
132 Kassel Germany 194,600 194,600
133 Tilburg Netherlands 193,400 193,400
134 Rostock Germany 193,300 193,300
135 Brescia Italy 192,100 192,100
136 Iruna Spain 191,900 191,900
137 Mainz Germany 190,600 190,600
138 Le Havre France 189,700 189,700
139 Aberdeen UK 188,300 188,300
140 Cork Ireland 187,600 187,600
141 Newcastle / Tyne UK 187,200 1,147,200
142 Jerez Spain 186,000 186,000
143 Linz Austria 185,800 185,800
144 Reims France 185,300 185,300
145 Santander Spain 184,800 184,800
146 Cartagena Spain 184,700 184,700
147 Liege Belgium 184,300 619,700
148 Preston UK 183,400 183,400
149 Donostia Spain 181,900 181,900
150 Miskolc Hungary 181,200 181,200
151 Lille France 181,000 1,727,500
152 Sunderland UK 180,700 180,700
153 Luton UK 179,700 179,700
154 Reggio di Cal. Italy 179,600 179,600
155 Saarbrucken Germany 179,500 179,500
156 Hamm Germany 178,000 178,000
157 Modena Italy 176,500 176,500
158 Portsmouth UK 176,300 176,300
159 Herne Germany 175,200 175,200
160 Amadora Portugal 175,200 175,200
161 Mulheim Germany 174,000 174,000
162 Norwich UK 173,300 173,300
163 Saint-Etienne France 173,000 173,000
164 Geneva Switzerland 172,800 172,800
165 Szeged Hungary 171,600 171,600
166 Almeria Spain 171,000 171,000
167 Swansea UK 170,500 170,500
168 Parma Italy 169,300 169,300
169 Groningen Netherlands 168,500 168,500
170 Burgos Spain 164,400 164,400
171 Osnabruck Germany 164,200 164,200
172 Solingen Germany 163,900 163,900
173 Cagliari Italy 163,500 163,500
174 Ludwigshafen Germany 163,400 163,400
175 Pecs Hungary 163,100 163,100
176 Leverkusen Germany 162,500 162,500
177 Basel Switzerland 161,900 553,300
178 Bournemouth UK 161,800 161,800
179 Livorno Italy 160,900 160,900
180 Southend / Sea UK 160,900 160,900
181 Toulon France 160,700 570,800
182 Breda Netherlands 160,000 160,000
183 Salamanca Spain 158,600 158,600
184 Perugia Italy 158,200 158,200
185 Oldenburg Germany 156,800 156,800
186 Apeldoorn Netherlands 155,600 155,600
187 Grenoble France 155,100 520,000
188 Foggia Italy 154,900 154,900
189 Nijmegen Netherlands 154,800 154,800
190 Swindon UK 153,700 153,700
191 Albacete Spain 153,200 153,200
192 Angers France 152,800 152,800
193 Brest France 151,100 151,100
194 Neuss Germany 150,000 150,000
195 Enschede Netherlands 149,600 149,600
196 Almere Netherlands 148,600 148,600
197 Dundee UK 148,500 148,500
198 Le Mans France 148,000 148,000
199 Haarlem Netherlands 148,000 148,000
200 Dijon France 147,900 147,900
201 Blackpool UK 147,500 147,500
202 Castello Spain 146,700 146,700
203 Reggio n’ Emilia Italy 146,000 146,000
204 Poole UK 146,000 146,000
205 Odense Denmark 145,300 145,300
206 Salzburg Austria 145,200 145,200
207 Middlesbrough UK 144,800 692,500
208 Peterborough UK 144,800 144,800
209 Huddersfield UK 143,500 143,500
210 Huelva Spain 142,200 142,200
211 Salerno Italy 142,000 142,000
212 Trondheim Norway 141,600 141,600
213 Ravenna Italy 138,900 138,900
214 Cadiz Spain 138,900 138,900
215 Arnhem Netherlands 138,500 138,500
216 Bolton UK 138,400 138,400
217 Heidelberg Germany 138,100 138,100
218 Paderborn Germany 137,700 137,700
219 Clermont-F-d France 137,300 137,300
220 Aix / Provence France 137,100 137,100
221 Badajoz Spain 137,000 137,000
222 Zaanstad Netherlands 136,800 136,800
223 Darmstadt Germany 136,700 136,700
224 Leon Spain 136,500 136,500
225 Amiens France 135,700 135,700
226 Nimes France 135,700 135,700
227 Tours France 133,400 133,400
228 Gyor Hungary 133,100 133,100
229 Stockport UK 133,000 133,000
230 Limoges France 132,700 132,700
231 Rimini Italy 131,700 131,700
232 Ferrara Italy 131,600 131,600
233 sHertogenbosch Netherlands 131,500 131,500
234 Ipswich UK 131,400 131,400
235 Logrono Spain 130,500 130,500
236 San Cristobal Spain 130,200 130,200
237 Gottingen Germany 129,800 129,800
238 Amersfoort Netherlands 128,100 128,100
239 Potsdam Germany 128,000 128,000
240 Siracusa Italy 126,400 126,400
241 Uppsala Sweden 126,400 126,400
242 York UK 126,200 126,200
243 Wurzburg Germany 125,300 125,300
244 Recklinghausen Germany 124,800 124,800
245 Metz France 124,700 124,700
246 Regensburg Germany 124,200 124,200
247 Maastricht Netherlands 123,000 123,000
248 Dordrecht Netherlands 122,600 122,600
249 Brighton UK 122,500 122,500
250 Bottrop Germany 122,000 122,000
251 Rotherham UK 122,000 122,000
252 Oxford UK 121,700 121,700
253 Sassari Italy 120,700 120,700
254 Bern Switzerland 120,200 120,200
255 Aalborg Denmark 120,000 120,000
256 Nyiregyhaza Hungary 119,800 119,800
257 Leiden Netherlands 119,500 119,500
258 Besancon France 118,000 118,000
259 Bremerhaven Germany 117,900 117,900
260 Heilbronn Germany 117,900 117,900
261 Ingolstadt Germany 117,900 117,900
262 Gloucester UK 117,900 117,900
263 Wolfsburg Germany 117,500 117,500
264 Remscheid Germany 117,100 117,100
265 Pforzheim Germany 116,800 116,800
266 Ulm Germany 116,300 116,300
267 Tarragona Spain 116,200 116,200
268 Caen France 115,700 115,700
269 Offenbach Germany 115,600 115,600
270 Bruges Belgium 115,400 115,400
271 Newport UK 115,400 115,400
272 Watford UK 115,400 115,400
273 Pescara Italy 115,300 115,300
274 Latina Italy 115,200 115,200
275 Innsbruck Austria 114,700 114,700
276 Lausanne Switzerland 114,700 114,700
277 Haarlemmerm’r Netherlands 114,400 114,400
278 Braga Portugal 114,300 114,300
279 Reykjavík Iceland 114,200 114,200
280 Setubal Portugal 113,800 113,800
281 Slough UK 113,300 113,300
282 Jaen Spain 113,200 113,200
283 Lleida Spain 112,600 112,600
284 Orléans France 112,500 112,500
285 Zoetermeer Netherlands 111,900 111,900
286 Furth Germany 111,700 111,700
287 Salzgitter Germany 111,500 111,500
288 Mulhouse France 111,100 111,100
289 Szekesfehervar Hungary 111,100 111,100
290 Reutlingen Germany 110,900 110,900
291 Vicenza Italy 110,500 110,500
292 Stavanger Norway 110,400 110,400
293 Siegen Germany 110,000 110,000
294 Gera Germany 109,800 109,800
295 Marbella Spain 109,500 109,500
296 Ourense Spain 109,200 109,200
297 Perpignan France 108,900 108,900
298 Koblenz Germany 108,600 108,600
299 Kecskemet Hungary 108,400 108,400
300 Terni Italy 107,800 107,800
301 Boulogne-B’t France 107,600 107,600
302 Forli Italy 107,500 107,500
303 Cottbus Germany 107,300 107,300
304 Bergisch Glad’h Germany 106,300 106,300
305 Namur Belgium 106,100 106,100
306 Emmen Netherlands 106,100 106,100
307 Algeciras Spain 106,100 106,100
308 Moers Germany 106,000 106,000
309 Trento Italy 105,900 105,900
310 Blackburn UK 105,600 105,600
311 Rouen France 105,500 523,800
312 Zwolle Netherlands 105,400 105,400
313 Basildon UK 104,600 104,600
314 Saint Helens UK 104,400 104,400
315 Ede Netherlands 104,200 104,200
316 Northampton UK 104,100 104,100
317 Witten Germany 103,800 103,800
318 Oldham UK 103,700 103,700
319 Nancy France 103,300 103,300
320 Coimbra Portugal 102,900 102,900
321 Funchal Portugal 102,800 102,800
322 Woking-Byfleet UK 102,800 102,800
323 Novara Italy 101,900 101,900
324 Chelmsford UK 100,700 100,700
325 Vasteras Sweden 100,300 100,300
326 Colchester UK 100,300 100,300

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