Hierarch Achillius of Larissa

Hierarch Achillius was Bishop of the city of Larissa in Thessaly in the first third of the 4th century. He was one of the 318 fathers of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325), where together with Saints Nicholas the Wonderworker and Spyridon of Trimythous he actively fought against the Arian heresy. After 35 (according to other sources, 40) years of episcopal service, Hierarch Achillius peacefully died in Larissa around 330. In the late 10th century, the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil translated the fragrant relics of the hierarch from Larissa to Prespa, then the capital of Bulgaria. In the Serbian town of Arilje, a cathedral was built in his honor in 1296, with frescoes surviving to this day.