MODON (METHONE). — In the Peloponnese (Greece), formerly the see of a Greek bishop and, under Latin rule (1205–1500), also of a Latin bishop, it is today a village of 2,000 inhabitants. Among the Greek bishops, the theologians Nicola (d. 1165), a dissident, and Giuseppe (d. 1500), defender of the union of the Council of Florence, are noteworthy. The series of Latin bishops is found in Eubel. M. has the distinction of having been the cradle of the Congregation of the Mechitristi (v.), who built there, under the patronage of the Venetian government, the first monastery in 1706–15.
BIBL.: M. Lequien, Oriens christianus, II, Paris 1740, pp. 230–33; III, ibid. 1740, pp. 103–106. Giorgio Hofmann