Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Investigation of disputes’ resolving over ecclesiastical and monastic land property in Greece using cadastral and land use data

  • Published:
GeoJournal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Land disputes are among the primary issues that Land Administration Systems attempt to accommodate. They derive from a variety of purposes including law, history, culture, traditions, administration and local geographical characteristics. There is no uniform approach in addressing land disputes and each country implements different resolution techniques. Ecclesiastical and monastic institutions throughout the world are owners of immense real estate property to such an extent that can indeed affect land administration policies. Greece is in the limelight of international attention due to its economical crisis and actually under pressure to modernise its dysfunctional land policy framework and create a stable investment environment. Within this framework, this paper investigates issues hindering proper land administration in Greece through the examination of a the resolving process regarding a case study in the island of Crete; a complex legal land dispute between the Greek State, two ecclesiastical institutions, a monastery and a church, and squatters took place, lasting for nearly 40 years. In order to evaluate this procedure and its impact on the development of the disputed area, a variety of data sources were accumulated and processed through time-based analysis. In this direction, cadastral survey’s contribution was examined along with land use change analysis, indicating how uncertainties in securing property rights on land, result in illegalities and trespassing posing significant barriers in land administration and management in the course of time. Although old and ambiguous in describing land boundaries the monasterial documentation might be, it proved sufficient to prevail over other litigants claims; the monastery was even adjudicated more than twice the size of the area that was claiming. By this investigation process, the distinct role of ecclesiastical institutions in Greece regarding land acquisition and the defects and malfunctions within Greek Land Administration System are presented. The paper concludes with the authors’ suggestions for addressing similar real estate property situations concerning land disputes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bernstein, J. (2011). Preview: Who owns the world? Newstatesman website. Published 10 March 2011. http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/03/queen-state-territories.

  • Bittner, C., & Sofer, M. (2013). Land use changes in the rural–urban fringe: An Israeli case study. Land Use Policy, 33, 11–19. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.11.013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonilla-Moheno, M., Redo, D., Aide, M., Clark, M., & Grau, R. (2013). Vegetation change and land tenure in Mexico: A country-wide analysis. Land Use Policy, 30, 355–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christofilopoulos, D. (2007). Building outside the City Plan (p. 371). Athens: A. Sakkoulas Publications. ISBN 978-960-420-320-8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deng, X., Huang, J., Rozelle, S., Zhang, J., & Li, Z. (2015). Impact of urbanization on cultivated land changes in China. Land Use Policy, 45, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danish Parliament. (2013). My constitutional act—My constitutional act with explanations. In Jayasinghe, A. M. (Ed.) (pp. 58). http://www.thedanishparliament.dk/Publications/My_Constitutional_Act_with_explanations/Chapter%207.aspx.

  • de Souza, F. (2001). The future of informal settlements: Lessons in the legalisation of disputed urban land in Recife, Brazil. Geoforum, 32, 483–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewan, A., & Yamaguchi, Y. (2008). Using remote sensing and GIS to detect and monitor land use and land cover change in Dhaka Metropolitan of Bangladesh during 1960–2005. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 150(1–4), 237–249. doi:10.1007/s10661-008-0226-5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egan, B., & Place, J. (2013). Minding the gaps: Property, geography, and indigenous peoples in Canada. Geoforum, 44, 129–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everett, M. (2001). Land evictions and human rights: Land disputes in Bogota, Colombia. Habitat International, 25, 453–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feliú, V. (2013). Corporate ‘Soul’: Legal incorporation of catholic ecclesiastical property in the United States—A historical perspective (September 6, 2013). Villanova Law/Public Policy Research Paper No. 2013-3027. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2165023, or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2165023.

  • Fonmanu, K., Ting, L., & Williamson, I. (2003). Dispute resolution for customary lands: Some lessons from Fiji. Survey Review, 37(289), 177–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gombay, N. (2014). ‘Poaching’—What’s in a name? Debates about law, property, and protection in the context of settler colonialism. Geoforum, 55, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Government of Norway. (2014). The Constitution, as laid down on 17 May 1814 by the Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll and subsequently amended, most recently in May 2014. https://www.stortinget.no/globalassets/pdf/constitutionenglish.pdf. Accessed June 2015.

  • Harris, C. (2002). Making native space: Colonialism, resistance, and reserves in British Columbia. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knippenberg, H. (2006). The changing relationship between State and Church/Religion in The Netherlands. GeoJournal, 67, 317–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konidaris, I. M. (1991). The Law 1700/1987 and the recent crisis in the relationships between the Church and the State. Reprinted, Athens, pp. 271 + 8 (in Greek).

  • Liogier, R. (2009). Laïcité on the edge in France: Between the Theory of Church-State Separation and the Praxis of State-Church Confusion. Macquire Law Journal, 9, 25–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, D., Mausel, P., Brondizio, E., & Moran, E. (2004). Change detection techniques. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25(12), 2365–2401. doi:10.1080/0143116031000139863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maruani, T. (2011). The role of courts in open space conservation: Lessons from the Israeli experience. Landscape and Urban Planning, 100, 364–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, S., & Griffin, A. (2010). Encroachment: A threat to resource sustainability in Chilika Lake. India, Applied Geography, 30, 448–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, S. (1996). Defining “Successful” environmental dispute resolution: Case studies from Public Land Planning in the United States and Australia. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 16, 151–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakos G. P. (1984). The legal regime of former Ottoman public land (1821–1912) (pp. 513). Thessalonica: University Studio Press (in Greek).

  • NCMA. (2014). Report on activities, 2013. Available at: http://www.ktimatologio.gr/Documents/News/2014/197/%CE%88%CE%BA%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B7%20%CE%A0%CE%B5%CF%80%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%B3%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%89%CE%BD%20%CE%95%CE%9A%CE%A7%CE%91.pdf (in Greek).

  • Nysten-Haarala, S. (2001). Russian property rights in transition, interim report IR01-006. Laxenburg: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paganopoulos, M. (2009). The concept of ‘Athonian Economy’ in the Monastery of Vatopaidi. Journal of Cultural Economy, 2(3), 363–378. doi:10.1080/17530350903345595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papadopoulou, L. (2014). Law and religion in Greece. In G. Robbers & W.C. Durham (Eds.), Encyclopedia of law and religion. Leiden: Brill. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2509449.

  • Rabitah, H., Zuraidah, M., & Norhidayah, A. (2012). Preliminary findings on Waqf management practices among Selected Muslim Countries. In 2012 International Conference on Economics Marketing and Management, IPEDR (Vol. 28). IACSIT Press, Singapore.

  • Reeder, K. (2006). Whose church is it, anyway? Property disputes and episcopal church splits. Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 40(125), 125–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigsby, B. (1997). Fighting over country: Anthropological perspectives. In D. E. Smith & J. Finlayson (Eds.), Research Monograph No. 12 (pp. 15–46). Canberra: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University.

  • Sackey, G. (2010). Investigating justice systems in land conflict resolution: A case study of Kinondoni Miunicipality, Tanzania. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of GeoInformation Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente Enschede, The Netherlands.

  • Schmieding, H. (1991). Issues in privatisation. Intereconomics, 1991, 103–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirico, L. J. Jr. (1986). Church property disputes: Churches as secular and alien institutions. Fordham Law Review, 55(3), 335–162. http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol55/iss3/2.

  • Stibbard, P., Russell, D., & Bromley, B. (2012). Understanding the Waqf in the world of the trust. Trusts & Trustees, 18(8), 785–810. doi:10.1093/tandt/tts087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Surplus People Project and Legal Resource Centre. (2000). An inventory and description of the historical acquisition of the Moravian Church Land: A report compiled for the Moravian Church of South Africa, Cape Town: Surplus People Project and the Legal Resources Centre. http://www.spp.org.za/reports/moravian.pdf.

  • Taylor, J. C., Brewer, T. R., & Bird, A. C. (2000). Monitoring landscape change in the national parks of England and Wales using aerial photo interpretation and GIS. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 21(13&14), 2737–2752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UN Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action. (2012). Land and conflict - Toolkit and guidance for preventing and managing land and natural resources conflict. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/events/environmentconflictday/pdf/GN_Land_Consultation.pdf.

  • Tsoumas, T., & Tasioulas, D. (1986). Ownership status and agricultural land exploitation in Greece. Published by the Agricultural Bank of Greece (in Greek).

  • Tudor, C., Iojă, I., Pătru-Stipariu, I., Nită, M., & Hersperger, A. (2014). How successful is the resolution of land-use conflicts? A comparison of cases from Switzerland and Romania. Applied Geography, 47, 125–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Usher, P., Tough, F., & Galois, R. (1992). Reclaiming the land: Aboriginal title, treaty rights and land claim in Canada. Applied Geography, 12, 109–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Heen, V., Kreutzwiser, R. D., & de Loë, R. (2003). Selecting appropriate dispute resolution techniques: A rural water management example. Applied Geography, 23, 89–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zentelis, P. (2005). Occupied state-owned real property. Geographical display and liquidation rules. Aeichoros No. 2, Vol. 4. Publ. University of Thessaly http://www.ekyo.gr/. Accessed May 2015 (in Greek).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Danae Chatzigianni, Dimitrios Kitsakis & Efi Dimopoulou

Authors
  1. Danae Chatzigianni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dimitrios Kitsakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Efi Dimopoulou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Efi Dimopoulou.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chatzigianni, D., Kitsakis, D. & Dimopoulou, E. Investigation of disputes’ resolving over ecclesiastical and monastic land property in Greece using cadastral and land use data. GeoJournal 82, 627–641 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-016-9706-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-016-9706-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation