Small diocese under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople; its see until the middle of the 19th century was located in Silistria (Silistra) and later on in Tulcea. The relatively scant flock consisted of Bulgarians, Romanians and Greeks. From the late 1860s onwards, when the rivalry between Greeks and Bulgarians escalated, the diocese was essentially split, since the majority of the Bulgarians founded the exarchate diocese of Ruse-Drystra. In 1878, the area was...

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One of the most significant dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Bulgaria, as well as a one of the most important centres of Greek education in the area. The two monasteries in the jurisdiction of the diocese, close to the city of Varna, were also notable. During the 19th century eminent personages such as Ioakeim, who later on became Ecumenical Patriarch, served as metropolitans.