Definitions for "Sakkos"
a liturgical vestment resembling a dalmatic and worn by a bishop during the liturgy
Proper Eucharistic vestment of Bishops.
sakkoi Gr., "sack"): Episcopal garment originally derived from imperial costume. The sakkos is a loose, poncho-like tunic created of a single rectangular piece of fabric with a hole in the center for the head. After the posterboard-like garment has been suspended around the bearer's neck, a series of bell-like buttons or ribbons running up the its left and right sides are utilized to secure the front and rear panels to one another. Originally sakkoi had quite truncated sleeves, as is the case with the Major Sakkos of Metropolitan Photios. The use of the sakkos was a privilege bestowed by the Basileus upon individual patriarchs as a sign of his personal favor. The first literary evidence for the garment is found in the writings of Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch (ca. 1130–1140, dies after 1195). By the thirteenth century; however, it was worn by all patriarchs and some metropolitans, but only on Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the sakkos replaces the polystavrion to become the Episcopal garment par excellence. See (cat 177, 178).