The seat of the Patriarch of Antioch was one of the oldest and most prestigious in Christendom. At one time it was the principal city of Syria; the third largest city of the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. When the Great Schism took place in 1054, the four Greek Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Alexandria "formed" the Eastern Orthodox Church, while the Pope of Rome "formed" the Roman Catholic Church. ("formed" is used in quotations because neither side started anything new after the schism and both continued unaltered and the same as they did pre-schism - the Western Church being under the jurisdiction of Rome, and the Greek Church under the jurisdiction of Constantinople.)