Castra Martis ( bg, Кастра Мартис) was a Roman fortified garrison (

castra In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular a ...

) in

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

which became a town and bishopric and remains a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

History

Castra Martis, named after the Roman god of war

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, on the modern site of Kula (Latin/Italian Cula), in

Vidin Province Vidin Province () is the northwesternmost province of Bulgaria. It borders Serbia to the west and Romania to the northeast. Its administrative centre is the city of Vidin on the Danube river. The area is divided into 11 municipalities. As of D ...

in northwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, served to protect the road through

Vrashka Chuka Vrashka Chuka ( bg, Връшка чука ) or Vrška čuka (Serbian Cyrillic: , ) is a peak in the Balkan Mountains, situated on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. The peak is high. Vrashka Chuka is the most northwestern peak in the Balka ...

pass in the western

Balkan mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border bet ...

. It was important enough in the Roman province of

Dacia ripensis Dacia Ripensis () was the name of a Roman province in the northern Balkan peninsula, immediately south of the Middle Danube. Its capital was Ratiaria (modern Archar, Bulgaria). It was a district less urban than neighbouring Dacia Mediterranea a ...

to become a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of the provincial capital's Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ratiaria, in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its only recorded Suffragan Bishop was Calvus, participant at the

Council of Serdica The Council of Serdica, or Synod of Serdica (also Sardica located in modern day Sofia, Bulgaria), was a synod convened in 343 at Serdica in the civil diocese of Dacia, by Emperors Constans I, augustus in the West, and Constantius II, augustus in th ...

in 343 (called by the Pope, boycotted by most Eastern sees). In 408, the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

under

Uldin Uldin, also spelled Huldin (died before 412) is the first ruler of the Huns whose historicity is undisputed. Etymology The name is recorded as ''Ουλδης'' (Ouldes) by Sozomen, ''Uldin'' by Orosius, and ''Huldin'' by Marcellinus Comes. On th ...

took control of the site during an attack on the Eastern Roman Empire, apparently by treachery.Maenchen-Helfen, Otto J. "The Date of Ammianus Marcellinus' Last Books." The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 76, No. 4 (1955), p. 389

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Castra Martis (Latin) / Castra di Marte (Curiate Italian) / Castromartianus (Latin adjective). It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : Kula (Кула) - Castra Martis

* Platon Kornyljak (born Ukraine) (1959.04.17 – death 2000.11.01), first as

Apostolic Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and e ...

Germany and Scandinavia of the Ukrainians The Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Apostolic Exarchate in Germany and Scandinavia (german: Apostolisches Exarchat für Deutschland und Skandinavien la, Exarchatus Apostolicus Germaniae et Scandiae) (Germany and Scandinavia for the Ukrainians) is an A ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

etc.) (1959.04.17 – retired 1996.12.16), then on emeritate *

Petro Kryk Bishop Petro Kryk ( uk, Петро Крик, born 25 April 1945 in Kobylnica Wołoska, Rzeszów Voivodeship (now Podkarpackie Voivodeship), Poland) is a German Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarch as the emeritus Apostolic Exarch of the Apostolic ...

(born Poland) (2000.11.20 – ...), Apostolic Exarch of

(Germany), no previous prelature.

Eponymy

Castra Martis Hill Castra Martis Hill (Halm Kastra Martis \'h&lm 'kas-tra 'mar-tis\) is a 453 m hill near Leslie Hill in Livingston Island. The peak was named after the Roman settlement of Castra Martis, ancestor of the present town of Kula in Northwestern Bul ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

, in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

West Antarctica West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere, and includes the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transan ...

, is named after it.

Notes

Sources and external links

GCatholic - (former and) Latin titular bishopric
; Bibliography * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 428 * Daniele Farlati-Jacopo Coleti, ''Illyricum Sacrum'', vol. VII, Venice 1817, p. 611 * Jacques Zeiller, ''Les origines chrétiennes dans les provinces danubiennes de l'empire romain'', Paris 1918, p. 155. {{Castles in Bulgaria Tourist attractions in Vidin Province Buildings and structures in Vidin Province Roman legionary fortresses in Bulgaria Kula Municipality, Bulgaria Castles in Bulgaria Roman Dacia

History

Titular see

Eponymy

See also

Notes

Sources and external links