Nazianzus or Nazianzos ( grc, Ναζιανζός), also known as Nandianulus, was a small town of

ancient Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revol ...

, and in the late

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Cappadocia Tertia, located 24 Roman miles to the southeast of

Archelais Archelaïs ( grc, Ἀρχελαΐς) was a town in the Roman province of Palaestina Prima, corresponding to modern Khirbet el-Beiyudat (also spelled Khirbat al-Bayudat). It was founded by Herod the Great's son Archelaus to house workers for h ...

. In the

Jerusalem Itinerary The ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'' ("Bordeaux Itinerary"), also known as the ''Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum'' ("Jerusalem Itinerary"), is the oldest known Christian '' itinerarium''. It was written by the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux", an anonymous pilgrim ...

it is miswritten as Nathiangus.

History

Its history in antiquity is unknown. It became the Turkish village of Nenizi east of

Aksaray Aksaray (, Koine Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς ''Arhelays'', Medieval Greek: Κολώνεια ''Koloneya'', Ancient Greek: Γαρσάουρα ''Garsaura'') is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Aksaray Province. In 202 ...

(formerly Archelais), in the Ottoman villayet of Koniah, but has sometimes been wrongly identified with ''Diocaesarea''. Modern scholars locate its site near Nenezigözü, Asiatic Turkey. More specifically, the village of

Bekarlar, Gülağaç Bekarlar, recently known as ''Nenizi'' and in earlier times Nazianzus, is a village in the District of Gülağaç, Aksaray Province, Turkey. History The name of the village is mentioned as Nenezi in the records of 1928. It became a municipality ...

Ecclesiastical history

At the beginning of the 4th century Nazianzus was suffragan to Caesarea Mazaca; under

Emperor Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

it formed part of Cappadocia Secunda, the

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

of which was

Tyana Tyana ( grc, Τύανα), earlier known as Tuwana ( Hieroglyphic Luwian: ; Akkadian: ) and Tuwanuwa ( Hittite: ) was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It w ...

. Later it became part of Cappadocia Tertia and depended on its Metropolitan of Mocessus. Finally, it became a metropolitan see under Diogenes. In 1370 it was united to the metropolitan see of Caesarea Mazaca (modern Kayseri). Up to the year 1200, fourteen of its bishops are known. Its name is inseparably connected with its illustrious doctor and poet-bishop,

St. Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...

, who became

bishop of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

and Doctor of the Church. His father, Gregory of Nazianzus the Elder, had been a member of a Jewish-pagan sect called the

Hypsistarians Hypsistarians, i.e. worshippers of the ''Hypsistos'' ( el, Ὕψιστος, the "Most High" God), and similar variations of the term first appear in the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus (''Orat''. xviii, 5) and Gregory of Nyssa (''Contra Eunom''. ...

, but was converted to Christianity and became Bishop of Nazianzus. The bishopric is included in the lists of

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 archbis ...

s of

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

with metropolitan status''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 937 and of the Eastern Orthodox Church

References

Catholic titular sees in Asia Populated places in ancient Cappadocia Former populated places in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire History of Aksaray Province {{Aksaray-geo-stub

History

Ecclesiastical history

See also

References