Stratonicea – ( el, Στρατoνικεια, or Στρατονίκεια) also transliterated as Stratoniceia and Stratonikeia, earlier Indi, and later for a time Hadrianapolis – was an ancient city in the valley of the Caicus river, between Germe and Acrasus, in

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

; its site is currently near the village of Siledik, in the district of

Kırkağaç Kırkağaç is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 48,303 of which 25,093 live in the town of Kırkağaç. The district covers an area of , and the tow ...

Manisa Province Manisa Province ( tr, ) is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the southeast, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the northeast, and Balıkesir to the north. The city of Ma ...

, in the

Aegean Region The Aegean Region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Description

The foundation of the city dates from the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

period, probably on the site of an older settlement, ''Indi''. One source names Eumenes II as the founder, who named the city after his wife, Stratonice. However, as several Seleucid leaders also had wives named "Stratonice", the identification of the actual founder is not unchallenged. In antiquity, Stratonicea minted its own coins from the late 2nd century BC irregularly until the reign of Gallienus, in the mid-3rd century AD. By 130 BC,

Thyatira Thyateira (also Thyatira) ( grc, Θυάτειρα) was the name of an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor, now the modern Turkish city of Akhisar ("white castle"). The name is probably Lydian. It lies in the far west of Turkey, south of Istanbul ...

had annexed the city which had become merely a village. Stratonicea regained importance during

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

's reign. Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

renamed the city ''Hadrianopolis'' after himself. Archaeological finds from the site are preserved in a museum in Manisa.

Bishopric

The ancient bishopric of Stratonicea in Lydia is included in the

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 ...

's list 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 archbish ...

s. The only

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of the see was Alphonse Bermyn, who was appointed on 15 April 1901 and died on 16 February 1915. Known Bishops *Eutherius of Stratonicea, signed

Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...

. *

Alphonse Bermyn Alphonse may refer to: * Alphonse (given name) * Alphonse (surname) * Alphonse Atoll, one of two atolls in the Seychelles' Alphonse Group See also *Alphons *Alfonso (disambiguation) Alfonso (and variants Alphonso, Afonso, Alphons, and Alphonse) i ...

, (15 Apr 1901 Appointed - 16 Feb 1915)

References

Archaeological sites in the Aegean Region Seleucid colonies in Anatolia Populated places in ancient Lydia Roman sites in Turkey Ruins in Turkey Catholic titular sees in Asia Former populated places in Turkey Attalid colonies Geography of Manisa Province History of Manisa Province {{Manisa-geo-stub