Soltaniyeh ( fa, سلطانيه, also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...

d as Solţānīyeh, Solţāneyyeh, Sultaniye, and Sultānīyeh; also known as Sa‘īdīyeh; ) is the capital city of Soltaniyeh District of Soltaniyeh County, Zanjan Province, northwestern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At the 2006 census, its population was 5,684, in 1,649 families.

History

Soltaniyeh, located some to the north-west of

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, was built as the capital of Mongol

Ilkhan The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

id rulers of

in the 14th century. Its name which refers to the Islamic ruler title

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

translates loosely as "the Regal". Soltaniyeh was visited by

Ruy González de Clavijo Ruy González de Clavijo (died 2 April 1412) was a Castilian traveler and writer. In 1403-05 Clavijo was the ambassador of Henry III of Castile to the court of Timur, founder and ruler of the Timurid Empire. A diary of the journey, perhaps based ...

, who reported that the city was a hub of silk exportation. In 2005,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

listed Soltaniyeh as one of the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

s. The road from Zanjan to Soltaniyeh extends until it reaches to the Katale khor cave. William Dalrymple notes that Öljaitü intended Soltaniyeh to be "the largest and most magnificent city in the world" but that it "died with him" and is now "a deserted, crumbling spread of ruins."

Ecclesiastical history

Established on 1 April 1318 as Latin Metropolitan

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

of Soltania (Latin and Curiate Italian) or Soltaniyeh. It 1329 the

Latin Diocese of Samarcanda fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

became its

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 ...

for the

Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, or Chagatai Ulus ( xng, , translit=Čaɣatay-yin Ulus; mn, Цагаадайн улс, translit=Tsagaadain Uls; chg, , translit=Čağatāy Ulusi; fa, , translit=Xânât-e Joghatây) was a Mongol and later Turkicized kh ...

, at least until Tamerlane (founder of the Timurids) swept its see

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

. Suppressed as residential see around 1450.

Residential archbishops

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while di ...

and European missionary members of the same Latin Order) ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Soltania'' * Francesco da Perugia,

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

O.P. (1318.08.01 – ?) * Guillaume Adam, O.P. (1322.10.06 – 1324.10.26); previously Archbishop of Smirna (Smyrna) (Asian Turkey, now Izmir) (1318 – 1322.10.06); later Metropolitan Archbishop of

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

(Montenegro) (1324.10.26 – death 1341) * Giovanni di Cori, O.P. (1329.08.09 – ?) * Guglielmo, O.P. (? – ?) * Giovanni di Piacenza, O.P. (1349.01.09 – ?) * Tommaso, O.P. (1368.02.28 – ?) * Domenico Manfredi, O.P. (1388.08.18 – ?) * Giovanni di Gallofonte, O.P. (1398.08.26 – ?) * Nicolò Roberti (1401.01.24 – ?); previously Bishop of

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

(Italy) (1393.02.04 – 1401.01.24) * Thomas Abaraner, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?) * Giovanni, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?)

Titular see

Transformed at its suppression as residential see in 1450 into a Latin Titular archbishopric, which was itself suppressed in 1926. It has had the following incumbents, of both the fitting archiepiscopal (intermediary) and the (lower) episcopal ranks : * Titular Bishop Francisco Salazar, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1548.09.12 – ?) * Titular Bishop: Bishop-elect

Bernardino de Carmona Bernardino de Carmona was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Titular Bishop of ''Soltania'' (1551–1553) and Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Compostela (1551–1553). ''(in Latin)'' ''(in Latin)'' Biography On 10 July 1551, Bernard ...

(1551.07.10 – ?) * Titular Archbishop Alberto Bitter (1922.10.09 – 1926.12.19)

Sources and external links

Official website

Video of Soltaniyeh
* Farnoush Tehrāni, ''The Crown of All Domes'', in Persian, Jadid Online, 31 December 2009,.
• Audio slideshow:
jadidonline.com (6 min 45 sec). http://sultaniyya.org/

History

Ecclesiastical history

Residential archbishops

Titular see

See also

Sources and external links

References

Further reading