Aspona () was an ancient city and bishopric in

Galatia Galatia (; , ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here ...

, in central

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. It corresponds to the modern settlement of Sarıhüyük (earlier Şedithüyük).

History

The settlement lies some 80 km southeast of the capital of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. Archaeological evidence points to prehistoric occupation, but it is first documented in itineraries of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, such as the ''

Itinerarium Antonini The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

'' or the ''

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

'', and was recognized as a city (''civitas'') since the 4th century. Emperor

Jovian Jovian is the adjectival form of Jupiter and may refer to: * Jovian (emperor) (Flavius Iovianus Augustus), Roman emperor (363–364 AD) * Jovians and Herculians, Roman imperial guard corps * Jovian (lemur), a Coquerel's sifaka known for ''Zobooma ...

passed through the city in 363. A bishop of Aspona,

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the

Metropolis of Ancyra The Metropolis of Ancyra () was a Christian (Eastern Orthodox after the East–West Schism) bishopric in Ancyra (modern Ankara, Turkey) and metropolitan see of Galatia Prima. The see survived the Seljuk Turkish conquest at the end of the 11th cen ...

, is attested since 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 ...

in 343. The city belonged to the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Galatia Prima Galatia (; , ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here a ...

. Under Emperor

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...

(), the '' topoteresia Asponas'' was one of the four ''

banda Banda may refer to: People * Banda (surname) * Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician * Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor * Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...

'', collectively designated as ''

ta Kommata Kommata () was a historical region and administrative unit of the Byzantine Empire in southern Galatia (central Anatolia), in modern Turkey. History The origin of the name is unknown, but may refer to a locality, or fortress, somewhere south of Ank ...

'', of the

Bucellarian Theme The Bucellarian Theme (, ''Boukellarion thema''), more properly known as the Theme of the Bucellarians (, ''thema Boukellariōn'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in northern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). It was created around ...

that were transferred to the new

Theme of Cappadocia The Theme of Cappadocia () was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Theme (Byzantine district), theme (a military-civilian province) encompassing the southern portion of the Cappadocia, namesake region from the early 9th to the late 11th centuries. Loc ...

. According to the ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...

'' of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

, the see remained a suffragan of Ancyra until the 12th century, but in the late 13th century, it appears to have been briefly

autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

, or even to have been raised to metropolitan status itself. Today several Roman and Byzantine

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin for 'spoils'; : ''spolium'') are stones taken from an old structure and repurposed for new construction or decorative purposes. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice (spoliation) whereby stone that has been quar ...

can be found, reused in the village of Sarıhüyük. The medieval town wall has been torn down, including the foundations, and reused in other buildings, but its parts of its circuit survive as a ditch.

Bishops

Eight of its bishops are known: * Catherius, who signed the acts of the Eastern bishops at the

(343) *

Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia () was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the '' Lausiac History.'' He was also the author of the ''Dialo ...

, who composed the ''

Lausiac History The ''Lausiac History'' () is a seminal work archiving the Desert Fathers (early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian desert) written in 419–420 AD by Palladius of Galatia, at the request of Lausus (eunuch), Lausus, chamberlain at the cour ...

'', () * Eusebius, in 431 at the

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 ...

* Hyperechius, in 451 at the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

* Euphanius, signed in 458 the letter of the bishops of Galatia Prima to Emperor

Leo I the Thracian Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (; ), was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (; ), probably to ...

* Michael, participant in the

Third Council of Constantinople The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, and by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical a ...

in 680 and in the

Quinisext Council The Quinisext Council (; , literally meaning, ''Fifth-Sixth Meeting''), i.e., the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Ju ...

in 692 * Peter, attended the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...

in 787 * Nicephorus, participated in the councils of Constantinople in 869/870 and 879/880

Catholic titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as a

Latin Rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

titular bishopric by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. It has had following incumbents:GCatholic, with titular incumbent bio links
/ref> * Vicente P. Reyes (1950.06.12 – 1961.01.19) as

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the

Archdiocese of Manila 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 associate ...

(

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

) * Carlo Re,

I.M.C. The Institute of Consolata Missionaries (), commonly called the Consolata Missionaries, is a Catholic Church, Catholic religious congregation of Pontifical Right with branches for both men and women. Its members add the nominal I.M.C. after their ...

(1961.02.10 – death 1978.08.12) as emeritate

References

Sources

* {{coord, 39, 18, N, 33, 17, E, display=title Catholic titular sees in Asia Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Populated places of the Byzantine Empire History of Christianity in Turkey History of Ankara Province Galatia (Roman province) Populated places in ancient Galatia Former populated places in Turkey