Birgi is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of

Ödemiş Ödemiş () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,019 km2, and its population is 132,740 (2022). It is located 113 km southeast of the city of İzmir. About 4 km north of Ödemiş town are the ru ...

, İzmir Province,

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 ...

. Its population is 1,832 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''

belde Belde (literally "town", also known as ''kasaba'') means "large village with a municipality" in Turkish language, Turkish. All Turkish province centers and district centers have municipalities, but the Villages of Turkey, villages are usually too ...

''). Its current name is a turkified version of its medieval Greek name, Pyrgion (Greek: Πυργίον, meaning "Little Tower").

History

In antiquity, the town was known as Dios Hieron (, 'Sanctuary of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

'), one of two cities thus named. The city became part of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

and 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 ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

with the annexation of the Kingdom of Pergamon. It was renamed to ''Christoupolis'' () in the 7th century and was known as ''Pyrgion'' () from the 12th century on. Pyrgion fell to the Turks in 1307, and became the capital of the beylik of Aydin.

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

visited the city and attended a lecture by the eminent professor Muhyi al-Din. It was subsequently incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1390. Birgi is well known for its classic Seljuk and

Ottoman architecture Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century an ...

and has been listed as a World Cultural Heritage by (Protection and Promotion of the Environment and Cultural Heritage)
since 1994. In 2021, archaeologists unearthed a Byzantine fort.

Bishopric

The

Roman Era city had an ancient Christianity">Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bishopric attested as an episcopal see from at least 451, It was a suffragan of See of Ephesus, Ephesus, which it remained under until the late 12th century when it became a separate metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropolis. There are four known

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s of this

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

from antiquity. *Stephen took part in the Council of Ephesus of 431 *Eustorgios was not present at the Council of Chalcedon (451) and his metropolitan, Stephen of Ephesus, signed on his behalf *Zoetus was among the fathers of the Council of Constantinople of 680 and the Council in Trullo of 692 *Stephen of Pyrgion participated at the two Councils of Constantinople in 869–870 and 879–880 who dealt with the issue of Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople Today Dioshieron survives as

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 ...

ric in 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 ...

, so far the see has never been assigned.Dioshieron
at GCatholic.org.

Notable historic structures

* Çakırağa Mansion — built in 18th-century Ottoman style by the wealthy Çakırağa family. * Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey Mosque — commissioned in 1313 by Mehmet Bey, the founder of the Aydinids. * Aydınoğlu Baths (14th century) * Tomb of Birgivi Mehmet Efendi (16th century) * Birgivi Mehmet Efendi Madrasa (16th century) * Sultanşah Mausoleum * Fortress Madrasa, where Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror (March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481) was educated. * Sandıkoğlu Mansion (19th century) * Karaoğlu Mosque (18th century) * Birgi city walls * Iron Magazine (16th century)

References

{{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Ödemiş District World Heritage Sites in Turkey History of İzmir Province Aydınids World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Populated places in ancient Ionia Catholic titular sees in Asia