The Metropolis of Iconium () is a

metropolitan bishopric A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

of the

Ecumenical 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 heade ...

located at

Iconium Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

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 ...

, in the region of

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; , ''Lykaonia''; ) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by Phrygia and Pisidia, while to ...

. It flourished through the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

empires, and survived 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 ...

until the early 20th century and the

Greco-Turkish population exchange The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...

, which led to the disappearance of the local Christian population. The see continues to be occupied today as a

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 archbi ...

of the

. The current incumbent is Theoliptos Fenerlis, who was raised to the see in 2000.

History

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

came to

very early ''Very Early'' is a 1993 studio album by Mark Murphy. ''Very Early'' is the 31st studio album by American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. It was recorded in 1993 when Murphy was 61 years old and released by the West & East Music label in Austria in ...

. The

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

came to Iconium escaping a disturbance and attempted

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...

. It is presumed that Paul appointed bishops or

presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...

s during his visit. From ca. 370, the see of Iconium became the

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

. The city fell to the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

in 1084, and became the capital of the

Sultanate of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

, except for a brief recapture by the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

in 1097. The fate of the see in the early Ottoman period is obscure: Metropolitan Amphilochius is mentioned as occupying the see until 1488, but it is unclear whether any bishop actually resided in the city, as this is not attested in the patriarchal ordinances (''berat'') of 1483 and 1525. The historian

Elisabeth Zachariadou Elizabeth A. Zachariadou (, 1931 – 26 December 2018) was a Greek scholar on Turkish studies, specializing in the early Ottoman Empire (ca. 1300–1600). Biography In 1966, she married the Byzantinist Nikolaos Oikonomides (1934–2000), with w ...

suggested that the seat of the metropolitan was moved at the time to Egridir, but this can not be verified. The see was definitely revived in the 17th century, as the patriarchal ''berat'' of 1625 once again refers to the city as the seat of a residential metropolitan. Iconium remained the seat of the metropolis until the 19th century, when it moved to

Niğde Niğde (; ; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and is located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Niğde Province and Niğde District.Tyana Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Iron Age, and Tūwanuwa during the Bronze Age, was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was the capital of a Luwia ...

, whence his full title was "Metropolitan of Iconium and Tyana, ''

hypertimos ''Hypertimos'' (, "most honorable one") is an ecclesiastical title in the Eastern Orthodox churches following the Greek liturgical tradition, used to designate metropolitan bishops. The title originated in the 11th-century Byzantine Empire, where ...

'' and

exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

of all Lycaonia and Second Cappadocia".

Known residential bishops

The French historian

Michel Le Quien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. Biography Le Quien studied at , Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made ...

names the following

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: * Sosipater * Terentus * Caronatus (

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

) * Celsus * Nicomas * Peter * Eulalius * Fastinus * Amphilocius * Valerianus * Onesiphorus, Bishop of Iconium. * Amphilocius of Iconium, The Canons of the First Four General Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon: With Notes (Clarendon Press, 1892) p104 * Palladius * Theodulus * Paul * Elias * Leo * Theopylactus * Theophilus * Basil * John II * unnamed bishop, attended a synod in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in 1077 * Eustathius * Nicetas * unnamed bishop, attended synod in Constantinople in 1152 * John III * unnamed bishop * Theodorus II * Matthaeus (

Catholic 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 ...

) * Aphilochius (?–1488) * Parthenius * Clemens * Sylvester *

Prokopios Lazaridis Prokopios Lazaridis (, 1859–1923) was a Greek Orthodox metropolitan bishop, who served as a head in a number of bishoprics during the late Ottoman period. As a bishop of Iconium, modern Konya, in central Anatolia, he was involved with the issue ...

(1911-1923)

References

Sources

* *{{ODB , title = Ikonion , last = Foss , first = Clive , authorlink = , page =985 Dioceses established in the 1st century Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

History of Konya Culture in Konya Konya vilayet Lycaonia Niğde