Ryahovo () is a village in northern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, and as Ancient Ap(p)iaria a former bishopric, remaining a Latin Catholic
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 ...
.
It is located in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Slivo Pole in
Ruse Province
Ruse Province (), or Rusenska Oblast (, former name Ruse okrug) is a province in northern Bulgaria, named after its main city, Ruse, neighbouring Romania via the Danube. It is divided into eight municipalities with a total population, as of F ...
.
As of February 2011, it had a population of 1,637 inhabitants.
History
An
ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
fort known as Appiaria (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Ἀππιάρια) was built on the site under
Roman Emperor Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
forming part of the
limes Moesiae
The Moesian Limes () is the modern term given to a linked series of Roman forts on the northern frontier of the Roman province of Moesia along the Danube between the Black Sea shore and Pannonia (present-day Hungary) and dating from the 1st cen ...
defences on the banks of the Danube. Its garrison was at some time Ala I Atectorigiana.
It was probably destroyed by seventh century Bulgarian invaders.
In late 1916, it came under Romanian occupation, from the early morning of October 1st to the late night of October 3rd, during the
Flămânda Offensive
The Flămânda Offensive (or Flămânda Maneuver), which took place during World War I between 29 September and 5 October 1916, was an offensive across the Danube mounted by the Romanian 3rd Army supported by Romanian coastal artillery. Named aft ...
.
Apiaria Bight on
Brabant Island
Brabant Island is the second largest island of the Palmer Archipelago within the British Antarctic Territory, lying between Anvers Island and Liège Island. Brabant Island is long north-south, wide, and rises to in Mount Parry. The interi ...
in the
Palmer Archipelago
Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Tower Island in the north to Anvers ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
, was named after the village.
Ecclesiastical History
Appiaria was important enough in 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 ...
of
Moesia Inferior
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...
(=Secunda) to become a
suffragan diocese
A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...
of the capital's Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Marcianopolis, in the sway 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 ...
.
It has two documented incumbents :
* Lupicinus, mentioned in a letter of Saint
John Chrysostomos
John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastica ...
to
Pope Innocent I
Pope Innocent I () was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the prerogatives of ...
, circa 403
* Martialis, who signed the letter of the episcopate of
Moesia Secunda to
Byzantine Emperor
The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
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 ...
in 458 after the lynching by Coptic mobs of Patriarch
Proterius of Alexandria
Pope Proterius of Alexandria (died 457) was Patriarch of Alexandria from 451 to 457. He had been appointed by the Council of Chalcedon to replace the deposed Dioscorus. He regarded as hieromartyr by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic ...
.
The see isn't mentioned in the ''Notitia Episcopatuum'' by pseudo-Epifanius, edited under Emperor
Heraclius I
Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas.
Heraclius's reign was ...
(circa 640), probably having ceased after the ruinous Bulgarian invasion.
[Raymond Janin, ''La hiérarchie ecclésiastique dans le diocèse de Thrace'', in ''Revue des études byzantines'', Vol. 17, 1959, p. 140-141]
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored (in 1920?) as
Titular bishopric
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 ...
of Apiaria (Latin until 1925) / Appiaria (Italian from the start, Latin since 1925) / Appiaren(sis) (Latin adjective).
It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, ''including an
Eastern Catholic
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
'':
* Bonifatius Sauer (신상원 보니파시오), Missionary
Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien
The Ottilien Congregation, officially known as the Benedictine Congregation of Sankt Ottilien and as the Missionary Benedictines, is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation, the aim of which is to combine the Benedi ...
(O.S.B.) (1920.08.25 – death 1950.02.07), first as
Apostolic Vicar
Apostolic may refer to:
The Apostles
An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission:
*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles
*Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...
of
Wonsan
Wonsan (), previously known as Wonsanjin (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province (North Korea), Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...
(North
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
) (1920.08.25 – 1940.01.12), later as
Abbot Ordinary of
Territorial Abbacy of Tŏkugen (North Korea) (1940.01.12 – 1950.02.07), also
Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
of the renamed (above)
Apostolic Vicariate of Kanko (Hamheung, North Korea) (1940.01.12 – 1950.02.07)
* Joseph Lennox Federal (1951.02.05 – 1960.03.31) 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
Diocese of Salt Lake City (Utah, USA) (1951.02.05 – 1958.05.01); next promoted
Coadjutor Bishop
A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese.
The coa ...
of Salt Lake City (1958.05.01 – 1960.03.31), succeeding as Bishop of Salt Lake City (1960.03.31 – retired 1980.04.22), died 2000
* Thomas Austin Murphy (1962.05.23 – death 1991.11.17) as Auxiliary Bishop of
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
(Maryland, USA) (1962.05.23 – retired 1984.05.29) and as emeritate
* Vasile Bizău (2007.10.27 – 2011.06.11) as
Bishop of Curia
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
of the
Romanian Catholic Church Romanian Catholic Church may refer to:
* Catholic Church in Romania, including both Latin and Eastern Catholics
* Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic (an Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine Rite, in full communion with the Church ...
(
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...
(2007.10.27 – 2011.06.11); later Eparch (Bishop) of
Maramureş of the Romanians (
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
) (2011.06.11 – ).
* Ernesto Giobando,
Jesuit Order
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...
(S.J.) (2014.03.05 – 2024.22.12), Auxiliary Bishop of
Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
); later Bishop of Mar del Plata (Argentina) (2024.12.12 – )
* Anthony Gerald Percy (2025.05.02 – ), Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia.
See also
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Bulgaria
References
Sources and external links
GCatholic - (former and) titular see; Bibliography
* Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 428
* Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 1225-1226
* Daniele Farlati e Jacopo Coleti, ''Illyricum Sacrum'', vol. VIII, Venice 1819, pp. 110–111
Villages in Ruse Province
Roman auxiliary forts in Bulgaria
{{RuseBG-geo-stub