Soterioupolis ( el, Σωτηριούπολις; "City of the

Saviour Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or l ...

") or Soteropolis (Σωτηρόπολις) was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

fortress in the southeastern

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

coast during the 10th–12th centuries. The name has been suggested to apply to two different localities,

Pitsunda Pitsunda ( ab, Пиҵунда, russian: Пицунда) or Bichvinta ( ka, ბიჭვინთა ) is a resort town in the Gagra District of Abkhazia/Georgia. Founded by Greek colonists in the 5th century BC, Pitsunda became an important politi ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

and

Borçka Borçka ( lzz, ბორჩხა, translit=Borçxa; ka, ბორჩხა, translit=Borchkha or ) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, on the border with Georgia. Borçka is reached by a winding road up ...

in Turkey.

Byzantine town

According to the mid-10th century '' De administrando imperio'', Soterioupolis was located on the border with

Abasgia Abasgia may refer to: *Region inhabited by ancient Abasgoi tribes *Kingdom of Abkhazia, 778–1008 *Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, wa ...

, while seal finds attest that it was the capital of a border district or '' kleisoura''. The '' Escorial Taktikon'', written in the 970s, mentions a "''

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenisti ...

'' of Soterioupolis or Bourzo", and the contemporary ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') are official documents that furnish Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the -mostly Lati ...

'' record that it was the seat of an autonomous archbishopric. The site's identification has been disputed:

Alexander Kazhdan Alexander Petrovich Kazhdan (russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Кажда́н; 3 September 1922 – 29 May 1997) was a Soviet-American Byzantinist. Among his publications was the three-volume ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', a com ...

in the ''

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...

'' dismisses the suggestions expressed by various authors for an identification with

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

, and considers Soterioupolis to have been a single site.

Werner Seibt Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Raid ...

and

Ivan Jordanov Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

, on the other hand, distinguish between the various references of the name, equating the Soterioupolis of the ''De administrando imperio'' with Pitsunda, which in the mid-11th century formed part of a military command with nearby

Anakopia New Athos or Akhali Atoni ( ka, ახალი ათონი, ''Akhali Atoni''; ab, Афон Ҿыц, ''Afon Ch'yts''; russian: Новый Афон; ''Novy Afon'', gr, Νέος Άθως, ''Neos Athos'') is a town in the Gudauta ''raion'' of ...

, securing Byzantine presence in coastal Abkhazia and the northwestern Caucasus in general, where Byzantium had commercial and strategic interests. The seat of the ''strategos'' of the ''Escorial Taktikon'', however, is considered to be located further south, at the fortress Bourzo (identified by

Nicolas Oikonomides Nikolaos or Nikos Oikonomides ( el, Νικόλαος Οικονομίδης, 14 February 1934 – 31 May 2000) was a Greeks, Greek Byzantinist, and one of the leading experts in the field of Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, Byzantine administ ...

and B. Baumgartner with modern

in Turkey), to which are to be attributed the seals of the ''kleisourarches'' of Soteropolis, as well as the references preserved in the collection of miracles of Saint

Eugenios of Trebizond Saint Eugenios ( el, Άγιος Ευγένιος) or Eugene was martyred under Diocletian and a cult devoted to him developed in Trabzon, Trebizond. His feast day is 21 January. Eugenios along with the martyrs Candidus, Valerian and Aquila was pers ...

, according to which the ''strategos'' was a subordinate of the '' doux'' of

Chaldia Chaldia ( el, Χαλδία, ''Khaldia'') was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey). Its name was derived from a people called the ''Chaldoi'' (or ''Chalybes'') that i ...

Titular see

In modern times, the town has been 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 archbis ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, as the Archdiocese of Soteropolis. First awarded in 1932, it has had seven holders and has been vacant since 6 October 2005, with the death of its last incumbent,

Ettore Cunial Ettore Cunial (November 16, 1905 – October 6, 2005) was an Italian prelate. Born at Possagno in the Province of Treviso, Cunial was ordained priest in 1929. In 1953, his appointment as Titular Archbishop of Soteropolis and Vicegerent of Rom ...

References

Sources

* * Byzantine forts Byzantine Pontus Catholic titular sees in Asia Populated places of the Byzantine Empire History of Abkhazia {{Asia-RC-diocese-stub