Zile, anciently known as Zela () (still as 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 ...

), is a city in

Tokat Province Tokat Province () is a province in northern Turkey. Its area is 10,042 km2, and its population is 596,454 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast. ...

, Turkey. It is the seat of

Zile District Zile District is a district of the Tokat Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Zile.İl� ...

.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023. Its population is 33,557 (2022). Zile lies to the south of

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

and the west of

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

in north-central Turkey. The city has a long history, including as former

bishopric 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 ...

and the site of the

Battle of Zela The Battle of Zela was fought in 47 BC between Julius Caesar and Pharnaces II of the Kingdom of Pontus. The battle took place near Zela (modern Zile), which is now a small hilltop town in the Tokat province of northern Turkey. The battle en ...

, which prompted the phrase " Veni, vidi, vici." Wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Zela Today the city is a center for agricultural marketing and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

History

Historically, Zile has been known as Zela (), Zelitis (), Zelid, Anzila, Gırgırıye (Karkariye), Zīleh, Zilleli, Zeyli, and Silas (). Zile castle, the only solid castle in

Anatolia 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 ...

, was built by Roman commander

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

. The castle contains the Amanos temple, and is called ''silla'', meaning "respected". In Semra Meral's ''Her Yönüyle Zile'', she claims that the name "Zile" came from "Zela", stemming from "Silla".

Ancient City

According to recent

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

research, there is evidence of human habitation since

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

times in Zile. In his book ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...

'',

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

claimed that Zela was founded by

Semiramis Semiramis (; ''Šammīrām'', ''Šamiram'', , ''Samīrāmīs'') was the legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and of Ninus, who succeeded the latter on the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus ...

, a legendary

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n queen. By 548 BC, Zela and greater

were under the rule of

Achaemenid Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larges ...

. Persian rule saw construction of a portion of the

Royal Road The Royal Road was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt for trade by Darius the Great, the Achaemenid emperor, in the 5th century BC. Darius I built the road to facilitate rapid communication on the western part of his large empire from ...

in the area, and of temples to the Persian gods

Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" ( Aban) and hence associat ...

, Vohu-Mano, and Anadates in the city itself.

Darius I of Persia Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

divided the largest Anatolian state of that time,

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, into two, with Zela remaining in

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

Cappadocia, the northern region.

Classical Era

After roughly 200 years of Persian rule,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

captured Zela from

Darius III of Persia Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. D ...

as a result of the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydos (Hellespont ...

(334 BC). Following Alexander's death in 323 BC and the collapse of his empire, Zela passed to the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

, a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's dominion. It controlled the area for 200 years, but by 100 BC, its power in the region started to collapse. As a consequence, King

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...

attacked and took Zela in 88 BC, and ordered the killing of all Romans living there. This led the nearby Cappadocians to call on

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for help. The Roman army, under Sulla's command, fought and defeated Mithradates in the

First Mithridatic War The First Mithridatic War /ˌmɪθrəˈdædɪk/ (89–85 BC) was a war challenging the Roman Republic's expanding empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Roman rule ...

. Mithridates attacked Zela again in 67 BC with the help of his Armenian ally

Tigranes the Great Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great (''Tigran Mets'' in Armenian language, Armenian; 140–55 BC), was a king of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he ruled from 95 BC to 55 BC. Under hi ...

, king of

Greater Armenia Greater Armenia may refer to: * Ancient Armenia, independent from 331 BC to 428 АD, known as Greater Armenia (or "Armenia Major") to distinguish it from Roman-controlled Lesser Armenia (or "Armenia Minor") * United Armenia, a political goal of ...

, initiating the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies, dragging the entire east of th ...

, which ended with victory by the Romans under

Pompeius Magnus Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. A ...

and the suicide of Mithridates in 63 BC. In Pompey's settlement of Pontus, Zela received a civic constitution and a sizable territory thus transforming from its previous status as a temple domain to a city. In 49 BC, civil war broke out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. While the Romans were distracted by this,

Pharnaces II of Pontus Pharnaces II of Pontus (; about 97–47 BC) was the king of the Bosporan Kingdom and Kingdom of Pontus until his death. He was a monarch of Persian and Greek ancestry. He was the youngest child born to King Mithridates VI of Pontus from hi ...

, son of Mithridates, decided to seize the opportunity and take revenge for his father. His attack on Zela was halted by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in the bloody

(47 BC). While Caesar's army suffered great losses, Pharnaces's was completely destroyed in five hours. After this victory, Caesar sent his famous message to the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

: " Veni Vidi Vici", meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered". Caesar's words were written on a cylindrical marble column and placed in the city castle. According to Strabo, Zela had the temple of Anaïtis (), who was also revered by the

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Middle Ages

In 241, the

Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

king

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...

, attacked the Romans and defeated

Roman Emperor Valerian Valerian ( ; ; – 260 or 264) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. Valerian is known as the first Roman emperor to have been taken captive in battle, captured by the Sassanid Empire, Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa ...

, thus capturing Zela. From 241 to 1071, Zile was conquered many times by the Byzantines and Sasanids. Under Byzantine rule, Zile became a (now Titular Latin) bishopric of Asia Minor,

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 Amasya in the former Roman province of Helenopontus (see below). Zela was conquered by

Danishmend The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered originally around Siv ...

Melik Ahmet Gazi in 1071 and, since, has belonged to the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

, who suppressed the

. In 1174,

Anatolian Seljuks 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. T ...

captured the city from Danishmends under Izzettin II Kılıçaslan. After the collapse of the Anatolian

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

, the Eretna Emirate was founded in Zile's district in 1335. The Ottomans defeated Ertans in 1397 under the rule of Sultan Bayezid I, integrating Zile into their empire.

Modern History

During the course of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 (also known as

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

), some supporters of

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

(strict

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

law) seized power in Zile and attacked the barracks of new Turkish Republic's army. The soldiers were forced to retreat to the city castle and consequently asked for help from the

Çorum Çorum () is a northern Anatolian city in Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul. It is the seat of Çorum Province and of Çorum District.< ...

battalion. The

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

reached the city in four days and upon their arrival they started bombing the city so as to force the rebels to surrender. As a result of heavy bombardment, Zile suffered a great fire which led to the loss of two thirds of its

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

and most of its forest cover. Finally, the army managed to put down the rebellion and regained control. Since then, Zile has been a rural district in Tokat province of the

Republic 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 ...

Ecclesiastical history

Zela, 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 ...

Helenopontus Pontus or Pontos (; ,) is a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in the modern-day eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region and its mountainous hinterland (rising to the Pontic Alps in th ...

(

civil diocese In the Late Roman Empire, usually dated 284 AD to 641 AD, the regional governance district known as the Roman or civil diocese was made up of a grouping of provinces each headed by a '' Vicarius'', who were the representatives of praet ...

of Pontus), was a

of the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Amasea 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 associated ...

, 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 ...

. The following Suffragan Bishops of Zela are historically documented : * Heraclius took part in the Council of Ancyra in 314 and in the ecumenical

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

in 325 **’’ Bitinicusus, an Arian (heretic), participated in the synod of Gangra in 340 and intervened at the Arian 'conciliabolum' at Philippopolis in 343/344 * Atticus attended 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 ...

in 451 * Hyperechius signed in 458 the letter of the episcopate of Helenopontus 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 ...

after Coptic mobs lynched 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 ...

* Georgius was at the ‘Robber’

Council in Trullo 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 Jus ...

in 692 * Constantinus took part in 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 * Paulus attended the Council of Constantinople in 869-870 and the Council of Constantinople of 879-880 which rehabilitated Patriarch Photius of Constantinople. * The

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

bishop of the city from June 1912 to May 1921 was Saint Hieromartyr

Euthymios Agritellis Saint Euthymios of Zela the Ethno-Hieromartyr, Αθαν. Γ. Τσερνογλου. ''"Εὐθύμιος. Ὁ Ἀγριτέλλης. Έθνομάρτυς ἐπίσκοπος Ζήλων Ἀμασείας (1912-1921)."'' Θρησκευτική κα� ...

Bishop of Zela, who was imprisoned and executed by Turkish authorities for urging the local

Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks (; or ; , , ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group indigenous to the region of Pontus, in northeastern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). They share a common Pontic Greek culture that is di ...

to take up arms against Turkish militias ( cheta) who were terrorizing the Greek population at the time.

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored no later than the 18th century as Latin

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 Zela (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Zeliten(us) It has been vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents: * Francisco San Andrés,

Hieronymites The Hieronymites or Jeronimites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome (; abbreviated OSH), is a Catholic enclosed religious orders, cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living accordi ...

(O.S.H.) (1758.10.02 – death 1766.01.20) 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. ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

(Spain) (1758.10.02 – 1766.01.20) * Giovanni Devoti (1804.03.26 – 1804.05.29); previously Bishop of

Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic centre of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appearance of a s ...

(Italy) (1789.03.30 – 1804.03.26); later ‘promoted’ on emeritate as

Titular Archbishop 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 ...

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

(1804.05.29 – died 1820.09.18) * Anton Kavčič,

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.) (1805.09.23 – 1807.07.15) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Wien Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(Vienna, Austria) (1805.09.23 – 1807.07.15); later Bishop of

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

(Slovenia, now Metropolitan) (1807.07.15 – died 1814.03.17) * Jean-Louis Florens (羅), M.E.P. (1807.09.08 – death 1814.12.14) as

Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

Szechwan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Chengdu, a ...

四川 (China) (1807.09.08 – 1814.12.14) * Giuseppe Pezzella,

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

(O.E.S.A.) (1828.06.23 – 1830?) as

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 Calvi (Italy) (1828.06.23 – 1830?) and Coadjutor Bishop of

Teano Teano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's cathedral is ...

(Italy) (1828.06.23 – 1830?); next succeeded both as Bishop of Calvi (1830? – 1833.01.03) and as Bishop of Teano (1830? – died 1833.01.03) * Peter Paul Lefevère (1841.07.23 – death 1869.03.04) (Belgian) as Coadjutor Bishop of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

(USA) (1841.07.23 – 1869.03.04) * Manuel María León González y Sánchez (1876.01.28 – 1877.06.22) * Pierre-Noël-Joseph Foucard (富于道), M.E.P. (1878.08.13 – 1889.03.31) * Father Laurent Blettery, M.E.P. (1890.09.02 – 1891.08.17) * Hermann Joseph Schmitz (1893.08.25 – 1899.08.21) * Marie-Félix Choulet (蘇裴理斯), M.E.P. (1901.02.21 – 1923.07.31) * Basil Tatach (1924.05.20 – 1948.05.13) * Alejandro Olalia (later Archbishop) (1949.05.14 – 1950.05.06) * José María García Lahiguera (later Archbishop) (1950.05.17 – 1964.07.07)

Demographics

Attractions

There are several columns in the center of the castle, but some researchers claim that the actual column with Caesar's famous words was stolen, and the thieves have not been found yet. There are many other historical buildings and artifacts from

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Lycians Lycians () is the name of various peoples who lived, at different times, in Lycia, a geopolitical area in Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). History The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the ''Solymoi'' (or ''Solymi''), also kn ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns,

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Romans 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

in Zile. Among these, Zile castle, the Roman theatre, Ulu Camii and Çifte Hamam are the most famous. Kaya Mezarı, Kusyuva, Çay Pınarı, Imam Melikiddin Tomb, Seyh Musa Fakih Tomb, Elbaşı Mosque, Mast Tumulus, Namlı Hisar Kale, Anzavur Caves, Hacı Boz Bridge, Koç Taşı and Manastry in Kuruçay are also popular. The remains of the Roman theatre are visible to the east of the citadel hill, together with some rock tombs. Two Ottoman baths, the Yeni Hamam and the Çifte Hamam, date from the 16th and 17th century and the Hasan Aga Madrasah was built in 1497. The Boyaci Hasan Aga Mosque with its stalactiform prayer niche dates from 1479 and the Seyh Musa Fakih Tomb is also very old with 1106 or 1305 given as possible construction dates. Mast Tumulus, an ancient site located in Zile, is of special importance since it hosts the palace of a Hittitite ruler, earthenware utensils and Hittite hieroglyphics.

Geography

Zile covers an area of within its

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...

and has an elevation of .

Turhal Turhal is a district in Tokat Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Turhal District.Çekerek Çekerek is a town in Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Çekerek District.

Artova Artova is a town in Tokat Province in the Black Sea region 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. ...

Kadışehri Kadışehri is a town in Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kadışehri District Kadışehri District is a district of the Yozgat Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Kadışehri. ...

, and

are all towns located near Zile. The city is mostly surrounded by a fertile plain called ''Zile Ovası'' crossed by the

Yeşil River Yeşil (green in Turkish) may refer to: * Mahmut Yıldırım Mahmut Yıldırım (born 3 May 1953) is a Turkish counter-guerrilla and spy of Zaza origin. Yildirim, who identified himself to the public as Ahmet Demir but was called by the code-n ...

and can produce harvests twice a year. South of the city, however, are the Deveci Mountains (1,892 m / 6,207 ft high), Güvercin Çalı, and Hüseyin Gazi Hill. Zile once had a great forest covering most of the plain, but during the 1950s, the city lost much of its forest because of the excessive breeding of

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...

and the use of wood for heating purposes. However, there is a recent study to plan reforestation in the area. The city's water supply is provided by the Çekerek River, flowing from Zile to

Çekerek Çekerek is a town in Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Çekerek District.

and the Büyükaköz dam which was constructed on the Çatak river. The

Süreyyabey Dam Süreyyabey Dam is a dam on the Çekerek River in Yozgat Province, Turkey. The development was backed by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works. See also *List of dams and reservoirs in Turkey ReferencesDSI directory, State Hydraulic Works (Turkey) ...

and hydroelectric plant is under construction and will provide electricity and water for irrigation in the area.

Climate

Zile's weather is influenced by the narrow coast land of the Black Sea Region to the north, bringing humidity, and by the Central Anatolia inland plateau to the south, with its low rainfall and cold winters. Summers are hot and dry, while the winters are snowy and cold. The weather is hot throughout the months of June to September, as the average summer maximum is 28

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

(83

°F The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he original ...

), and the average minimum is 13 °C (56 °F), and is cold throughout the months of December to February as the average winter maximum is 7 °C (45 °F), and the average minimum is as low as -3 °C (27 °F). Northerly winds are responsible for humid climate from April to June. It is usually rainy during the months of April, May, June, November and December.

Economy

Historically,

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

was mined in Zile. Agriculture, trade, and livestock are the main economic activities of Zile. Zile is a center of cereal production such that she is one of the biggest exporters of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

and

common vetch ''Vicia sativa'', known as the common vetch, garden vetch, tare or simply vetch, is a nitrogen-fixing leguminous plant in the family Fabaceae. It is now naturalised throughout the world occurring on every continent, except Antarctica and the Arc ...

in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

region. Zile is famous for its

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

leblebi Leblebi (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a snack made from roasted chickpeas, common and popular in Iran, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria and sometimes seasoned with salt, hot spices, dried clove Cloves are the aromat ...

, cherry, and fruit gardens. The annual Cherry Festival is very famous in Tokat,

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.pekmez Pekmez (; ) is a molasses-like syrup obtained after condensing juices of fruit must, especially grape, by boiling it with a coagulant agent like wood ashes or ground carob seeds. It is used as a syrup or mixed with tahini for breakfast. ...

- a syrup-like liquid mixed from different kinds of fruit-juices. The students of Zile Dinçerler School of Tourism and Hotel Management of Gaziosmanpasha University play an important role in city's economic activities. The industry of Zile is developing rapidly. Since 1996, there has been a major movement from agriculture to industry.

Anatolian Tigers In the context of the Turkish economy, Anatolian Tigers () are a number of cities in Turkey which have displayed impressive growth records since the 1980s, as well as a defined breed of entrepreneurs rising in prominence and who can often be trac ...

constructed 55 factories whose major products include textiles, sugar beet, furniture, tomato sauce,

, marble and shoes. The municipality and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

have had a joint project to increase the tourism potential of Zile and to transform the city into a tourism destination. The project is funded by the EU and includes advertisements as well as education of local people about tourism.

Education

The city boasts 100%

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

in the city centre and over 90% in surrounding villages, with

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and Imam Hatip schools, and a roughly 1:27

student-teacher ratio A student teacher or prac teacher (''practise teacher'') is a college, university, or Postgraduate education, graduate student who is teaching under the supervision of a certified teacher in order to qualify for a degree in education. Student tea ...

. There are 126 primary and secondary schools with 14,373 students and 540 teachers. Zile Dinçerler Lisesi, Dinçerler 75th Year Anatolian High School and Anadolu Öğretmen Lisesi provide high school education in Zile. There are also four professional high schools providing technical education. Gaziosmanpasa University's Zile Dinçerler School of Tourism and Hotel Management is also located in Zile. By the end of 2008, with the donations of Serafettin and Cemalettin Dincer, schooling will gain totally new educational premises including a modern and luxurious hotel building which will be also used for practical education by students.

Media and social life

In Zile, theatres and concerts are conducted at a movie theatre whose capacity is 850 people. Along with national TV channels and radios, there is one local TV channel and two radio stations that keep Zile people up to date on current events. Zile has three local daily newspapers (''Özhaber'', ''Zile Postası'', ''Gündem'') and daily newspapers sell around 4000 copies per day.

Gallery

File:Zile 2004 1866.jpg, Zile 2004 1866 File:Zile 2004 1863.jpg, Zile 2004 1863 File:Zile 2004 1854.jpg, Zile 2004 1854 File:Zile 153.jpg, Zile 153 File:Zile 2004 1858.jpg, Zile 2004 1858 File:Zile 2004 1869.jpg, Zile 2004 1869 File:Zile 2004 1878.jpg, Zile 2004 1878 File:Zile 2004 1868.jpg, Zile 2004 1868 File:Zile 2004 1847.jpg, Zile 2004 1847 File:Zile 2004 1845.jpg, Zile 2004 1845 File:Zile 158.jpg, Zile 158 File:Zile 027.jpg, Zile 027 File:Zile 157.jpg, Zile 157 File:Zile 155.jpg, Zile 155 File:Zile 030.jpg, Zile 030 File:Zile 023.jpg, Zile 023 File:Zile 025.jpg, Zile 025

Transportation

Zile is linked by highways with the cities of

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

and

and is near the Sivas-Samsun railway.

References

Sources and external links

*
GCatholic - (former &) titular bishopric
; Bibliography- ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 442 * Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, vol. I, coll. 541-542 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 6, p. 450 ; Further reading * {{Authority control Populated places in Tokat Province Catholic titular sees in Asia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Pontus (region) Roman sites in Turkey Zile District District municipalities in Turkey