Anazarbus

Coordinates: 37°15′50″N 35°54′20″E / 37.26389°N 35.90556°E / 37.26389; 35.90556
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Anazarbus
Anavarza (in Turkish)
The triumphal arch of Anazarbus was later converted to the city's South Gate.
Anazarbus is located in Turkey
Anazarbus
Shown within Turkey
Alternative nameCaesarea, Justinopolis
LocationAdana Province, Turkey
RegionCilicia
Coordinates37°15′50″N 35°54′20″E / 37.26389°N 35.90556°E / 37.26389; 35.90556
TypeSettlement
History
Abandoned1374
General view of the site
Anazarbus West Gate

Anazarbus, also known as Justinopolis (

Cilician Armenia
.

Location

It was situated in

Pyramus river) and near its tributary the Sempas Su
.

A lofty isolated ridge formed its

Eumenes of Cardia, cannot be accepted in the face of Strabo's express location of Cyinda in western Cilicia.[1]

History

According to the

, made it his capital early in the 12th century, it was known as Anazarva.

Digital reconstruction of the main gate of the city

Its great natural strength and situation, not far from the mouth of the Sis pass, and near the great road which

Seljuk Turks.[9] In late 1097 or early 1098 it was captured by the armies of the First Crusade and after the conquest of Antioch it was incorporated into Bohemond of Taranto's Principality of Antioch
. The site briefly exchanged hands between the
Yilankale are to the south, and the fortresses of Amouda and Sarvandikar are to the east. The Mamluk
Empire of Egypt finally destroyed the city in 1374.

Remains

Anavarza's upper city
Anavarza's upper city
In the foreground: Some remains of the burial church of the Armenian kings, 12th century
Anavarza's castle

The Crusaders are probably responsible for the construction of an impressive donjon atop the center of the outcrop. Most of the remaining fortifications, including the curtain walls, massive horseshoe-shaped towers, undercrofts, cisterns, and free-standing structures date from the Armenian periods of occupation, which began with the arrival of the

Rubenid Baron T‛oros I, c. 1111.[10] Within the fortress are two Armenian chapels and the magnificent (but severely damaged) three-aisle church built by T‛oros I to celebrate his conquests.[11][12]
The church was once surrounded by a continuous, well-executed dedicatory inscription in Armenian.

The present wall of the lower city is of late construction. It encloses a mass of ruins conspicuous in which are a fine

aqueducts to their sources.[1]
A necropolis on the escarpment to the south of the curtain wall can also be seen complete with signs of illegal modern excavations.

A modest Turkish farming village (Dilekkaya) lies to the southwest of the ancient city. A small outdoor museum with some of the artifacts collected in the area can be viewed for a small fee. Also nearby are some beautiful mosaics discovered in a farmers field.

A visit in December 2002 showed that the three aqueducts mentioned above have been nearly completely destroyed. Only small, isolated sections are left standing with the largest portion lying in a pile of rubble that stretches the length of where the aqueducts once stood. A powerful earthquake that struck the area in 1945 is thought to be responsible for the destruction.

In 2013, excavations uncovered the first known colonnaded double-lane road of the ancient world, 34 meters wide and 2700 meters long, also uncovered the ruins of a church and a bathhouse.[13]

In 2017, archaeologists discovered a limestone statue of the goddess Hygieia and the god Eros. The statue is thought to date to the third or fourth century B.C.[13]

Ecclesiastical history

Anazarbus was the capital and so also from 553 (the date of the

Cilicia Secunda.[14][15]

In the 4th century, one of the bishops of Anazarbus was Athanasius, a "consistent expounder of the theology of Arius." His theological opponent, Athanasius of Alexandria, in De Synodis 17, 1 refers to Anazarbus as Ναζαρβῶν.[16]

Maximin of Anazarbus attended the Council of Chalcedon.[17][18]

A 6th century

metropolitan see, though without suffragans.[19][20][21][22]

Latin Catholic titular see

The

Latin Catholic church, Anazarbus.[23]

It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, generally of the highest (Metropolitan) rank, with an episcopal (lowest rank) exception:

Armenian Catholic titular see

In the 19th century, an

titular bishopric
of Anazarbus (of the Armenians) (Anazarbus degli Armeni in Curiate Italian) was established.

It was a suppressed in 1933,[24] having had a single incumbent, of the intermediary (archiepiscopal) rank :

  • Titular Archbishop
    Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia
    (Lebanon) ([1931.10.17] 1933.03.13 – 1937.10.26)

Notable locals

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHogarth, David George (1911). "Anazarbus". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 944.
  2. ^ Suda, s.v. Κύϊνδα.
  3. ^ Suda Encyclopedia, alpha 1866
  4. ^ Tobin, Jenner (2001). "The Tarcondimotid Dynasty in Smooth Cilicia". Actes de la Table Ronde d'Istanbul, 2-5 novembre 1999: 381–387.
  5. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v. Ἀνάζαρβος.
  6. ^ Amm. Marc. 14.8.
  7. ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 5.27.
  8. ^ Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge. 1 January 1996. p. 28.
  9. JSTOR 27172436
    .
  10. .
  11. ^ Robert W. Edwards, "Ecclesiastical Architecture in the Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia: First Report, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 36, 1982, pp.156–61, 168, pls.1–7.
  12. ^ Robert W. Edwards, "Ecclesiastical Architecture in the Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia: Second Report, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 37, 1983, pp.128–34, pls.2, 18–29, 36–46.
  13. ^ a b Statue of Hygieia and Eros uncovered in southern Turkey
  14. ISBN 978-0-8028-9016-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  15. ^ Oriens christianus: in quatuor patriarchatus digestus : quo exhibentur ... by Michel Le Quien ((O.P.)), Oriens christianus (ex Typographia Regia, 1740) p40.
  16. ^ R. P. C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988), 41-3, quote, 43.
  17. ^ The Cannons of the two hundred Holy and Blessed Fathers who met at Ephesus.
  18. ^ Charles Joseph Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church: from the Original Documents, to the close of the Second Council of Nicaea A.D. 787 (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1 February 2007) page 151.
  19. ^ Michel Le Quien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 885–888
  20. ^ Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Vol. 2, pp. 40–41
  21. ^ Siméon Vailhé, v. Anazarbe, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. II, Paris 1914, coll. 1504–1506
  22. ^ Echos d'Orient 1907, p. 95.
  23. ).
  24. ^ Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Volume 8, Page 99, and Page 328.
  25. ^ Domina of Anazarbus.
  26. ^ St. Theodula of Anazarbus in Cilicia.

General references

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Anazarbus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

External links