Gnatia
 View of Gnatia and acropolis behind | |
  Shown within Italy | |
| Location | Fasano, Province of Brindisi, Apulia, Italy |
|---|---|
| Type | Settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Website | www |
Gnatia, Egnatia or Ignatia (
It is located near the modern Fasano, in Salento, the southern part of Puglia (Apulia) region in southern Italy.
History
The first settlement known in the place dates from the
Under the Romans, it was of importance for its trade, lying as it did on the sea, at the point where the Via Traiana joined the coast road, 50 kilometers (31 mi) southeast of Barium (Bari).[1] It was famed for its solar and fire cult, which was described by Pliny[n 2] and ridiculed by Horace.[n 5]
The city, an early bishopric (see below), was abandoned in the Middle Ages due to the spread of
It is last explicitly mentioned by a Ravenna author about 700, and Benedictine historian
Ruins
The ancient city walls were almost entirely destroyed over a century ago to provide building material. The walls have been described as being 8 yards (7.3 m) thick and 16 courses high. The place is famous for the discoveries made in its tombs. A considerable collection of antiquities from Gnatia is preserved at Fasano, though the best are in the museum at Bari.[1]
Ecclesiastical history
Tradition claims it was evangelized by the Prince of Apostles Saint Peter himself.
An episcopal see named Egnazia Appula was established probably before 400, a
A
Apparently the see was restored or the title retained, as three later bishops of Egnazia Appula were recorded, but other documents suggest these may be spurious; even if not, the see was (possibly again) suppressed later :
- Basilius, allegedly attending the Lateran Council of 649, which condemned as heresy Monothelitism
- Eucherius, allegedly elected in 701 and consecrated in 702 by the Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Benevento-Siponto
- Selperius, allegedly consecrated in 720 the church of San Giovanni de portu aspero in Diocese of Monopoli, which may however have been founded as late as the ninth century.
The city and bishopric were in decay since the sixth century
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored only in June 2004, as a Latin
So far it has had one incumbent, not of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank but of Archiepiscopal rank:[8]
- Titular Archbishop Nicola Girasoli (Italian) (2006.01.24 – ...), as papal diplomat : Apostolic Delegateto Antilles (2011.10.29 – ...), Apostolic Nuncio to Barbados (2011.12.21 – ...), Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago (2011.12.21 – ...)
See also
Notes
- ^ "In Egnatia, a town of Salentinum, there is a sacred stone, upon which, when wood is placed, flame immediately bursts forth."[3]
- ^ —in Sallentino oppido Gnatia inposito ligno in saxum quoddam ibi sacrum protinus flammam existere—[2][n 1]
- ^ "I.e., it had no pure water".[5]
- ^ "And then Fasano, built beneath the ban of fountain nymphs,[n 3] gave food for laughter and for jest, by its mad wish to make us think that frankincense without the aid of flame will melt upon the threshold of some fane. Let any superstitious Jew think so, but I could not, for I know now from Epicurus that the gods pass their time free from care, and that it is no threatening rage of theirs that sends down from the heavens' lofty dome whatever natural phenomenon we see."[5]
- ^ —Dehinc Gnatia lymphis
Iratis extructa dedit risusque jocosque,
Dum flammâ sine thura liquescere limine Sacro
Persuadere cupit: credat Judaeus apella
Non ego—[4][n 4]
Sources
Citations
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gnatia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 148.
- ^ Pliny, Nat. Hist., Bk II, Ch 111.
- ^ Bostock & al. (1855).
- ^ Horace, Sat., Bk V, Ch. 50.
- ^ a b Millington (1869), p. 41.
- ^ http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t3383.htm GCatholic
- ^ Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Stillwell, Richard, MacDonald, William L., McAlister, Marian Holland, Ed. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites GNATHIA (Egnatia) Apulia, Italy.
- ^ http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t3383.htm GCatholic
Bibliography
- Horace (Q. Horatius Flaccus) (1869), A Rhythmical Translation of the First Book of the Satires of Horace, translated from the Latin by R.M. Millington for Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer.
- Pliny the Elder (G. Plinius Secundus) (1855), The Natural History of Pliny, London: translated from the Latin by John Bostock & Henry Thomas Riley for H.G. Bohn.
- Ecclesiastical history
- Ferdinando Ughelli - Nicolò Coleti, Italia sacra, vol. X, 1722, coll. 74-75
- Francesco Lanzoni, Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604), vol. I, Faenza 1927, p. 302
External links
