Colonia or Koloneia, also called Colonia in Armenia ( hy, Կոլոնիա) to distinguish it from other towns of the same name, was a town of ancient

Lesser Armenia Lesser Armenia ( hy, Փոքր Հայք, ''Pokr Hayk''; la, Armenia Minor, Greek: Mikre Armenia, Μικρή Αρμενία), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian–populated regions primarily to the west and n ...

, inhabited during

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Roman 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 ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and

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 Constantinopl ...

times. It became important enough to be the seat of a bishop, a suffragan in the Late

Roman Province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') 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 rule ...

of Armenia Prima, but faded like most in Asia Minor. No longer a residential bishopric, it remains, under the name Colonia in Armenia, 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 ...

. Its site is located near

Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in and the administrative seat for Şebinkarahisar District, Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. Name The 6th century Byzantine historian Procopius writes that the Roman general Pompey captu ...

in Asiatic Turkey.

Titular see

In the late 19th century, the diocese was nominally restored as an Armenian Catholic

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 Colonia. As such it has incumbent of the lowest (episcopal) rank: * Santiago Costamagna,

Salesians , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

(S.D.B.) (1895.03.18 – 1921.12.09) * Edward Francis Hoban (1921.11.21 – 1928.02.21) (later Archbishop) In 1929 it was promoted to

titular archbishopric 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 ...

, in 1933 renamed Colonia in Armenia, avoiding confusion with Colonia in Cappadocia or German Colonia (Cologne). As such it is vacant, having had the following incumbents of the intermediary (archiepiscopal) rank : * Vahan Kitchourian (1930.05.03 – 1931.06.08) * Pietro Kedigian (1936.07.24 – 1957.09.17) * Louis Batanian (1959.04.24 – 1962.09.04), as Auxiliary Eparch of

Cilicia of the Armenians The Patriarchate of Cilicia ( la, Patriarchatus Ciliciae Armenorum) is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the only patriarchate of the Armenian Catholic Church of the Catholic Church. The territorial jurisdiction of that Patriarch of Cilicia is th ...

(patriarchate, actually in Beirut, Lebanon) (1959.04.24 – 1962.09.04); previously Archeparch of Mardin of the Armenians (1933.08.05 – 1940.08.10), Titular Archbishop of Gabula (1940.08.10 – 1952.12.06), Archeparch of

Aleppo of the Armenians The Armenian Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo (or Halab or Beroea) (informally Aleppo if the Armenians) is a non-Metropolitan Archeparchy (Eastern Catholic Archdiocese) of the Armenian Catholic Church ''sui iuris'' (Armenian Rite in Armenian langua ...

(Syria) (1952.12.06 – 1959.04.24); later

Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians The Patriarchate of Cilicia ( la, Patriarchatus Ciliciae Armenorum) is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the only patriarchate of the Armenian Catholic Church of the Catholic Church. The territorial jurisdiction of that Patriarch of Cilicia is th ...

(Lebanon) ( 962.09.041962.11.15 – 1976.04.22) as Ignatius (Iknadios) Bédros XVI Batanian and President of Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church (1969 – 1976.04.22) * Paul Coussa (1969.08.26 – 1983.06.27)

References

Populated places in ancient Lesser Armenia Former populated places in Turkey Roman towns and cities in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire History of Giresun Province Catholic titular sees in Asia Eastern Catholic titular sees Coloniae (Roman) {{Giresun-geo-stub