Faustinopolis ( grc, Φαυστινόπολις), also Colonia Faustinopolis and Halala, was an ancient city in the south of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

, about 20 km south of

Tyana Tyana ( grc, Τύανα), earlier known as Tuwana (Hieroglyphic Luwian: ; Akkadian: ) and Tuwanuwa ( Hittite: ) was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was ...

. It was named after the empress Faustina, the wife of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

, who died there in a village, which her husband, by establishing a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

in it, raised to the rank of a town under the name of Faustinopolis. Hierocles assigns the place to

Cappadocia Secunda Cappadocia was a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia (modern central-eastern Turkey), with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the Emperor Tiberius (ruled 14–37 AD), following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Arch ...

, and it is mentioned also in the Antonine and Jerusalem Itineraries. The town was close to the defiles of the

Cilician Gates The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m. The Cilician Gates hav ...

, and was likely situated at modern-day Toraman,

Niğde Province Niğde Province ( tr, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the southern part of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Population is 341,412 (2013 est) of which 141,360 live in the city of Niğde. The population was 348,081 in 2000 and 305,861 in 1990. It ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Following the

Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...

and the subsequent Arab raids, the site was abandoned for the nearby fortress of

Loulon Loulon ( el, Λοῦλον), in Arabic known as Lu'lu'a ( ar, لولوة), was a fortress near the modern village of Hasangazi in Turkey. The site was of strategic importance as it controlled the northern exit of the Cilician Gates. In the 8th– ...

. Faustinopolis is 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 archbish ...

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 ...

.Catholic Hierarchy
/ref>

References

Cappadocia (Roman province) Catholic titular sees in Asia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Roman towns and cities in Turkey Coloniae (Roman) Former populated places in Turkey Geography of Niğde Province History of Niğde Province Populated places in ancient Cappadocia {{Niğde-geo-stub