Irenopolis or Eirenopolis or Eirenoupolis ( el, Εἰρηνούπολις) was an ancient

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 letter ...

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 ...

and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

city in northeastern

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

, not far from the Calycadnus river, also known briefly as Neronias ( el, Νερωνιάς) in honour of the Roman emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

. Irenopolis was also an

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

that is now included in the

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 ...

's list of

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 ...

Location

It is located on the site of Düziçi (formerly Haruniye) in the

province of Osmaniye Osmaniye Province ( tr, ) is a province in south-central Turkey. It was named Cebel-i Bereket () in the early republic until 1933, when it was incorporated into Adana Province. It was made a province again in 1996. It covers an area of 3,767&nb ...

. Located at the mouth of the Darb al-‛Ain pass, which led from al-Hārūnīya to Germanikeia, 104 km SE of

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

and 29.5 km NE of

Osmaniye Osmaniye () is a city on the eastern edge of the Çukurova plain in southern Turkey and the capital of Osmaniye province. Backed by the foothills of the Nur Mountains, Osmaniye lay on one of the old Silk Roads and was always a place of strategic ...

.E. Honigmann’s identification of Irenopolis with Bagdacik, the ”little Irenopolis” (in contrast to the “great Irenopolis”), 25 km NE of Osmaniye on the way to Hasanbeyli, is wrong because the area is called Buğdaycik The site is a little higher than Hierapolis Kastabala and Anazarbus, on the mountain preventing access to the Cilician plain from the east.

History

It was probably founded by

Antiochus IV of Commagene Gaius Julius Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( grc, Γάιος Ἰούλιος Ἀντίοχος ὀ Ἐπιφανής, before 17 AD – after 72 AD), the last king of Commagene, reigned between 38 and 72 as a client king to the Roman Empire. The epit ...

. The coins of the city show that

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...

and

Hygeia Hygieia is a goddess from Greek, as well as Roman, mythology (also referred to as: Hygiea or Hygeia; ; grc, Ὑγιεία or , la, Hygēa or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( el, ὑγίεια – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her ...

were worshiped in the city during pagan era. The cult of the two gods in the city may be connected with the natural spring of the area.

Theodoret of Cyrus Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus ( grc-gre, Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pi ...

confirms that the two names, Eirenopolis and Neronias, apparently refer to the same city. The name Neronias refereeing to honors bestowed on the city by

. The city is mentioned by Hierocles Nicephore and Calliste. The city came under Muslim rule following the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...

in 1071.

Bishopric

Christianity first came to the area in the 1st century the strategic location through the mountain passes, and the work of

St Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

made it an early candidate for missionaries. The city was the seat of a

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 ...

times. ;Known residential bishops *The Bishop Narcissus participated in the councils of Ankara and

Neocaesarea Niksar, historically known as Neocaesarea (Νεοκαισάρεια), is a city in Tokat Province, Turkey. It was settled by many empires, being once the capital city of the province. Niksar is known as " Çukurova of the North-Anatolia" due to i ...

in 314 AD and

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

in 325 AD the

Council of Antioch Beginning with three synods convened between 264 and 269 in the matter of Paul of Samosata, more than thirty councils were held in Antioch in ancient times. Most of these dealt with phases of the Arian and of the Christological controversies. For ...

as sometime claimed. *Indimus *Basilius *John Bishop of Irenapolis, Cilicia *Procopius *Paul. ;Titular Catholic bishops *Stefano Missir (1837–1863) *Luigi Ciurcia (1866–1881) *Luigi Matera (1882–1891) *

Anatol Wincenty Nowak Anatol is a masculine given name, derived from the Greek name Ἀνατόλιος ''Anatolius'', meaning "sunrise". The Russian version of the name is Anatoly (also transliterated as Anatoliy and Anatoli). The French version is Anatole. A rarer ...

(Novak) (1900–1924) * Alfred-Jules Mélisson (1925) * Alexandre-Philibert Poirier (1925–1927) *

Antoni Wladyslaw Szlagowski Antoni is a Catalan language, Catalan, Polish language, Polish, and Slovene language, Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton (given nam ...

(1928–1945) *

Allen James Babcock Allen James Babcock (June 17, 1898 – June 27, 1969) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the seventh Bishop of Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1954 to 1969. Biography Early life Babcock was born on June 17, 1898, in ...

(15 Feb 1947 – 1954) Dixon Evening Telegraph ( Dixon, Illinois)'' Friday, March 28,'' 1947, Page 11 * Oscar de Oliveira (1954–1959) *Georges Jacquot (20 May 1959 – 1961) *

Gaetano Michetti Gaetano Michetti (3 March 1922 – 13 December 2007) was the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pesaro in Italy. Appointed by Pope John XXIII in July 1975, he served until 3 January 1998. Biography Born in Corridonia in 1922, Michetti w ...

(1961–1975)

Coinage

The city

minted Minted is an online marketplace of premium design goods created by independent artists and designers. The company sources art and design from a community of more than 16,000 independent artists from around the world. Minted offers artists two bus ...

its own

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

age, from 92/93 AD, during Domitian's reign, were still minted until the reign of Gallienus (253–268 AD).

References

Sources