Sozopolis in Pisidia (), which had been called Apollonia (Ἀπολλωνία) and Apollonias (Ἀπολλωνίας) during Seleucid times, was a town in the former

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Pisidia, and is not to be confused with the Thracian Sozopolis in Haemimonto in present-day

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Its site may correspond to present-day Uluborlu in Isparta Province,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Location

Sozopolis in Pisidia must have been situated in the border region of that province, since some ancient accounts place it in

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

. Whereas older source locate it "Souzon, south of Aglasoun"., modern scholars locate its site near Uluborlu, Isparta Province.

History

Stephanus of Byzantium says that Apollonia in Pisidia (Sozopolis) was originally called Mordiaeon or Mordiaïon (Μορδιάιον), and was celebrated for its quinces. The coins of Apollonia record

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

as the founder, and also the name of a stream that flowed; by it, the Hippopharas. Two Greek inscriptions of the Roman period copied by Francis Arundell give the full title of the town in that age, "the Boule and Demus of the Apolloniatae Lycii Thraces Coloni," by which he concluded that the city was founded by a Thracian colony established in

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

, but that conclusion is not universally accepted. Fragments of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti in Greek have been found in the area. Sozopolis in Pisidia was the birthplace of Severus of Antioch (born around 456). The icon of the Theotokos of Pisidian Sozopolis, celebrated by

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Christians on 3 September, originated in this city. As many other places in the region, the town venerated especially the Archangel

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and had a church dedicated to him.

Bishopric

Sozopolis sent its

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and possibly two other representatives to the Council of Constantinople in 381, and its bishop attended the Council of Ephesus in 431. The see is included in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

'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 archbi ...

s.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 975

References

Sources

{{coord, 38.072539, N, 30.470512, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/21535 Seleucid colonies in Anatolia Former populated places in Turkey Populated places in Pisidia Roman towns and cities in Turkey Titular sees in Asia