Zile, anciently known as Zela ( el, Ζῆλα) (still as Latin Catholic
titular see), is a city and a district of
Tokat Province, Turkey. Zile lies to the south of
Amasya and the west of
Tokat in north-central Turkey. The city has a long history, including as former
bishopric and the site of the
Battle of Zela
The Battle of Zela was a battle fought in 47 BC between Julius Caesar and Pharnaces II of the Kingdom of Pontus. The battle took place near Zela (modern Zile), which is now a small hilltop town in the Tokat province of northern Turkey. The batt ...
, which prompted the phrase "
Veni, vidi, vici."
[ Wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Zela] Today the city is a center for agricultural marketing and
tourism.
History
Historically, Zile has been known as Zela ( el, Ζῆλα), Zelitis ( el, Ζηλίτις), Zelid, Anzila, Gırgırıye (Karkariye), Zīleh, Zilleli, Zeyli, and Silas ( el, Σίλας). Zile castle, the only solid castle in
Anatolia, was built by Roman commander
Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The castle contains the Amanos temple, and is called ''silla'', meaning "respected". In Semra Meral's ''Her Yönüyle Zile'', she claims that the name "Zile" came from "Zela", stemming from "Silla".
Ancient City
According to recent
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
research, there is evidence of human habitation since
Neolithic times in Zile. In his book ''
Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...
'',
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
claimed that Zela was founded by
Semiramis, a legendary
Assyrian queen. By 548 BC, Zela and greater
Anatolia were under the rule of
Achaemenid Persian Empire. Persian rule saw construction of a portion of the
Royal Road in the area, and of temples to the
Persian gods Anahita, Vohu-Mano, and Anadates in the city itself.
Darius I of Persia
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...
divided the largest Anatolian state of that time,
Cappadocia, into two, with Zela remaining in
Pontus Cappadocia, the northern region.
Classical Era
After roughly 200 years of Persian rule,
Alexander the Great captured Zela from
Darius III of Persia as a result of the
Battle of the Granicus (334 BC). Following Alexander's death in 323 BC and the collapse of his empire, Zela passed to the
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's dominion. It controlled the area for 200 years, but by 100 BC, its power in the region started to collapse. As a consequence, King
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...
attacked and took Zela in 88 BC, and ordered the killing of all Romans living there. This led the nearby Cappadocians to call on
Rome for help. The Roman army, under Sulla's command, fought and defeated Mithradates in the
First Mithridatic War. Mithridates attacked Zela again in 67 BC with the help of his Armenian ally
Tigranes the Great, king of
Greater Armenia, initiating the
Third Mithridatic War, which ended with victory by the Romans under
Pompeius Magnus and the suicide of Mithridates in 63 BC. In Pompey's settlement of Pontus, Zela received a civic constitution and a sizable territory thus transforming from its previous status as a temple domain to a city.
In 49 BC, civil war broke out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. While the Romans were distracted by this,
Pharnaces II of Pontus, son of Mithridates, decided to seize the opportunity and take revenge for his father. His attack on Zela was halted by
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
in the bloody
Battle of Zela
The Battle of Zela was a battle fought in 47 BC between Julius Caesar and Pharnaces II of the Kingdom of Pontus. The battle took place near Zela (modern Zile), which is now a small hilltop town in the Tokat province of northern Turkey. The batt ...
(47 BC).
While Caesar's army suffered great losses, Pharnaces's was completely destroyed in five hours. After this victory, Caesar sent his famous message to the
Roman Senate: "
Veni Vidi Vici", meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered".
Caesar's words were written on a cylindrical marble column and placed in the city castle.
According to Strabo, Zela had the temple of Anaïtis ( el, ἱερὸν τῆς Ἀναΐτιδος), who was also revered by the
Armenians.
Middle Ages
In 241, the
Sassanid king
Shapur I, attacked the Romans and defeated
Roman Emperor Valerian
Valerian (; la, Publius Licinius Valerianus; c. 199 – 260 or 264) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. He persecuted Christians and was later taken captive by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the ...
, thus capturing Zela. From 241 to 1071, Zile was conquered many times by the
Byzantines and Sasanids. Under Byzantine rule, Zile became a (now Titular Latin) bishopric of Asia Minor,
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of Amasya in the former Roman province of Helenopontus (see below).
Zela was conquered by
Danishmend Melik Ahmet Gazi in 1071 and, since, has belonged to the
Turks, who suppressed the
bishopric.
In 1174,
Anatolian Seljuks captured the city from Danishmends under Izzettin II Kılıçaslan. After the collapse of the Anatolian
Seljuks, the
Eretna Emirate was founded in Zile's district in 1335. The
Ottomans defeated Ertans in 1397 under the rule of
Sultan Bayezid I
Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman ...
, integrating Zile into their empire.
Modern History
During the course of the
Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 (also known as
Turkish War of Independence), some supporters of
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
(strict
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
law) seized power in Zile and attacked the barracks of
new Turkish Republic's army. The soldiers were forced to retreat to the city castle and consequently asked for help from the
Çorum battalion. The
battalion reached the city in four days and upon their arrival they started bombing the city so as to force the rebels to surrender. As a result of heavy bombardment, Zile suffered a great fire which led to the loss of two thirds of its
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
and most of its forest cover. Finally, the army managed to put down the rebellion and regained control. Since then, Zile has been a rural district in Tokat province of the
Republic of 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 ...
.
Ecclesiastical history
Zela, in the
Roman province of
Helenopontus (
civil diocese of Pontus), was a
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Amasea
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 associ ...
, in the sway of the
Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The following Suffragan Bishops of Zela are historically documented :
* Heraclius took part in the
Council of Ancyra
The Synod of Ancyra was an ecclesiastical council, or synod, convened in Ancyra (modern-day Ankara, the capital of Turkey), the seat of the Roman administration for the province of Galatia, in 314. The season was soon after Easter; the year ma ...
in 314 and in the ecumenical
First Council of Nicaea in 325
**’’ Bitinicusus, an Arian (heretic), participated in the synod of Gangra in 340 and intervened at the Arian
'conciliabolum' at Philippopolis in 343/344
* Atticus attended the
Council of Chalcedon in 451
* Hyperechius signed in 458 the letter of the episcopate of Helenopontus to
Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian after
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
mobs lynched Patriarch
Proterius of Alexandria
* Georgius was at the ‘Robber’
Council in Trullo in 692
* Constantinus took part in the
Second Council of Nicaea in 787
* Paulus attended the
Council of Constantinople in 869-870 and the
Council of Constantinople of 879-880 which rehabilitated Patriarch
Photius of Constantinople.
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored no later than the 18th century as Latin
Titular bishopric of Zela (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Zeliten(us)
It has been vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents:
* Francisco San Andrés,
Hieronymites (O.S.H.) (1758.10.02 – death 1766.01.20) as
Auxiliary Bishop of
Salamanca (Spain) (1758.10.02 – 1766.01.20)
* Giovanni Devoti (1804.03.26 – 1804.05.29); previously Bishop of
Anagni (Italy) (1789.03.30 – 1804.03.26); later ‘promoted’ on emeritate as
Titular Archbishop of
Carthage (1804.05.29 – died 1820.09.18)
* Anton Kavčič,
Jesuit Order (S.J.) (1805.09.23 – 1807.07.15) as Auxiliary Bishop of
Wien (Vienna, Austria) (1805.09.23 – 1807.07.15); later Bishop of
Ljubljana (Slovenia, now Metropolitan) (1807.07.15 – died 1814.03.17)
* Jean-Louis Florens (羅),
M.E.P.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
(1807.09.08 – death 1814.12.14) as
Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of
Szechwan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
四川 (China) (1807.09.08 – 1814.12.14)
* Giuseppe Pezzella,
Augustinians
Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
(O.E.S.A.) (1828.06.23 – 1830?) as
Coadjutor Bishop
A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...
of
Calvi (Italy) (1828.06.23 – 1830?) and Coadjutor Bishop of
Teano
Teano ( Teanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's ...
(Italy) (1828.06.23 – 1830?); next succeeded both as Bishop of Calvi (1830? – 1833.01.03) and as Bishop of Teano (1830? – died 1833.01.03)
* Peter Paul Lefevère (1841.07.23 – death 1869.03.04) (Belgian) as Coadjutor Bishop of
Detroit (USA) (1841.07.23 – 1869.03.04)
* Manuel María León González y Sánchez (1876.01.28 – 1877.06.22)
* Pierre-Noël-Joseph Foucard (富于道),
M.E.P.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
(1878.08.13 – 1889.03.31)
* Father Laurent Blettery,
M.E.P.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
(1890.09.02 – 1891.08.17)
* Hermann Joseph Schmitz (1893.08.25 – 1899.08.21)
* Marie-Félix Choulet (蘇裴理斯),
M.E.P.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
(1901.02.21 – 1923.07.31)
* Basil Tatach (1924.05.20 – 1948.05.13)
* Alejandro Olalia (later Archbishop) (1949.05.14 – 1950.05.06)
* José María García Lahiguera (later Archbishop) (1950.05.17 – 1964.07.07)
Demographics
Zile had a population of 110,139 as of the 2004 census; 52,640 in the city centre and the remaining population in 116 nearby villages. However, the population of Zile has been decreasing as a result of
emigration due to the high unemployment rate. According to 2007 census, Zile has a population of 68,937; just 36,154 in the city centre and remaining 32,783 live in the surrounding villages.
Attractions
There are several columns in the center of the castle, but some researchers claim that the actual column with Caesar's famous words was stolen, and the thieves have not been found yet.
[ There are many other historical buildings and artifacts from Hittites, Lycians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and Turks in Zile. Among these, Zile castle, the Roman theatre, Ulu Camii and Çifte Hamam are the most famous. Kaya Mezarı, Kusyuva, Çay Pınarı, Imam Melikiddin Tomb, Seyh Musa Fakih Tomb, Elbaşı Mosque, Mast Tumulus, Namlı Hisar Kale, Anzavur Caves, Hacı Boz Bridge, Koç Taşı and Manastry in Kuruçay are also popular.
The remains of the Roman theatre are visible to the east of the citadel hill, together with some rock tombs. Two Ottoman baths, the Yeni Hamam and the Çifte Hamam, date from the 16th and 17th century and the Hasan Aga Madrasah was built in 1497. The Boyaci Hasan Aga Mosque with its stalactiform prayer niche dates from 1479 and the Seyh Musa Fakih Tomb is also very old with 1106 or 1305 given as possible construction dates.
Mast Tumulus, an ancient site located in Zile, is of special importance since it hosts the palace of a Hittitite ruler, earthenware utensils and ]Hittite hieroglyphics
Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous logographic script native to central Anatolia, consisting of some 500 signs. They were once commonly known as Hittite hieroglyphs, but the language they encode proved to be Luwian, not Hittite, and the ter ...
.
Geography
Zile covers an area of within its city limits
City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...
and has an elevation of .Turhal
Turhal is a town and a district of Tokat Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is 48 km in the west of Tokat Province. Turhal is situated on a fertile plain fragmented by the Yeşil Irmak river. It has an elevation of approximately 5 ...
, Çekerek, Artova, Kadışehri, and Amasya are all towns located near Zile. The city is mostly surrounded by a fertile plain called ''Zile Ovası'' crossed by the Yeşil River Yeşil (green in turkish) may refer to:
* Mahmut Yıldırım (born 1953), Turkish contract killer also known as "Yeşil"
* Samed Yeşil (born 1994), German-Turkish footballer
* Yeşilırmak River Yeşilırmak (literally "green river") is a Turkish ...
and can produce harvests twice a year. South of the city, however, are the Deveci Mountains (1,892 m / 6,207 ft high), Güvercin Çalı, and Hüseyin Gazi Hill. Zile once had a great forest covering most of the plain, but during the 1950s, the city lost much of its forest because of the excessive breeding of goats and the use of wood for heating purposes.
Climate
Zile's weather is influenced by the narrow coast land of the Black Sea Region
The Black Sea Region ( tr, Karadeniz Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Samsun. Other big cities are Trabzon, Ordu, Tokat, Giresun, Rize, Amasya and Sinop.
It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the ...
to the north, bringing humidity, and by the Central Anatolia inland plateau to the south, with its low rainfall and cold winters. Summers are hot and dry, while the winters are snowy and cold. The weather is hot throughout the months of June to September, as the average summer maximum is 28 °C (83 °F
The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...
), and the average minimum is 13 °C (56 °F), and is cold throughout the months of December to February as the average winter maximum is 7 °C (45 °F), and the average minimum is as low as -3 °C (27 °F). Northerly winds are responsible for humid climate from April to June. It is usually rainy during the months of April, May, June, November and December.
Economy
Historically, coal was mined in Zile.
Education
The city boasts 100% literacy in the city centre and over 90% in surrounding villages, with public and Imam Hatip schools, and a roughly 1:27 student-teacher ratio.
Media and social life
In Zile, theatres and concerts are conducted at a movie theatre whose capacity is 850 people. Along with national TV channels and radios, there is one local TV channel and two radio stations that keep Zile people up to date on current events. Zile has three local daily newspapers (''Özhaber'', ''Zile Postası'', ''Gündem'') and daily newspapers sell around 4000 copies per day.
Gallery
File:Zile 2004 1866.jpg, Zile 2004 1866
File:Zile 2004 1863.jpg, Zile 2004 1863
File:Zile 2004 1854.jpg, Zile 2004 1854
File:Zile 153.jpg, Zile 153
File:Zile 2004 1858.jpg, Zile 2004 1858
File:Zile 2004 1869.jpg, Zile 2004 1869
File:Zile 2004 1878.jpg, Zile 2004 1878
File:Zile 2004 1868.jpg, Zile 2004 1868
File:Zile 2004 1847.jpg, Zile 2004 1847
File:Zile 2004 1845.jpg, Zile 2004 1845
File:Zile 158.jpg, Zile 158
File:Zile 027.jpg, Zile 027
File:Zile 157.jpg, Zile 157
File:Zile 155.jpg, Zile 155
File:Zile 030.jpg, Zile 030
File:Zile 023.jpg, Zile 023
File:Zile 025.jpg, Zile 025
Transportation
Zile is linked by highways with the cities of Tokat and Amasya and is near the Sivas-Samsun railway.
References
Sources and external links
*
GCatholic - (former &) titular bishopric
; Bibliography- ecclesiastical history
* Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 442
* Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, vol. I, coll. 541-542
* Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 6, p. 450
; Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Populated places in Tokat Province
Catholic titular sees in Asia
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Pontus (region)
Roman sites in Turkey
Districts of Tokat Province