Epiphania or Epiphaneia ( grc, Ἐπιφάνεια) was a city in

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 ...

Secunda (Cilicia Trachea), in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. The city was originally called Oeniandos or Oiniandos, and was located in the area of the northern tip of the Gulf of Iskenderun on the route from Missis to Antioch. In the 2nd century BC the city was renamed Epiphania, in honour of

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his dea ...

King of Syria The title King of Syria appeared in the second century BC in referring to the Seleucid kings who ruled the entirety of the region of Syria. It was also used to refer to Aramean kings in the Greek translations of the Old Testament, mainly indicatin ...

from 175 BC to 164 BC. The city is mentioned in the writings of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

stayed there briefly during his exile. In 66 BC the Roman general

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

led a campaign against the Mediterranean pirates. After the surrender of the pirates, they were dispersed and many were settled at Epiphania.

Bishopric

According to Gibbon,

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

was born here, in a fuller's sho

in the late 4th century. Saint Amphion was the earliest known

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Epiphania in 325, as a suffragan of the Bishop of Anazarbus. He attended the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...

in 325, and later suffered under the persecutions of Diocletian. *Hesychius * Polychronius *Marinus *Nicetus *Basilius *Paul Today its ruins include the remains of walls, a temple, an acropolis, an aqueduct, and many houses, all built in basalt.
Titular bishopric of the Roman Church *Vartan Hunanian (28 Jan 1675 - 24 Oct 1681) http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2e34.html Epiphania in Syria (Titular See). Catholicheirachy.org * Franz Anton von Harrach zu Rorau (21 Nov 1701 - 7 Jan 1702, bishop of Vienna) *Giovanni Domenico Xiberras, (1 Oct 1727 - 5 Oct 1751) *Giovanni Battista Albrici Pellegrini (5 Oct 1751 - 21 Jul 1760,

Bishop of Como The Diocese of Como ( la, Dioecesis Comensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy. It was established in the Fourth Century. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of ...

) *Tommaso Vespoli (22 Nov 1762 - 1768 ) *Johann Nepomuk Augustin von Hornstein zu Hohenstoffen (16 May 1768 - 16 Dec 1805) *Pierre Feghali (23 Feb 1919 - 20 Jul 1944) *Pietro Sfair (11 Mar 1953 - 11 Mar 1960) *

Volodymyr Malanczuk Volodymyr Malanczuk, C.Ss.R. ( uk, Володимир Маланчук; 20 August 1904 – 29 September 1990) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarch in France. He was the first Apostolic Exarch of the new created Apostolic Exarchat of France as ...

, (22 Jul 1960 - 29 Sep 1990)

References

Catholic Encyclopedia
History of Hatay Province Former populated places in Cilicia Roman towns and cities in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Populated places in ancient Cilicia Catholic titular sees in Asia {{Hatay-geo-stub