Harpasa ( grc, Ἅρπασα) was a city and bishopric in

ancient Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined t ...

in Roman Asia Minor (Asian Turkey), which only remains a Latin Catholic

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 archbis ...

History

Little is known of the history of this town, situated on the east bank of the Harpasus, a tributary of the Mæander. It is mentioned by

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 ...

, by Stephanus Byzantius, by Hierocles, and by

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 ' ...

. According to Pliny, there was in the neighbourhood a rocking-stone which could be set in motion by a finger-touch, whereas the force of the whole body could not move it. The Ancient Armenian village that resided in present-day Turkey hosts the ruined castle of Arpaz, in the district of

Nazilli Nazilli is the largest town in Aydın Province in the Aegean region of western Turkey, east of the city of Aydın, on the road to Denizli. Etymology Nazilli is a Turkish name that has somehow evolved from the former (also Turkish) name of P ...

, nearly preserves the old name as does the Turkish form Harpaskale.

Bishopric

It was important enough in the late

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') 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 rule ...

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...

(civil

Diocese of Asia The Diocese of Asia ( la, Dioecesis Asiana, el, Διοίκησις Ἀσίας/Άσιανῆς) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of western Asia Minor and the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea. The diocese was ...

) to become a bishopric, a suffragan of the archbishopric of Stauropolis , in the sway of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

. Harpasa appears in the lists of the ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') are official documents that furnish Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the -mostly Lat ...

'' until the 12th or 13th century.

Lequien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. He studied at Plessis College, Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made his pr ...

's ''Oriens Christianus'' I, 907 mentions only four historically documented bishops : * Phinias, who took part in the

First Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperors, Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus deci ...

in 431 * Zoticus, at the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bi ...

451, ? represented by the presbyter Philotheos **'' Irenæus, who adhered the heresy

Monophysitism Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarn ...

* Leo, in Constantinople at the Council of Constantinople of 879–880 which rehabilitated Patriarch

Photius I of Constantinople Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored (twentieth century?) by 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 ...

Titular bishopric 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 Harpasa (Latin) / Arpassa (Curiate Italian) / Harpasen(us) (Latin).''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 839 It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, ''including an

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

: :BIOS TO ELABORATE * Joseph Pfluger (later Archbishop) (1911.11.30 – 1927.01.29) * Blessed Bishop Pavel Peter Gojdic,

Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat The Order of Saint Basil the Great ( uk, Чин Святого Василія Великого, translit=Chyn Sviatoho Vasyliia Velykoho; la, Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni, abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is ...

(O.S.B.M. – Byzantine Rite) (1927.03.07 – 1940.04.11) * Bishop Stanislav Zela (1940.10.11 – 1969.12.06)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic (former &) titular see
* Sophrone Pétridès, lemma 'Harpasa', in , vol. VII, New York 1910 ;Bibliography – ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 447 * Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, vol. I, coll. 907–910 * Vincenzo Ruggiari, ''A historical Addendum to the episcopal Lists of Caria'', in ''Revue des études byzantines'', 1996, Volume 54, No. 54, pp. 221–234 (nptably p. 233) {{Authority control Catholic titular sees in Asia Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses Populated places in ancient Caria Former populated places in Turkey Roman towns and cities in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire History of Aydın Province Nazilli District