Ermenek is a town in

Karaman Province Karaman Province () is a province of south-central Turkey. Its area is 8,678 km2, and its population is 260,838 (2022). According to the 2000 census, the population was 243,210. The population density is 30 people/km. The traffic code is 7 ...

in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

region of

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 ...

. It is the seat of

Ermenek District Ermenek District is a Districts of Turkey, district of the Karaman Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Ermenek.

.İlçe Belediyesi
, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 11,629 (2022). As ancient Germanicopolis (in Isauria; has namesakes), a former bishopric, it 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 archbi ...

Names

The town was historically known as Germanicopolis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: ), Germanig and possibly Clibanus; which later mutated to Ermenek.

History

Germanicopolis was an ancient town in the

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 ...

Isauria Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...

. The city took its name from

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

, grandnephew and grandson-in-law of first Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

, as several others. The

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

sustained a great defeat at the hands of the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

near the city in 1098. It passed to the Turkish dynasty of the

Karamanids The Karamanids ( or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman (), was a Turkish people, Turkish Anatolian beyliks, Anatolian beylik (principality) of Salur tribe origin, descended from Oghuz Turks, centered in South-Centra ...

and became a centre of the Afşar Turks in 1228. During the Karamanid period, several of Ermenek's historical

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s were constructed, notably : Akca Mosque (1300), Ermenek Grand Mosque (1302), Sipas Mosque (1306) and Meydan mosque (1436). It was later incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, becoming part of the

Karaman Eyalet Karaman Eyalet () was one of the subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was . In 1468, the formerly independent principality of Karaman was annexed by the Ottomans; Mehmed II appointed his son Mustafa as gov ...

, where it was the second most important town after Karaman itself.

Ecclesiastical history

No later than the 5th century, Germanicopolis became a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

bishopric of the Archdiocese of Seleucia in Isauria, in the sway of the

Patriarchate of Antioch The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...

. Four of its bishops are known during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

government : * Tyrannus, participant at the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) 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, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

in 451 * Bisulas in the sixth century * Eustathius, participant at the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...

in 797 * Basil(eus), participant at the Council of Constantinople in 879-880 which reinstated that Byzantine capital's Patriarch

Photius Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

878

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

, ''Or. christ.'', II, 1027)

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored no later than 1717 as Latin

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 Germanicopolis (Latin) / Germanicopoli (Curiate Italian) / Germanicopolitan(us) (Latin adjective). It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Gottfried Langwerth von Simmern (1717.05.10 – death 1741.06.19) as

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church with its episcopal see based in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) (1717.05.10 – 1741.06.19) * Giacomo Filippo Consoli (1741.11.27 – 1743.12.02) (Italian), as Apostolic Administrator of Diocese of Acquapendente (1741.12.09 – 1743.12.02); later Bishop of Amelia (Italy) (1743.12.02 – death 1770.07) * Michael Ignatius Frivaisz (1744.02.03 – death 1748.10.07) no actual prelature * Archbishop James Butler (1773.03.15 – 1774.05.17) as

Coadjutor Archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

(

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) (1773.03.15 – 1774.05.17), next succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Cashel (1774.05.17 – death 1791.07.29) *

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

Lorenzo D’Antoni (1815.12.18 – ?) (Italian), no actual prelature * Johann Michael von Sailer (1822.09.27 – 1829.10.23) as

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

(Germany) (1822.09.27 – 1829.10.23), next succeeding as Bishop of Regensburg (1829.10.23 – 1832.05.20) * Manuel José Pardio Lizama (1840.04.27 – death 1861.05) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

(Mexico) (1840.04.27 – 1861.05) * Joseph Larocque (1867.01.15 – death 1887.11.18) as emeritate; previously Titular Bishop of Cydonia (1852.07.06 – 1860.06.22) as Coadjutor Bishop of

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(Quebec,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) (1852.07.06 – 1860.06.22), Bishop of

Saint-Hyacinthe Saint-Hyacinthe ( , ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie regi ...

(Canada) (1860.06.22 – 1866.02.04) * Joseph-Auguste Chevalier,

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic Missionary order, missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular clergy, secular priests and Laity, lay persons dedicated to missionary wo ...

(M.E.P.) (born France) (1873.11.11 – death 1880.03.25) as

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

(British

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) (1873.11.11 – 1880.03.25) * André-Albert Blais (1889.12.28 – 1891.02.06) as Coadjutor Bishop of Saint-Germain de Rimouski (Canada) (1889.12.28 – 1891.02.06), next succeeded as Bishop of Saint-Germain de Rimouski (1891.02.06 – death 1919.01.23) * John Conmy (1892.05.25 – 1893.04.23) as Coadjutor Bishop of

Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is the townland of Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a num ...

(

) (1892.05.25 – 1893.04.23), next succeeded as Bishop of Killala (1893.04.23 – death 1911.08.26) * Augustin Dontenwill,

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

(O.M.I.) (1897.04.19 – 1899.06.01) as Coadjutor Bishop of

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

(BC, Canada) (1897.04.19 – 1899.06.01), next succeeding as Bishop of New Westminster (1899.06.01 – 1908.09.19), Metropolitan Archbishop of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

(BC, Canada) (1908.09.19 – 1908.09.21),

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

(Oblates) (1908.09.20 – 1931.11.30) and

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Ptolemais in Phoenicia Ptolemais was an ancient port city on the Canaanite coast in the ancient region of Phoenicia, in the location of the present-day city of Acre, Israel. It was also called Ptolemais in Canaan and Ake-Ptolemais (or ''Akko'', ''Ake'', or ''Akre'' in Ca ...

(1909.01.19 – death 1931.11.30) * Tobias Mullen (1899.08.10 – death 1900.04.22) as emeritate, formerly Bishop of Erie (USA) (1868.03.03 – 1899.08.10) * Joseph Maria Koudelka (1907.11.29 – 1913.08.06) first as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Cleveland (USA) (1907.11.29 – 1911.09.04), then as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Milwaukee The Archdiocese of Milwaukee () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in southeast Wisconsin in the United States. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is the Metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropolitan s ...

(USA) (1911.09.04 – 1913.08.06); later Bishop of

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

(USA) (1913.08.06 – death 1921.06.24) * Thomas Joseph Shahan (1914.07.24 – death 1932.03.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore () is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in northern and western Maryland in the United States. It is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Baltimore. The Archd ...

(USA) (1914.07.24 – 1932.03.09) * Francesco Joosten,

Scheutists The CICM Missionaries, officially known as the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary () and often abbreviated as C.I.C.M, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men established in 1862 by the Belgian Cathol ...

(C.I.C.M.) (born Netherlands) (1932.06.14 – 1946.04.11) as last

of Datongfu 大同府 (at Datong,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) (1932.06.17 – 1946.04.11); next promoted first Bishop of

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...

大同 (China) (1946.04.11 – 1947.11.20), emeritate as Titular Bishop of Sagalassus (1947.11.20 – death 1948.05.02) * Aurelian Bilgeri,

Benedictine Order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

(O.S.B.) (born Germany) (1947.06.12 – 1951.01.11) as last

Eshowe Eshowe is the oldest town of European settlement in KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, historically also known as Eziqwaqweni, Ekowe or kwaMondi. Eshowe's name is said to be inspired by the sound of wind blowing through the more than 4 km2 of the indig ...

(

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) (1947.06.12 – 1951.01.11), next promoted first Bishop of Eshowe (1951.01.11 – death 1973.07.24) * Jan Klooster,

Lazarists The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, ...

(C.M.) (1953.02.19 – 1961.01.03) as last Apostolic Vicar of Surabaia (Java,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) (1953.02.19 – 1961.01.03), promoted first Bishop of Surabaya (Indonesia) (1961.01.03 – retired 1982), died 1990 * Lionello Berti, O.M.I. (norn Italy) (1962.06.18 – death 1968.02.24) first as Auxiliary Bishop of Apostolic Vicariate of Vientiane (

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

) (1962.06.18 – 1963.03.01), then as

of Luang Prabang (Laos) (1963.03.01 – 1968.02.24).

Notable natives

Lütfi Elvan Lütfi Elvan (born 12 March 1962) is a Turkish politician. Elvan has served as the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey from November 2020 to December 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication f ...

(born 1962), mining engineer, politician and government minister

References

Gallery

File:Ermenek 4991.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 4994.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5008.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5012.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5065.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5066.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5088.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5124.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5148.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek 5156.jpg, Ermenek Town view File:Ermenek Ulu Cami 5105.jpg, Ermenek Ulu Cami File:Ermenek Ulu Cami 5116.jpg, Ermenek Ulu Cami General view File:Ermenek Ulu Cami 5107.jpg, Ermenek Ulu Cami Mihrab File:Ermenek Ulu Cami 5109.jpg, Ermenek Ulu Cami Detail of minber File:Ermenek Ulu Cami 5110.jpg, Ermenek Ulu Cami top of minber File:Ermenek Ulu Cami 5119.jpg, Ermenek Ulu Cami File:Ermenek Unknown mosque 4998.jpg, Ermenek Unknown mosque File:Ermenek Unknown mosque 5000.jpg, Ermenek Unknown mosque

Sources and external links

District municipality's official website

A web portal about Ermenek

;Bibliography * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 438 * Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 1027-1028 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 5, p. 209; vol. 6, pp. 224–225 * * *
Ermenek in 120 pictures
{{Ermenek District Isauria Roman towns and cities in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Populated places in Ermenek District District municipalities in Turkey