Soltaniyeh () is a city in the Central District of Soltaniyeh County, Zanjan province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

History

Soltaniyeh, located some to the north-west of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, was built as the capital of Mongol Ilkhanid rulers of

in the 14th century. Its name which refers to the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic ruler title

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

translates loosely as "the Regal". Soltaniyeh was visited by Ruy González de Clavijo, who reported that the city was a hub of silk exportation. In 2005,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

listed Soltaniyeh as one of the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s. The road from Zanjan to Soltaniyeh extends until it reaches to the Katale khor cave. William Dalrymple notes that

Öljaitü Öljaitü, also known as Mohammad-e Khodabandeh (24 March 1282 – 16 December 1316), was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316 in Tabriz, Iran. His name 'Öjaitü' means 'blessed' in the Mongolian language and his last name 'Khod ...

intended Soltaniyeh to be "the largest and most magnificent city in the world" but that it "died with him" and is now "a deserted, crumbling spread of ruins."

Demographics

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 5,864 in 1,649 households, when it was in Soltaniyeh District of Abhar County. The following census in 2011 counted 7,116 people in 2,013 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 7,638 people in 2,319 households, by which time the district had been elevated to the status of Soltaniyeh County. Soltaniyeh was transferred to the new Central District as the county's capital.

Ecclesiastical history

The city was established as a

Catholic 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 ...

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

on 1 April 1318 for the Archdiocese of Soltania. In 1329, the Latin Diocese of Samarcanda became its

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 ...

for the

Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, also known as the Chagatai Ulus, was a Mongol and later Turkification, Turkicized khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan, second son of Genghis Khan, and his descendants and successors. At its height in the l ...

, at least until

Tamerlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timuri ...

(founder of the Timurids) swept its see

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

. The archdiocese was suppressed as residential see around 1450.

Residential archbishops

;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Soltania'' * Francesco da Perugia,

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

O.P. (1318.08.01 – ?) * Guillaume Adam, O.P. (1322.10.06 – 1324.10.26); previously Archbishop of Smirna (Smyrna) (Asian Turkey, now İzmir) (1318 – 1322.10.06); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Bar (Montenegro) (1324.10.26 – death 1341) * Giovanni di Cori, O.P. (1329.08.09 – ?) * Guglielmo, O.P. (? – ?) * Giovanni di Piacenza, O.P. (1349.01.09 – ?) * Tommaso, O.P. (1368.02.28 – ?) * Domenico Manfredi, O.P. (1388.08.18 – ?) * Giovanni di Gallofonte, O.P. (1398.08.26 – ?) * Nicolò Roberti (1401.01.24 – ?); previously Bishop of

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

(Italy) (1393.02.04 – 1401.01.24) * Thomas Abaraner, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?) * Giovanni, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?)

Titular see

Transformed at its suppression as residential see in 1450 into a Latin Titular archbishopric, which was itself suppressed in 1926: * Titular Bishop Francisco Salazar,

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the t ...

(O.F.M.) (1548.09.12 – ?) * Titular Bishop:

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 ...

Bernardino de Carmona (1551.07.10 – ?) * Titular Archbishop Alberto Bitter (1922.10.09 – 1926.12.19)

Notes

Sources and external links

Official website

Video of Soltaniyeh
* Farnoush Tehrāni, ''The Crown of All Domes'', in Persian, Jadid Online, 31 December 2009,.
• Audio slideshow:
jadidonline.com (6 min 45 sec). http://sultaniyya.org/

Notes

References

{{Soltaniyeh County, state=collapsed Cities in Zanjan province Populated places in Soltaniyeh County World Heritage Sites in Iran

History

Demographics

Population

Ecclesiastical history

Residential archbishops

Titular see

See also

Notes

Sources and external links

Further reading

Notes

References