Castabala (city)

Castabala (Greek: Καστάβαλα), also known as Hieropolis and Hierapolis (Greek: Ίεράπολις) was a city in Cilicia (modern southern Turkey), near the Ceyhan River (ancient Pyramus).

Acropolis of the city

The Turkish town of Kırmıtlı, in the Osmaniye district of Osmaniye Province, sits atop the ruins of the ancient city.

The ruins were first identified from inscriptions in March 1890 by the British explorer J. Theodore Bent.[1]

Early history

Castabala was one of the cities of the Late Hitite period. The name Castabala was probably of Luwian origin. The city was captured by Achaemenid Empire and became part of the Cilician satrapy and then by Alexander the Great. During the Hellenistic age it was called Hieropolis. During the Roman Empire the city was a part of Capadocia Province. But after the Cilician pirates were defeated, Tarkondimotos, a pardoned pirate leader, became the governor of the region.[2]

Roman Period

The city was important enough in the Roman province of Cilicia Secunda to become a suffragan of its capital Anazarbus's Metropolitan Archbishopric, but would fade.[3]

Titular see

The Diocese of Castabala is a titular bishopric of the Catholic Church[4] reflecting its active status in Late Antiquity.

It has had the following incumbents, of the lowest (episcopal) rank :

  • John Milner 1803.03.06 – 1826.04.19)
  • John Murdoch (1833.06.04 – 1865.12.15)
  • Louis Aloysius Lootens (1868.03.03 – 1898.01.12)Belgian, as Apostolic Vicar of Idaho and Montana (USA) (1868.03.03 – 1876.02.27) and as Auxiliary Bishop of Vancouver Island (Canada) (1876.02.27 – 1898.01.12)
  • Rocco Tornatore, Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (1889.11.18 – 1908)
  • John William Shaw (1910.02.07 – 1911.03.11) as Coadjutor Bishop of San Antonio (Texas, USA) (1910.02.07 – 1911.03.11), later succeeding as Bishop of San Antonio (1911.03.11 – 1918.01.25), later Metropolitan Archbishop of New Orleans (USA) (1918.01.25 – 1934.11.02)
  • Juan José Marcos Zapata (1913.05.30 – 1951.05.13)
  • Doroteo Fernández y Fernández (1956.03.06 – 1971.07.22)
  • Patrick Ebosele Ekpu (1971.06.05 – 1973.07.05) (later Archbishop)
  • Felipe Tejeda García, Missionaries of the Holy Spirit (M.Sp.S.) (2000.01.29 – ... ):, Auxiliary Bishop emeritus of México (Mexico)

See also

References
  1. ‘Recent Discoveries in Eastern Cilicia’. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1890, Vol. 11, 231-5.
  2. Osmaniye governor's page (in Turkish)
  3. Edwards, Robert W., "Kastabala" (2016). The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-8028-9017-7.
  4. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 860


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