Drizipara (Greek: Δριζιπάρα), also known asDruzipara,Drousipara,Drusipara;[1] nowBüyükkarıştıran/Büyükkarıştıran'[2] inLüleburgaz district, was a city and a residentialepiscopal see in theRoman province ofEuropa in thecivil diocese ofThrace. It is now atitular see of theCatholic Church.[3]
The Greeks called the cityDrizipera,Drousipara/Drusipara,Drizeparos andDrixiparos.[4][5][6] By the 9th century, it was calledMesene.[7]
The city was situated, as mentioned byPtolemy on the part of theVia Egnatia leading fromAdrianople toByzantium. It contained abasilica dedicated to aSaint Alexander who sufferedmartyrdom there underMaximian.[8] In 591, theKhagan of theAvars captured the city. He burned thechurch and destroyed therelics of the martyr.[9] in looting theirsilver casing.
SultanMurad I conquered the city in the 14th century. The city was described in 1432Bertrandon of Broquière and in 1453 the wife of Grand DukeLoukas Notaras died there,[10]
In the 16th century SultanBajazet II rebuilt a new city,Büyük Karistiran, a few kilometers to the west, which quickly supplanted Drizipara which dwindled.
The site is today occupied by a village called Misinli close to the town ofBüyükkarıştıran.[11]
Drusipara, a titular see inThracia Prima. Nothing is known of theancient history of this town, which, was situated on the route fromAdrianople toByzantium.[12]It may be that it was founded in the 4th century as the centre of abishopric, which by the 7th century was an autocephalous archdiocese. At first it was asuffragan ofHeraclia[13] but in the eighth and ninth centuries became an independent archbishopric, which was only suppressed during theBulgarian invasions.[14]
TheNotitia Episcopatuum ofByzantine EmperiorLeo VI the Wise (886-912) ranks it 20th among the 49 sees listed; and it appears as 23rd of 51 in that ofJohn I Tzimiskes (925–976), 14th of 44 in that ofMichael VIII Palaiologos (1223–1282), 12th of 26 in that ofAndronicus III (1328–1341). There is no mention of it in a later list, probably of the 16th century, possibly because of having fallen victim to the Turkish conquests. In all theseNotitiae Episcopatuum the name of the see appears as Mesene (Misini in modern Greek pronunciation).
The names of only two of the diocesan bishops are recorded: Theodore, who attended theSecond Council of Constantinople in 553AD, and Cyriacus, who attended theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787.
From the late 14th century the title has been given toLatin bishops, who initially were not considered to have archiepiscopal rank, but now are. The see was referred to at first as Missine. This became Mysine in the 16th century. The name Drusipara came into use in the 18th century,[15] but was changed to Drizipara in 1930.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Drusipara".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.