Arsuz (Arabic:أرسوز;Greek:Αρσούς) is a municipality anddistrict ofHatay Province,Turkey.[2] Its area is 462 km2,[3] and its population is 101,233 (2022).[1] It covers the southwestern part of the agglomeration ofİskenderun and the adjacent countryside and coast. In ancient times, it was known asRhosus (Ancient Greek:Ῥῶσός and Ῥωσός[4]) and was a formerbishopric andtitular see.
The town center of Arsuz is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) South of İskenderun and 118 kilometres (73 mi) fromAntakya (administrative center of Hatay Province). While the town center is relatively small near the end of a coastal road leading south from İskenderun, the entire coastal region between İskenderun and the town center is often simply referred as Arsuz. This area is predominantly small rural farms (generally located inland towards the mountains) and small groups of summer homes (generally located near the coastline).
Arsuz had many names throughout history, including: Rhosus, Rhossos, Rhossus, Rhopolis, Port Panel/Bonnel, Kabev and Arsous. The earliest documents about it date from theSeleucid Empire, of whoseAntioch became the capital.Malalas writes that the city was founded by Cilix, son of Agenor.[5][6]Harpalus set up a bronze statue ofGlycera at Rhosus.[7][8]Demetrius I of Macedon moved the statue of the goddessTyche fromAntigonia to Rhosus.[6]
Some Christians in Rhosus accepted as truth theDoceticGospel of Peter and for them in around AD 200Serapion of Antioch composed a treatise condemning the book.[15]Theodoret[16] relates the history of the hermit Theodosius of Antioch, founder of a monastery in the mountain near Rhosus, who was forced by the inroads of barbarians to retire to Antioch, where he died and was succeeded by his disciple Romanus, a native of Rhosus; these two religious are honoured by theGreek Orthodox Church on 5 and 9 February.[14]
Between 1918 and 1938 the town was underFrench Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon with the rest of Iskenderun district. In 1938, it became part of the independentHatay Republic, but in June 1939 the Hatay legislature voted to join Turkey. The district Arsuz was created in 2013 from part of the district ofİskenderun.[18][19]
German travelerMartin Hartmann listed 31 settlements in the Ottomannahiyah of Arsuz, 10 beingAlawite (381 houses), 8 beingTurkish (205 houses), and 12 without any information. The town of Arsuz (70 houses) was almost whollyGreek Christian with the exception of three Arab and one Turkish families.[21]
No later than the 15th century the diocese was nominally restored as Latintitular bishopric of Rhosus (Latin) / Rosea (until 1925) / Roso (Curiate Italian) / Rhosien(sis) (Latin adjective)
It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:[26]
Adrien Aernoult, O. Carm. (1517.09.18 – 1536.11) as Auxiliary Bishop ofDiocese of Cambrai (France) (1517.09.18 – 1536.11)
Miguel de Sanguesa,Cistercian Order (O. Cist.) (1537.04.20 – 1548) as Auxiliary Bishop ofTarazona (Spain) (1537.04.20 – 1548); later Bishop ofRisano (1537.04.29 – death 1548)
Johann Michael Wenzel von Spaur (1722.04.20 – death 1743.03.28) as Auxiliary Bishop ofDiocese of Trento (Italy) (1722.04.20 – 1743.03.28)
Claude-François-Ignace Franchet de Rans (1756.04.05 – death 1810.02.21) as Auxiliary Bishop ofArchdiocese of Besançon (France) (1756.04.05 – 1810.02.21)
János Bradács, O.S.B.M. (1768.01.27 – 1771.09.19) as last Vicar Apostolic ofMukacheve of the Ruthenians (Ukraine) (1768.01.27 – 1771.09.19), next promoted as first Bishop of Mukacheve of the Ruthenians (1771.09.19 – death 1772.07.04)
Bernard Angus MacEachern (1819.01.12 – 1829.08.11) as Auxiliary Bishop ofArchdiocese of Québec (Canada) (1819.01.12 – 1829.08.11), later first Bishop ofCharlottetown (Canada) (1829.08.11 – death 1835.04.23)
Antonio Burbano, O.E.S.A. (1837.05.19 – death 1839?) as Auxiliary Bishop ofPopayán (Colombia) (1837.05.19 – 1839?)
Joannes Bocheński (1850.05.20 – death 1857.01.25) as Auxiliary Bishop ofLviv of the Ukrainians (Byzantine Rite Metropolitanate, Ukraine) (1850.05.20 – 1857.01.25)
Pietro Saulini (1876.06.26 – death 1878.02.28) as Bishop ofAlatri (Italy) (1878.02.28 – 1887)
Emmanuel-Marie-Ange de Briey (1880.02.27 – 1884.08.30) asCoadjutor Bishop ofMeaux (France) ([1880.02.12] 1880.02.27 – 1884.08.30), next succeeded as Bishop of Meaux (1884.08.30 – death 1909.12.11)
Gennaro Portanova (1883.08.09 – 1885.02.01) as Coadjutor Bishop ofIschia (Italy) (1883.08.09 – 1885.02.01); later succeeding as Bishop of Ischia (1885.02.01 – 1888.03.16), Metropolitan Archbishop ofReggio Calabria (Italy) (1888.03.16 – 1908.04.25), createdCardinal-Priest ofS. Clemente (1899.06.22 – 1908.04.25)
Pétridès, Sophron (1912)."Rosea" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Bibliography
Pius Bonifacius Gams,Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig, 1931, p. 436
Michel Lequien,Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris, 1740, Tomo II, coll. 905-908
Konrad Eubel,Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1, p. 423 (note 4 on 'Rosensis'); vol. 2, pp. 224–225; vol. 3, p. 287; vol. 5, p. 334; vol. 6, p. 357
