Euchaita (Εὐχάϊτα) was aByzantine city and diocese inHelenopontus, theArmeniac Theme (northernAsia Minor), and an important stop on theAncyra-AmaseaRoman road.[1]
Euchaita gained prominence during thelater Roman andByzantine periods as a significantcultic center for theveneration of Anatolian saintTheodore Tiron. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, following theearly Muslim conquests, it transitioned into a military outpost. However, with the Turkish conquest of Anatolia in the late 11th century, Euchaita's importance diminished.[2] InOttoman times, Euchaita was mostly depopulated, but there was a remnant village known as Avhat or Avkat.
Today the Turkish villageBeyözü, in theAnatolian province ofÇorum (in the subprovince ofMecitözü,Turkey), partly lies on the ruins.
Euchaita, in theRoman province ofHelenopontus (civil diocese ofPontus) is known mostly due to its role as a major pilgrimage site dedicated to SaintTheodore of Amasea (martyred c. 306).
Its episcopal see was originally asuffragan (no incumbents known) of the Metropolitan of the provincial capital Amasea, in the sway ofpatriarchate of Constantinople. In the 5th century, the town was a favourite site of exile for disgraced senior churchmen. In 515, the unfortified town was sacked by aHunnic raid, after which it was rebuilt, fortified and raised to the status of a city byAnastasius I Dicorus (r. 491–518).[3]
It became anautocephalous archbishopric in the early 7th century,[3] as attested by theNotitia Episcopatuum edition of pseudo-Epiphanius, from the reign of Byzantine emperorHeraclius I (circa 640).The city was burned down by theSassanid Persians in 615, and attacked by the Arabs under second Umayyad CaliphMu'awiya I in 640. A second Arab attack captured the city in 663; the raiders plundered the city, destroyed the church of St. Theodore, and wintered there, while the population fled to fortified refuges in the surrounding countryside.[3] The city was rebuilt and soon recovered. The Arabs scored a victory in its vicinity in 810, taking captive the localstrategos of theArmeniac Theme and his entire treasury.
A hagiography of the 8th or 9th century claims that the relics of Saint Theodore were at this time still located at Amaseia, but that the Christians of Euchaita with increasing persistence were asking for their transfer to their own city, claiming that this had been the wish of the saint himself when he was alive.[4]Euchaita became a fullmetropolitan see underLeo VI the Wise (r. 886–912)[3] and PatriarchPhotius of Constantinople, ranking 51st among the Metropolitanates of the Patriarchate, with four suffragan sees :Gazala,Koutziagra,Sibiktos andBariané, but apparently lost them all no later than the 10th century.
In 972, EmperorJohn I Tzimiskes renamed the neighbouringEuchaneia, whose exact relation or identity with Euchaita is unclear,[5] into Theodoropolis.[3] The town is recorded as having a vibrant fair during the festival of St. Theodore in the middle of the 11th century.After theBattle of Manzikert (1071), Euchaita was at the frontier of theTurkish conquest, and there are no more records about its fate.[3] The settlement was most likely depopulated, and from the 12th century, it was within theSeljuk Sultanate.
By the 16th century, underOttoman rule, the settlement ofAvkat was largely abandoned but there was a dervish lodge orzawiya dedicated to a sufi named Elwan Çelebi on what were presumably the remnants of the church of St. Theodore.[6] When German travellerHans Dernschwam visited the site in the 1550s, he noted that the dervishes cultivated a remnant of the worship of St. Theodore as the dragon slayer, under the name ofKhidr-Ilya. Dernschwam was shown by the derivshes the remains of the dragon slain by "Khidr", as well as a hoofprint and a spring made by his horse, and the tomb of Khidr's groom and his sister's son. Dernschwam also records the presence of the remnants of a church and other fragments of the ancient city.[7] Themosque of Elwan Çelebi is now situated some 5 km west of Beyözü (40°33′59″N35°09′52″E / 40.5665°N 35.1645°E /40.5665; 35.1645, at theÇorum-Tokat road,D.180).
In 1327, the sees of Euchaita,Sebasteia andIconion were unified with the see ofCaesarea.From the 17th century, titular metropolitans were consecrated inWallachia.
The archbishopric was nominally restored in 1922 as Latintitular archbishopric of Eucaita. In 1925 it was demoted astitular bishopric of Eucaita, but before another incumbent could take possession it was in 1929 again promoted as titular archbishopric, now under the namesEuchaitæ,Eucaita orEuchaitenus.There have been only three titular archbishops, between 1922 and 1972:[17]
From 2006 to 2012, there were archaeological excavations led by John Haldon ofPrinceton University. TheAvkat Archaeological Project was a collaboration between Princeton University,Trent University, theCollege of Charleston, theUniversity of Birmingham,Ankara University and theMiddle East Technical University (Ankara). The excavation report was published in 2018.[18]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)40°34′13″N35°16′01″E / 40.5704°N 35.2669°E /40.5704; 35.2669
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
