Motella,Metello(u)polis, orPulcherianopolis was a city in the Roman province ofPhrygia Pacatiana, inAsia Minor, probably on the site of the modernYeşiloba (Medele).[1]
Inscriptions make known aPhrygian town named Motella, which name is connected with the Phrygian feminine proper name Motalis and the Cilician masculine Motales, as also with Mutalli, or Mutallu, the name of an ancientHittite king of NorthernCommagene. One of these inscriptions was found in the village ofMedele, which evidently preserves the ancient name.
Motella seems to be the town whichHierocles[2] calls Pulcherianopolis.
Motella may be supposed to have been raised to the rank of a bishopric by theEmpress Pulcheria (414-53). Shortly before 553, perhaps in 535, theEmperor Justinian raisedHierapolis tometropolitan rank, and attached to it a certain number ofsuffragan sees previously dependent on Laodicea. Among these theNotitiae Episcopatuum mention, from the ninth to the twelfth or thirteenth century, this same Motella, which they call Metellopolis, and even once Metallopolis.
An inscription informs us of Bishop Michael, in 556; and another, of Bishop Cyriacus, perhaps in 667. At theCouncil of Nicaea in 787, the see was represented by Eudoxius, a priest and monk. Bishop Michael attended the two councils ofConstantinople in869 and879.
The bishopric of Metellopolis is included in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[3] In 1660Ignace Cotolendi (1630-62) was appointed titular bishop of Metellopolis (Medele) with jurisdiction over three provinces of northeastern China, Tartary, and Korea.[4]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Metellopolis".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
38°15′04″N29°18′26″E / 38.2511215°N 29.307254°E /38.2511215; 29.307254
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