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| Location | Fethiye, Muğla Province, Turkey |
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| Coordinates | 36°37′6″N29°7′4″E / 36.61833°N 29.11778°E /36.61833; 29.11778 |
| History | |
| Founded | Pre-10th millennium BCE |
Telmessos orTelmessus (Hittite:𒆳𒌷𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭,romanized: Kuwalapašša; Lycian:𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆,romanized: Telebehi;Ancient Greek:Τελμησσός), alsoTelmissus (Ancient Greek:Τελμισσός),[1] laterAnastasiopolis (Ancient Greek:Αναστασιούπολις), thenMakri orMacre (Greek:Μάκρη), was the largest city inLycia, near theCarian border, and is sometimes confused withTelmessos in Caria. It was called Telebehi in theLycian language. The well-protected harbor of Telmessos is separated from theGulf of Telmessos by an island.
The name of the modern town on the site isFethiye.
The Hittite name wasKuwalapašša, while the Lycian name wasTelebehi.[2]
In the 13th century BC, the Annals ofHattusili III mentions the city as a part of Lukka (Lycia) and conquered by the Hittites. Another Hittite document mentions the cities of Kuwalapašša andDalawa sent aid to Hittites during the war against Iyalanda.[3]
Telmessos was a flourishing city in the west of Lycia, on theGulf of Fethiye. It was famed for its school of diviners, consulted among others by the Lydian kingCroesus, prior to declaring war againstCyrus.
Telmessos was a member of theDelian League in the 5th century BC. It was taken byAlexander the Great in 334 BC, when he came to the town after the siege ofHalicarnassus.
Telmessos was renamed Anastasiopolis in the 8th century AD, apparently in honour of EmperorAnastasios II, but this name did not persist. The city came to be calledMakri, after the name of the island at the entrance to the harbor. This name is attested for the first time in 879 AD.
However, an inscription of the 7th century found in Gibraltar and bearing the ethnonym "Makriotes" (from Makri) may indicate an earlier existence of nameMakri.[4]
Its ruins are located atFethiye.
Le Quien (Oriens christianus, I, 971) mentions two bishops of Telmessus: Hilary (370) and Zenodotus, at theCouncil of Chalcedon (451). The latter is called "Bishop of the Metropolis of Telmessaei and the Isle of Macra". TheNotitiae Episcopatuum mentions Telmessus among the suffragans ofMyra until the 10th century, when it is no longer called Macra; in 1316 mention is made of the See of "Macra and Lybysium".Lybysium or Levissi, about four miles south-west of Makri, had in the early 20th century 3000 inhabitants, nearly all Greeks.
The see is included, under the name Telmissus, in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[5] The historically important former Bishop of Montreal,Ignace Bourget's first epsicopal title was as bishop of the Catholictitular see of Telmessos.[6] In theEastern Orthodox Church, Telmessos is also a titular episcopal see of theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The current holder of the see,Archbishop Job, is primate of thePatriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, based in Paris.[7]
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Telmessus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Telmessus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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