Soltaniyeh

Soltaniyeh سلطانيه
city
Dome of Soltaniyeh
Soltaniyeh
Coordinates: 36°26′05″N 48°47′51″E / 36.43472°N 48.79750°E / 36.43472; 48.79750Coordinates: 36°26′05″N 48°47′51″E / 36.43472°N 48.79750°E / 36.43472; 48.79750
Country	Iran
Province	Zanjan
County	Abhar
Bakhsh	Soltaniyeh
Elevation	1,784 m (5,853 ft)
Population (2012)
• Total	5,968
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Soltaniyeh (Persian: سلطانيه‎‎, also Romanized as Solţānīyeh, Solţāneyyeh, Sultaniye, and Sultānīyeh; also known as Sa‘īdīyeh;^[1] Latin: Soltania/ Sultania) is the capital city of Soltaniyeh District of Abhar County, Zanjan Province, Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran.

At the 2006 census, its population was 5,684, in 1,649 families.^[2]

History

Soltaniyeh, located some 240 kilometres (150 mi) to the north-west of Tehran, was built as the capital of Mongol Ilkhanid rulers of Iran in the 14th century. Its name which refers to the Islamic ruler title sultan translates loosely as "the Regal".

In 2005, UNESCO listed Soltaniyeh as one of the World Heritage Sites. The road from Zanjan to Soltaniyeh extends until it reaches to the Katale khor cave.

William Dalrymple notes that Öljaitü intended Soltaniyeh to be "the largest and most magnificent city in the world" but that it "died with him" and is now "a deserted, crumbling spread of ruins."^[3]

Ecclesiastical history

Established on 1 April 1318 as Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of Soltania (Latin and Curiate Italian) or Soltaniyeh.

It 1329 the Latin Diocese of Samarcanda became its suffragan for the Chagatai Khanate, at least until Tamerlane (founder of the Uzbek Timurids) swept its see Samarkand.

Suppressed as residential see around 1450.

Residential archbishops

(all Roman Rite and European missionary members of the same Latin Order)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Soltania

• Francesco da Perugia, Dominican Order O.P. (1318.08.01 – ?)
• Guillaume Adam, O.P. (1322.10.06 – 1324.10.26); previously Archbishop of Smirna (Smyrna) (Asian Turkey, now Izmir) (1318 – 1322.10.06); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Bar (Montenegro) (1324.10.26 – death 1341)
• Giovanni di Cori, O.P. (1329.08.09 – ?)
• Guglielmo, O.P. (? – ?)
• Giovanni di Piacenza, O.P. (1349.01.09 – ?)
• Tommaso, O.P. (1368.02.28 – ?)
• Domenico Manfredi, O.P. (1388.08.18 – ?)
• Giovanni di Gallofonte, O.P. (1398.08.26 – ?)
• Nicolò Roberti (1401.01.24 – ?); previously Bishop of Ferrara (Italy) (1393.02.04 – 1401.01.24)
• Thomas Abaraner, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?)
• Giovanni, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?)

Titular see

Transformed at its suppression as residential see in 1450 into a Latin Titular archbishopric, which was itself suppressed in 1926.

It has had the following incumbents, of both the fitting archiepiscopal (intermediary) and the (lower) episcopal ranks :

• Titular Bishop Francisco Salazar, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1548.09.12 – ?)
• Titular Bishop: Bishop-elect Bernardino de Carmona (1551.07.10 – ?)
• Titular Archbishop Alberto Bitter (1922.10.09 – 1926.12.19)

See also

• Dome of Soltaniyeh
• Ab Anbar
• List of Catholic dioceses in Central Asia
• Yakhchal
• Traditional water sources of Persian antiquity

Sources and external links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soltaniyeh.

• Official website
• GCatholic, with residential and titular incumbent bio links
• Video of Soltaniyeh
• Farnoush Tehrāni, The Crown of All Domes, in Persian, Jadid Online, 31 December 2009,.^[4]
  • Audio slideshow:^[5] (6 min 45 sec).

http://sultaniyya.org/

References