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{{Short description|Ancient town in modern Turkey}}
'''Euchaita''' ({{lang|grc|Εὐχάϊτα}}) was a [[Byzantine]] city and diocese in [[Helenopontus]], the [[Armeniac Theme]] (northern [[Asia Minor]]), and an important stop on the [[Ancyra]]-[[Amasya|Amasea]] [[Roman roads|Roman road]].<ref>J.G.C. Anderson, ''A Journey of Exploration in Pontus'' (1903), p. 9.</ref>

Euchaita gained prominence during the [[Later Roman Empire|later Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] periods as a significant [[Cult (religious practice)|cultic]] center for the [[veneration]] of Anatolian saint [[Theodore Tiron]]. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, following the [[early Muslim conquests]], it transitioned into a military outpost. However, with the Turkish conquest of Anatolia in the late 11th century, Euchaita's importance diminished.<ref>{{Citation |last=Haldon |first=John |title=Euchaïta |date=2017-04-14 |work=The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia |pages=376–388 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190610463.003.0037 |access-date=2024-02-08 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190610463.003.0037 |last2=Elton |first2=Hugh |last3=Newhard |first3=James|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] times, Euchaita was mostly depopulated, but there was a remnant village known as Avhat or Avkat.

Today the Turkish village [[Beyözü, Mecitözü|Beyözü]], in the [[Anatolia]]n province of [[Çorum Province|Çorum]] (in the subprovince of [[Mecitözü]], [[Turkey]]), partly lies on the ruins.

== History ==
Euchaita, in the [[Roman province]] of [[Helenopontus]] ([[civil diocese]] of [[Diocese of Pontus|Pontus]]) is known mostly due to its role as a major pilgrimage site dedicated to Saint [[Theodore of Amasea]] (martyred c. 306).

Its episcopal see was originally a [[suffragan]] (no incumbents known) of the Metropolitan of the provincial capital Amasea, in the sway of  [[patriarchate 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 a [[Huns|Hunnic]] raid, after which it was rebuilt, fortified and raised to the status of a city by [[Anastasius I Dicorus]] (r. 491&ndash;518).{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=737}}

It became an [[autocephalous]] archbishopric in the early 7th century,{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=737}} as attested by the [[Notitia Episcopatuum]] edition of pseudo-Epiphanius, from the reign of Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius I]] (circa 640).
The city was burned down by the [[Sassanid Persia]]ns in 615, and attacked by the Arabs under second Umayyad Caliph [[Mu'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.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=737}} The city was rebuilt and soon recovered. The Arabs scored a victory in its vicinity in 810, taking captive the local ''[[strategos]]'' of the [[Armeniac 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.<ref>[http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04690 BHG 1765], ed. Delehaye (1909).</ref>
Euchaita became  a full [[metropolitan see]] under [[Leo VI the Wise]] (r. 886–912){{sfn|Foss|1991|p=737}} and Patriarch [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius of Constantinople]], ranking 51st among the Metropolitanates of the Patriarchate, with four suffragan sees : [[Gazala]], [[Koutziagra]], [[Sibiktos]] and [[Bariané]], but apparently lost them all no later than the 10th century.
 
In 972, Emperor [[John I Tzimiskes]] renamed the neighbouring [[Euchaneia]], whose exact relation or identity with Euchaita is unclear,<ref>N. Oikonomides, "Le dedoublement de Saint Theodore et les villes d'Euchaita et d'Euchaneia", ''Analecta Bollandiana'' 104 (1986), 327&ndash;335.</ref> into Theodoropolis.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=737}} 
The town is recorded as having a vibrant fair during the festival of St. Theodore in the middle of the 11th century.
After the [[Battle of Manzikert]] (1071), Euchaita was at the frontier of the [[Danishmendids|Turkish conquest]], and there are no more records about its fate.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=737}} The settlement was most likely depopulated, and from the 12th century, it was within the  [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk Sultanate]].

By the 16th century, under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule, the settlement of ''Avkat'' was largely abandoned but there was a dervish lodge or ''[[Zawiya (institution)|zawiya]]'' dedicated to a sufi named Elwan Çelebi on what were presumably the remnants of the church of St. Theodore.<ref>E.  S. Wolper, "Khidr, Elwan Çelebi and the Conversion of Sacred Sanctuaries in Anatolia," ''Muslim World'' 90 (2000), 313.</ref> When German traveller [[Hans Dernschwam]] visited the site in 1555, he noted that the dervishes cultivated a remnant of the worship of St. Theodore as the dragon slayer, under the name of [[Khidr|Khidr-Ilya]]. Dernschwam was shown by the dervishes the remains of the dragon slain by "Khidr", Greek inscriptions referring to Theodore, 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.<ref>E.S. Wolper, "Khidr and the Changing Frontiers of the Medieval World", in J. Caskey et al. (eds.), ''Confronting the Borders of Medieval Art'', Brill (2011), p. 143.</ref> The [[Elvançelebi, Mecitözü|mosque of Elwan Çelebi]] is now situated some 5&nbsp;km west of Beyözü ({{coor|40.5665|35.1645|}}, at the [[Çorum]]-[[Tokat]] road, [[State road D.180 (Turkey)|D.180]]).

=== Episcopal Ordinaries ===
; Bishops
* [[Pope Peter III of Alexandria|Peter Mongus]] (c. 447)<ref>''Fedalto G.'', Hierarchia Ecclesiastica Orientalis Series Episcoporum Ecclesiarum Christianarum Orientalium I: Patriarchatus Constantinopolitanus. — Padova, 1998. — P. 80</ref>
* Mamas (acceded under [[Anastasius I Dicorus]], r. 491—518)<ref>Mango & Ševčenko 1972, 382-383; [http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00969 Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00969]</ref>
* ''unknown''
* John (6th c.)
* ''unknown''

; Archbishops
* Epiphanios (before 681—later 692), attended the Ecumenical [[Third Council of Constantinople]] (680–681, which repudiated as heresies [[Monothelitism]] and [[Monoenergism]]) and the disciplinary [[Quinisext Council]] at Trullo in 692
* ''unknown''
* Theophylact (in 787), participated in the Ecumenical [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787
* Peter (c. 7th/8th c.){{sfn|McGeer|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|2001|pp=45—46}}

; Metropolitans
* Euthymios (Euphemianos) (9th c.), expelled{{sfn|McGeer|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|2001|p=44}}
* Euthymius (Euphemianus) (869/870—later 882/886), got a second term
* Theodorus Santabarenos (880—886)
* Symeon (9th c.)
* Philaretos (in 945){{sfn|McGeer|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|2001|p=46}}
* Philotheos (fl. 963—971), [[synkellos]]{{sfn|McGeer|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|2001|p=47}}
* Theophilus (?—?)
* Symeon (early 11th c.)<ref>''[[Kariofilis Mitsakis|Mitsakis K.]]'' Symeon Metropolitan of Euchaita and the Byzantine Ascetic Ideals in the Eleventh Century // Βυζαντινα : επιστημονικο οργανο κεντρου βυζαντινων ερευνων φιλοσοφικης σχολης αριστοτελειου πανεπιστημιου 2 (1970): pp. 301—334. — {{ISSN|1105-0772}}</ref>
* Michael (1028—1032){{sfn|McGeer|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|2001|p=45}}
* Manuel (Emmanuei) (11th c.), synkellos{{sfn|McGeer|Nesbitt|Oikonomides|2001|pp=44—45}}
* Eustratios 
* [[John Mauropous]] (fl. 1047), [[Protosyncellus|protosynkellos]]
* Nikolaos (in 1054)
* Theodore (before 1082)
* Basil (1082—1092)
* ''unknown metropolitan'' (1157)
* Constantine (1161—1171)
* Leo (1173)
* ''unknown metropolitan'' (1185)
* Basil (1260)
* Alexius (1275)
* ''unknown metropolitan'' (1318)

; Titular metropolitans 
In 1327, the sees of Euchaita, [[Sebasteia]] and [[Konya|Iconion]] were unified with the see of [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]].
From the 17th century, titular metropolitans were consecrated in [[Wallachia]]. 

* Meletius (1632)
* Jacob (1656) 
* Parthenius (1674)
* Joasaph (later 1674)
* ''unknown''
* Synesius (1835—1840)
* ''vacant''

=== Latin Titular archbishopric ===
The archbishopric was nominally restored in 1922 as Latin [[titular archbishopric]] of Eucaita. In 1925 it was demoted as [[titular bishopric]] of Eucaita, but before another incumbent could take possession it was in 1929 again promoted as titular archbishopric, now under the names ''Euchaitæ'',  ''Eucaita'' or ''Euchaitenus''.
There have been only three titular archbishops, between 1922 and 1972:<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2e45.html catholic-hierarchy.org]</ref>
* Bernard Adriaan Gijlswijk ([[Dominican Order|O.P.]]) (2 December 1922 – 22 December 1944)
* [[Octavio Antonio Beras Rojas]] ([[Dominican Order|O.P.]]) (2 May 1945 – 10 December 1961)
* [[Bolesław Kominek]] (19 March 1962 – 28 June 1972).

== Archaeology ==
From 2006 to 2012, there were archaeological excavations led by John Haldon of [[Princeton University]].  The [http://www.princeton.edu/avkat Avkat Archaeological Project] was a collaboration between Princeton University, [[Trent University]], the [[College of Charleston]], the [[University of Birmingham]], [[Ankara University]] and the [[Middle East Technical University]] (Ankara). The excavation report was published in 2018.<ref>
John Haldon (ed.), ''Archaeology and Urban Settlement in Late Roman and Byzantine Anatolia, Euchaïta-Avkat-Beyözü and its Environment'', Cambridge University Press (2018), {{doi|10.1017/9781108557757}}.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

* {{ODB | last = Foss| first = Clive| title = Euchaita | page = 737 }}
* {{cite book | first = Raymond | last = Janin | author-link = Raymond Janin | title = La géographie ecclésiastique de l'empire byzantin, première partie: Le siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oecuménique, Tome III: les églises et les monastères | publisher = Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | location = Paris | year = 1969 | pages = 148–155 | language = fr}}
* {{cite book | first = Frank | last = Trombley | chapter = The Decline of the Seventh-Century Town: The Exception of Euchaita | title = Byzantine Studies in Honor of Milton V. Anastos | editor-first = Speros | editor-last = Vryonis | location = Malibu, California | year = 1985 | pages = 65–90}}
* Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p.&nbsp;442
* {{Oriens Christianus|volume=1|at=cols. 543-548}}
* Jean Darrouzès, ''Remarques sur des créations d'évêchés byzantins'', in'' Revue des études byzantines'', vol. 47, 1989, pp.&nbsp;215–221
* Heinrich Gelzer, ''Ungedruckte und ungenügend veröffentlichte Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum'', in: ''Abhandlungen der philosophisch-historische classe der bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften'', 1901, pp.&nbsp;529–641
*{{Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art|volume=4}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0745.htm GCatholic - (former and) titular (arch)bishopric]

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{{Former settlements in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in ancient Pontus]]
[[Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia]]
[[Category:Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:History of Çorum Province]]
[[Category:Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]]
[[Category:Byzantine Pontus]]