Ermenek is a town in Karaman Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Ermenek District. Its population is 11,629 (2022). As ancient Germanicopolis (in Isauria; has namesakes), a former bishopric, it remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

Names

The town was historically known as Germanicopolis (Greek: Γερμανικόπολις), Germanig and possibly Clibanus; which later mutated to Ermenek.

History

Germanicopolis was an ancient town in the Roman province of Isauria. The city took its name from Germanicus, grandson of first Emperor Octavian Augustus, as several others. The Crusaders sustained a great defeat at the hands of the Seljuks near the city in 1098. It passed to the Turkish dynasty of the Karamanids and became a centre of the Afşar Turks in 1228. During the Karamanid period, several of Ermenek's historical mosques were constructed, notably : Akca Mosque (1300), Ermenek Grand Mosque (1302), Sipas Mosque (1306) and Meydan mosque (1436). It was later incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, becoming part of the Karaman Eyalet, where it was the second most important town after Karaman itself.

Ecclesiastical history

No later than the 5th century, Germanicopolis became a suffragan bishopric of the Archdiocese of Seleucia in Isauria, in the sway of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Four of its bishops are known during the Byzantine government :

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored no later than 1717 as Latin Titular bishopric of Germanicopolis (Latin) / Germanicopoli (Curiate Italian) / Germanicopolitan(us) (Latin adjective). It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : Bishop of Killala (1893.04.23 – death 1911.08.26)

Notable natives

Gallery

Sources and external links