The Metropolis of Ancyra (Greek: Μητρόπολις Ἀγκύρας) was a Christian (Eastern Orthodox after the East–West Schism) bishopric in Ancyra (modern Ankara, Turkey) and the main church center of Galatia Prima. The bishopric continued to exist after the Seljuk Turkish conquest at the end of the 11th century and remained active until the end of the Ottoman Empire and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923.

History

Ancyra was the political center of the Roman province of Galatia since it was established in 25 BC. Christianity likely arrived in Ancyra during the time of the Apostles in the mid-1st century AD, but records of this appear much later. Modern historians believe that Apostles Peter and Andrew preached in the city and started the local Church. A man named Cresces, a follower of the Apostle Paul, lived between 56 and 117 AD and became Ancyra’s first bishop. The earliest known record of a Christian church in Ancyra is around 180 AD. The first bishop clearly recorded in historical sources was Theodore, who died as a martyr during a 3rd-century persecution of Christians. Other early Christian martyrs in Ancyra were Plato and Clement, who became important local religious figures.

During the 4th century, Ancyra was a major center of Christian activity. Bishops Marcellus and Basil of Ancyra took part in important religious debates of their time. The city hosted three church meetings in 314, 358, and 375 AD. The meetings in 358 and 375 supported a religious belief called Arianism. Emperor Julian visited Ancyra in 362 AD during his failed campaign against the Persians. He reportedly ordered the execution of martyrs Basil and Gemellus. Another martyr, Busiris, was spared.

In 396/99 AD, the province of Galatia was divided. Ancyra remained the civil and religious center of Galatia Prima. The title of Ancyra’s bishops was always “hypertimos and exarch of all Galatia.” The original areas under Ancyra’s religious authority included Aspona, Juliopolis, Kinna, Lagania (Anastasiopolis), Mnizus, and Tabia. Later, Verinopolis and Kalymne were added. Ancyra was one of the most important religious centers under the Patriarchate of Constantinople, ranked fourth after Caesarea in Cappadocia, Ephesus, and Heraclea in Thrace.

Some details about Ancyra’s religious life in the early 5th century are found in writings by Palladius of Galatia and Nilus of Ancyra. Two women’s convents were recorded in the 6th century: one dedicated to the Theotokos Beeia and the Monastery of Petrin. A men’s monastery called Attaline was recorded in the 7th century. After the Persian conquest in 622 AD, Ancyra’s size was reduced to a small fortified area. However, it remained important as the capital of the Opsician Theme from the mid-7th to late 8th century and later of the Bucellarian Theme.

Under Emperor Constantine X Doukas (1059–1067), the bishopric of Basilaion (Juliopolis) was made a metropolitan see to honor its leader. After the leader died, his successors continued to claim this status, leading to a dispute with Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). Basilaion retained its status, but Aspona and Verinopolis were temporarily lost to Ancyra.

Ancyra was captured by the Seljuk Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and remained under Turkish rule, except for a short period of Byzantine control after 1101. This led to Ancyra being isolated from Constantinople and the Patriarchate, causing a long decline in its Christian population. From the 12th century onward, it is unclear whether Ancyra’s bishops lived in the city. Until the early 17th century, many records show the see being managed by other metropolises. However, the Metropolis of Ancyra continued until the Greco-Turkish population exchange of 1923.

In the second half of the 12th century, Ancyra’s see was briefly combined with that of Nazianzus. In 1173, the patriarchal synod allowed Ancyra’s bishop to move to Kerasus, still under Byzantine control. A Christian population in Ancyra is mentioned during the reign of Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282–1328) in the story of neomartyr Niketas, who worked in a church there. However, sources note complaints that the Metropolitan had left his see. In 1310/14, Ancyra’s territory was transferred to the Metropolis of Gangra, with compensation in other sees. In the late 14th century, the Metropolis of Ancyra was given to the Metropolitan of Thessalonica, but a Metropolitan of Ancyra, Macarius, was recorded in 1395–1406. After 1406, Ancyra was again assigned to Gangra, but in 1438, the see was held by the Metropolitan of Cyzicus. A Metropolitan of Ancyra named Constantine is recorded around 1450, but later councils in Constantinople (under Ottoman rule) show Ancyra being represented by Thessalonica. In 1475, a Metropolitan of Ancyra attended the ordination of Patriarch Raphael I of Constantinople. Records from 1483 and 1525 mention an active Metropolis of Ancyra. Starting with Metropolitan Parthenius (1602–1631), who lived in Ancyra and worked to rebuild the church, the Metropolis of Ancyra likely had resident bishops. Reliable information about later bishops is only available from the mid-19th century.

After the Turkish conquest, the Christian population in Ancyra declined quickly. In the Ottoman tax records of 1488/89, 822 households in the Sanjak of Ankara paid the jizya (a tax for non-Muslims). By 1522, only 277 Christian households were recorded, with a population of about 1,500, compared to 15,000 Muslims and 200 Jews. Armenian names were common among Christians, showing the Armenian Church was dominant. Greek Orthodox people also lived in the area, as noted by a German traveler in 1553. This mix of communities remained until the 1880s, when a French ethnologist estimated 34,009 Greek Orthodox, 83,063 Armenians, and smaller groups of Armenian Catholics and Protestants in the Ankara Vilayet. The small size of the Christian population and its isolation in scattered communities led to the absence of a resident Metropolitan in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Celali