View source for Thyatira

{{Short description|Ancient Greek city in Asia Minor}}
{{for|the moth genus|Thyatira (moth){{!}}''Thyatira'' (moth)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Thyatira
| native_name    = Θυάτειρα
| native_name_lang = gr
| alternate_name = <!-- displays as "Alternative name" -->
| image          = Columns of Thiatira.jpg
| image_size     = 
| alt            = Remains of the colonnaded street
| caption        = Remains of the colonnaded street in Thyatira
| map            =
| map_type       = Turkey
| map_alt        = Location of Thyatira in Turkey
| map_size       = 270
| relief         = yes
| coordinates    = {{coord|38.920090|27.836253|display=inline,title}}
| location       = [[Akhisar]], Manisa Province, Turkey
| mapframe       = <!-- "yes" to show an interactive map -->
| altitude_m     = 103
| altitude_ref   = 
| gbgridref      = 
| map_dot_label  = 
| marksize       = 
| region         = Lydia
| type           = Settlement
| part_of        = 
| length         = 
| width          = 
| area           = 
| volume         = 
| diameter       = 
| circumference  = 
| height         = 
| builder        = Lydians; Macedonian colonists (3rd century BC)
| material       = Stone, brick
| built          = Early Bronze Age; re-colonized 3rd century BC
| abandoned      = 
| epochs         = [[Bronze Age]], [[Hellenistic period]], [[Roman Empire]], [[Byzantine Empire]]
| cultures       = [[Seha River Land]], [[Lydia]]n, [[Greeks|Greek]], [[Persian people|Persian]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman]], [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]]
| dependency_of  = 
| occupants      = 
| event          = 
| discovered     = 
| excavations    = 
| archaeologists = 
| condition      = Ruined
| ownership      = Public
| management     = 
| public_access  = Yes
| other_designation =
| website        = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| architectural_styles = Hellenistic, Roman
| architectural_details =
| notes          = One of the [[seven churches]] mentioned in the [[Book of Revelation]]
}}
'''Thyateira''' (also '''Thyatira'''; {{langx|grc|Θυάτειρα}}) was the name of an ancient Greek city in [[Asia Minor Greeks|Asia Minor]], now the modern [[Turkey|Turkish]] city of [[Akhisar]] ("white castle"), [[Manisa Province]]. The name is probably [[Lydian language|Lydian]].  It lies in the far west of Turkey, southwest of Istanbul and east-northeast of [[Athens]].  It is about {{convert|50|mi}} from the [[Aegean Sea]].

==History==
It was an ancient Greek city called '''Pelopia''' ({{langx|grc|Πελόπεια}}) and '''Semiramis''' ({{langx|grc|Σεμίραμις}}),<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/241#Th319.1 Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, Th319.1]</ref> before it was renamed to Thyateira (Θυάτειρα), during the Hellenistic era in 290 BC, by the King [[Seleucus I Nicator]]. He was at war with [[Lysimachus]] when he learned that his wife had given birth to a daughter. According to [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], he called this city "Thuateira" from Greek θυγάτηρ, θυγατέρα (''thugatēr'', ''thugatera''), meaning "daughter", although it is likely that it is an older, Lydian name.<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''De Urbibus'' ("On cities") [https://books.google.com/books?id=lU8_AAAAcAAJ&q=pelopia]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dquga%2Fthr Θυγάτηρ], 
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus project</ref> In classical times, Thyatira stood on the border between [[Lydia]] and [[Mysia]]. During the Roman era, (1st century AD), it was famous for its dyeing facilities and was a center of the purple cloth trade.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} Among the ancient ruins of the city, [[inscription]]s have been found relating to the guild of dyers in the city.  Indeed, more guilds συντεχνία suntechuia (syndicate) are known in [[Thyatira]] than any other contemporary city in the Roman province of Asia (inscriptions mention the following: wool-workers, linen-workers, makers of outer garments, dyers, leather-workers, tanners, potters, bakers, slave-dealers, and bronze-smiths).<ref>W.M. Ramsey, ''The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia'', (Hodder, 1904), pp. 324–35.</ref>

In early Christian times, Thyateira was home to a significant Christian church, mentioned as one of the [[seven Churches of the Book of Revelation]] in the [[Book of Revelation]].<ref>[[Book of Revelation|Rev.]] 1:11; 2:18–28.</ref> According to Revelation, a woman named [[Jezebel]] (who called herself a prophetess) taught and seduced the Christians of Thyateira to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to [[cult image|idols]].<ref>[[Book of Revelation|Rev.]] 2:20</ref> However, some commentators such as Benson and Doddridge have concluded that what is being here practised in Thyatira is the same [[apostasy]] promoted in [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] by [[Jezebel]] as mentioned in the [[Books of Kings]] and that use of her name here is a direct reference to such. Indeed, as Doddridge notes, "the resemblance appears so great" that, in his view, it is the "same heresy which is represented".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benson |title=Revelation 2 Benson Commentary |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/revelation/2.htm |website=Biblehub |access-date=24 August 2019}}</ref>

The [[Apostle Paul]] and [[Silas]] might have visited Thyateira during Paul's second or third journey, Acts 16:13–16. They visited several small unnamed towns in the general vicinity during the second journey. While in [[Philippi]], Paul and Silas stayed with a woman named [[Lydia of Thyatira|Lydia]] from Thyateira, who continued to help them even after they were jailed and released.

In 366, a [[battle of Thyatira|battle]] fought near Thyateira saw the army of [[Roman emperor]] [[Valens]] defeat [[Roman usurper]] [[Procopius (usurper)|Procopius]].

==Notable people==
Artemidorus ({{langx|grc|Ἀρτεμίδωρος}}) of Thyateira was an athlete who [[Olympic winners of the Stadion race|won the Stadion race]] in the 193rd Olympiad (8 BC).<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/531#79 Eusebius, Chronography, 79]</ref>

Nicander ({{langx|grc|Νίκανδρος}}), also known as Nicander of Thyateira ({{langx|grc|Νίκανδρος ὁ Θυατειρηνός}}) was an ancient Greek grammarian.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg1389.tlg001.perseus-grc1:q.thurgonidai Harpokration, Lexicon of the Ten Orators, Th33]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0008.tlg001.perseus-grc2:11.5 Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, § 11.5]</ref>

[[Lydia of Thyatira]], businesswoman in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] chapter 16 verse 11–40.<ref>[[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 16:14.</ref>

==Bishopric==
{{Main|Thyatira (titular see)}}

The city was home to a Christian community from the [[early Christianity|apostolic period]]. The community continued until 1922, when the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] population was deported.

In 1922, the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]] appointed an [[exarch]] for Western and Central Europe with the title Archbishop of Thyateira. The current archbishop of Thyateira (since 2019) is [[Nikitas Lulias]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240723124514/https://www.thyateira.org.uk/archbishop-nikitas/] – Biography at the website of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain</ref> The Archbishop of Thyateira resides in London and has pastoral responsibility for the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] in Great Britain.

The see of Thyatira is also included, without [[Archbishop|archiepiscopal]] rank, in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]'s list of [[titular see]]s.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 988.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="140px">
File:CNM21-Pauls3rdJourney.gif|Paul's third journey
File:A dictionary of the Bible.. (1887) (14595164770).jpg|19th-century Thyatira<ref>Schaff, Philip (1887). ''A Dictionary of the Bible''.</ref>
File:ThyatiraBasilika.jpg|Byzantine basilica of Thyatira
File:Ruins of Thyateira.jpg|Ruins of the city
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain]]
* [[List of archbishops of Thyateira and Great Britain]]

==References==
<references/>

{{Seven churches of Asia}}
{{Ancient settlements in Turkey}}

[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Greek colonies in Anatolia]]
[[Category:History of Manisa Province]]
[[Category:New Testament cities]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Lydia]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Mysia]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Seleucus I Nicator]]