The site of Olba, within the broader Olbian region, was identified by archaeologist
Theodore Bent and his wife in March 1890, during their survey of part of Cilicia Tracheia.[2]
According to
Greek mythology, Olbe had been built by
Ajax, half-brother of
Teucer; it contained a temple of Zeus, whose priest once ruled over all Cilicia Aspera.[4]
Strabo described it:
"Above this [Kyinda] and Soloi [in Kilikia] is a mountainous country, in which is a city Olbe, with a temple of Zeus, founded by Aias the son of Teukros. The priest of this temple became dynast of Kilikia Trakheia; and then the country was beset by numerous tyrants, and the gangs of
pirates were organized. And after the overthrow of these they called this country the domain of Teukros, and called the same also the priesthood of Teukros; and most of the priests were named Teukros or Aias."[5]
In Christian times, it was regarded as belonging to
Isauria, and was the seat of a bishop.[7]
Its ruins, north of
Silifke in the Turkish province of
Mersin, are called Oura in Turkish.
Ecclesiastical history
Olba was a
suffragan of the Metropolitan of Isauria's provincial capital
Seleucia, but faded like most sees in Asia Minor. Olba maintained a sizable Christian population in the 4th and 5th centuries, when the Temple of Zeus was converted into a church.[8]
Michel Le Quien (Oriens christianus, II, 1031) gives four bishops between the fourth and seventh centuries; but the Notitiæ episcopatuum mentions the see until the thirteenth century.
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored as titular bishopric of the episcopal (lowest) rank under the name Olba (Latin and Curiate Italian); Latin adjective Olbiensis.
In 1927 it was suppressed, having had the following incumbents, all of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:
Louis-François-Alexandre de Jarente de Senas d’Orgeval (1780.12.11 – 1788.05.28),
Coadjutor Bishop of
Orleans (
France) (1780.12.11 – 1788.05.28), succeeding as Bishop of Orléans (1788.05.28 – retired 1801.10.29); died 1805
Bernard Hermann Koeckemann,
Picpus Fathers (SS.CC.) (1881.05.17 – 1892.02.22) as
Coadjutor Apostolic VicarHawaiian Islands (Polynesia, USA; now Diocese of Honolulu) (1881.05.17 – 1882.06.11), succeeding as Vicar Apostolic of Hawaiian Islands (USA) (1882.06.11 – death 1892.02.22)
Charles-François Lasne,
Lazarists (C.M.) (1911.02.15 – death 1927.06.23) as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of
Fort-Dauphin (
Madagascar) (1911.02.15 – 1927.06.23)
In 1933 it was again restored as titular bishopric of Olba. It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting episcopal rank :
Tihamér Tóth (1938.05.30 – 1939.03.03) as Coadjutor Bishop of
Veszprém (
Hungary) (1938.05.30 – 1939.03.03), succeeded as Bishop of Veszprém (1939.03.03 – death 1939.05.06)
Augustine Danglmayr (1942.04.24 – death 1992.09.18) as Auxiliary Bishop of
Diocese of Dallas (Texas, USA) (1942.04.24 – retired 1969.08.22) and on emeritate
^J.T. Bent (1890), ‘Explorations in Cilicia Tracheia’. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, Vol. 12 (8) (Aug), pp. 445-463; J.T. Bent (1891), ‘A Journey in Cilicia Tracheia’. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 12, pp. 206-224.
^Edwards, Robert W., "Diocaesarea and Olba" (2016). The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 421–422.
ISBN978-0-8028-9016-0.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)