Karpasia (town) | |
|---|---|
| Ασωματος (Greek) Özhan (Turkish) | |
| Country |  Northern Cyprus |
| District | İskele District |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Karpasia (Turkish: Karpaz), Latinized as Carpasia', and also known as Karpasion (sometimes mistaken for Karpathos), is said to have been founded by the Phoenician King Pygmalion of Tyre near Cape Sarpedon, now Cape St. Andreas, at the extreme end of the Karpass Peninsula on the north-east shore of Cyprus, a short distance north of the modern town of Rizokarpaso.
Its first-known bishop, Philo, was ordained by Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century; he has left a commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, a letter, and some fragments. Another bishop of the see, Hermolaus, was present at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.[2][3] The chroniclers mention the names of three other bishops, and a fourth occurs on a seal, all without dates. Another is quoted in the "Constitutio Cypria" of Pope Alexander IV (1260).[4][5] No longer a residential bishopric, Carpasia is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[6]
After the hostilities in 1974, population transfers were made in accordance with the population exchange agreement between Turkish and Greek Cypriots (Third Vienna Agreement) under the auspices of United Nations on 2 August 1975; [7] the Catholic Maronite Cypriots in Karpasia (town) agreed to live under Turkish Cypriot administration and stayed in the north.