Aspona (Greek: Ἄσπονα, Ἄσπωνα) was an ancient city and bishopric in Galatia, in central Asia Minor. It corresponds to the modern settlement of Sarıhüyük (earlier Şedithüyük).[1]
The settlement lies some 80 km southeast of the capital of Turkey, Ankara.[1] Archaeological evidence points to prehistoric occupation, but it is first documented in itineraries of the Roman Empire, such as the Itinerarium Antonini or the Tabula Peutingeriana, and was recognized as a city (civitas) since the 4th century.[1] Emperor Jovian passed through the city in 363.[1] A bishop of Aspona, suffragan of the Metropolis of Ancyra, is attested since the Council of Serdica in 343.[1] The city belonged to the Roman provinceofGalatia Prima.[1] Under Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912– ), the topoteresia Asponas was one of the four banda, collectively designated as ta Kommata, of the Bucellarian Theme that were transferred to the new Theme of Cappadocia.[1] According to the Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the see remained a suffragan of Ancyra until the 12th century, but in the late 13th century, it appears to have been briefly autocephalous, or even to have been raised to metropolitan status itself.[1] Today several Roman and Byzantine spolia can be found, reused in the village of Sarıhüyük. The medieval town wall has been torn down, including the foundations, and reused in other buildings, but its parts of its circuit survive as a ditch.[1]
Eight of its bishops are known:
The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Rite titular bishopric by the Roman Catholic Church. It has had following incumbents:[6]
39°18′N 33°17′E / 39.300°N 33.283°E / 39.300; 33.283
