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''Synopsis:'' Colossae (or Colosse) was an ancient city of [[Phrygia]](in current day Turkey). The [[apostle Paul]] wrote a letter ([[Epistle to the Colossians]]) to the church at Colossae. The town fell into decay (possibly due to an earthquake) and the Byzantine town of Chonæ (Kona) occupied a site near its ruins.

Colossae (or Colosse, ) was an ancient city of [[Phrygia]](in current day [[Turkey]]), on the [[LycusRiver]], which is a tributary of the [[Maeander River]]. It was situated about 12 miles above the city of [[Laodicea]], and near the great road from [[Ephesus]] to the [[Euphrates]]. The site, located in what is now Anatolia in Turkey, has never been excavated.

The In [[apostle Paul396 BC]] wrote an letter ([[Epistle to , during the Persian Wars, the Colossians]]) satrap Tissaphernes was lured to the church at Colossae. It does not appear that he had visited this city when he wrote his epistle since he tells [[Philemon]] and killed by an agent of his hope to visit it upon being freed from prison (see King [[Philemon 1:22Cyrus]]). It seems that [[Epaphras]] was the founder of the Colossian church.

This The historian [[Pliny]] told that the wool of Colossae gave its name (colossinus) to the colour of the cyclamen flower. During the Hellenistic period, the town was of some mercantile importance, although by the first century it had dwindled greatly in size and significance. ===History in early church times=== The [[apostle Paul]] wrote an letter ([[Epistle to the Colossians]]) to the church at Colossae. It does not appear that he had visited this city when he wrote his epistle since he wrote to [[Philemon]] of his hope to visit Colossae upon being freed from prison ([[Philemon 1:22]]). It seems that a man named [[Epaphras]] was the founder of the Colossian church. ===Medieval History=== The town eventually fell into decay (, possibly due to an earthquake) and the . The Byzantine town of Chonæ (Kona) occupied a site near its ruins. A look at the classical, Byzantine, and otherwise medieval literature mentioning the site reveals a name change for part or all of Colossae to Cona or Chonae.  The town was the birthplace of the mediaeval writers Nicetas and Michael Choniates.  In Byzantine and Russian art, the theme of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Kona is intimately interlocked with the site. The Monastery of the Miracle in the Moscow Kremlin, where the Russian tsars were [[baptism|baptized]], was dedicated to the feast of the Miracle at Kona.