Colossae

Synopsis

Colossae (or Colosse) was an ancient city of Phrygia. The apostle Paul wrote an 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.

Contents

See also Easton's Bible Dictionary entry on Colossae

Related topics

• Epistle to the Colossians

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Colossae (discussion) (For short comments and opinions)

For related quotations see Colossae (quotes)

Main article

Colossae or Colosse, was an ancient city of Phrygia, on the Lycus, which is a tributary of the Maeander River. It was situated about 12 miles above 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.

In 396 BC, during the Persian Wars, the satrap Tissaphernes was lured to Colossae and slain by an agent of the party of Cyrus. Pliny tells 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.

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 tells Philemon of his hope to visit it upon being freed from prison (see Philemon 1:22). It seems that Epaphras was the founder of the Colossian church.

This town fell into decay (possibly due to an earthquake) and 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 baptized, was dedicated to the feast of the Miracle at Kona.

Links

Wikipedia - Colossae

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