ANGLONA and TURSI, DIOCESES of. — In the conciliar region of Lucania and Salernitano, suffragan of Acerenza. Its territory extends over 53 municipalities in the provinces of Matera, Potenza, and Cosenza, covering an area of 1,821 sq. km. It has 38 parishes, 57 diocesan priests, and 100,000 inhabitants, all Catholics; 5 municipalities of the diocese were founded between the 15th and 16th centuries by Albanian refugees; the Greek rite is still observed there. Residence: T. and Chiaromonte, in the province of Matera.
A. stands on the ruins of Pandosia, near Heraclea; it was the capital of the Oenotrians and a center of Hellenism. It had to yield to T., a Saracen nest situated 7 km. from A., near the ruins of Metapontum. Of A., destroyed first by the Goths and then in the 14th century, only the ruins of the castle and the cathedral of S. Maria (11th century) remain, in a Byzantine style mixed with Romanesque elements. The origin of the bishopric is uncertain. The existence in 968 of a diocese at T. is proven; detached from the jurisdiction of the Pope, it was incorporated by the patriarch of Constantinople into the archiepiscopal see of Otranto, in an attempt to replace the Latin rite with the Greek. In the 12th century the episcopal see of T. is included in the list of Byzantine bishoprics. It seems that in reality there were two distinct bishoprics: T., founded in 968 or even earlier, where the Greek rite persisted until a late date, and A., mentioned in the 12th century, but perhaps already existing earlier. In 1320 T. is mentioned for the first time as incorporated into A. In 1546 Paul III fixed the residence at T. and unified the title.
Abbeys and monasteries: S. Maria del Sagittario, S. Claudio and S. Giusto, S. Maria a Crinofria, S. Nilo at Roccanova, Chiaromonte; particularly important were those founded by the Basilian monks who, in the 8th century, expelled by the fury of the iconoclasts, had taken refuge in the region. Among these: S. Elia and S. Anastasio at Carbone, SS. Angelo and Quirico, which became famous commendatory benefices, and S. Zosimo.