ANGLONA E TURSI, Diocese of. - In the conciliar region of Lucania and the Salerno area, suffragan of Acerenza. Its territory extends over 53 municipalities in the provinces of Matera, Potenza and Cosenza, for an area of 1,821 sq km. It has 38 parishes, 57 diocesan priests and 100,000 inhabitants, all Catholic; 5 municipalities of the diocese were founded between the 15th and 16th centuries by Albanian refugees; the Greek rite is still observed there. Residence: Tursi and Chiaromonte, in the province of Matera.
A. rises 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, which rises 7 km from A., near the ruins of Metapontum. Of A., destroyed first by the Goths and then in the 14th century, nothing remains but the ruins of the castle and the cathedral of St. Mary (11th century) 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, which, detached from the dependence of the Pope, was incorporated by the patriarch of Constantinople, in the attempt to replace the Greek rite with the Latin one, into the archiepiscopal see of Otranto. In the 12th century the episcopal see of T. is included in the list of Byzantine bishoprics. It seems that in reality there existed two distinct bishoprics: T., founded in 968 or even earlier, where the Greek rite persisted until late, and A., which is spoken of in the 12th century, but which perhaps existed even earlier. In 1320 there is talk for the first time of T. as incorporated into A. In 1546 Paul III fixed the residence at T. and unified the title.
Abbeys and monasteries: St. Mary del Sagittario, St. Claudius and St. Justus, St. Mary at Crinofria, St. Nilus at Roccanova, Chiaromonte; very important were those founded by the Basilians who, in the 8th century, expelled by the fury of the iconoclasts, had taken refuge in the region. Among these: St. Elias and St. Anastasius at Carbone, Sts. Angelus and Quiricus, which became famous commendams, St. Zosimus.
Bibliography5 works
Noemi Crostarosa Scipioni