Thyatira (Tepe Mezarlığı)
Akhisar
- Locality
- Akhisar
- Type of place
- BIBLICAL SITE
- Coordinates
- 38.92016° N, 27.83616° E
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History: Thyatira (Tepe Mezarlığı)
Thyatira lies beneath the modern town of Akhisar in Manisa Province, and its excavated remains at Tepe Mezarlığı are in the town centre. King Seleucus I gave the city the name Thyateira in 290 BC. In Roman times it was famous for its dyeing works and the trade in purple cloth, and inscriptions name more trade guilds here than in any other city of the province of Asia: wool-workers, linen-workers, dyers, tanners, potters, bakers and bronze-smiths among them.
The Acts of the Apostles tells of Lydia, "a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira", whom Paul met at Philippi and who opened her house to him (Acts 16:14–15). Thyatira is also one of the seven churches addressed in the Book of Revelation, whose message warns against a woman it calls Jezebel (Revelation 2:20). The city had a Christian community from apostolic times until 1922, when its Orthodox population was deported.
An interesting detail
The Ecumenical Patriarchate has used the title Archbishop of Thyateira since 1922; today its holder is based in London.