Soltaniyeh#Ecclesiastical history

File:Soltaniyeh map by Matrakçı Nasuh, circa 1550.jpg, circa 1550]]

Soltaniyeh, located some {{convert|240|km|mi}} to the north-west of Tehran, was built as the capital of Mongol Ilkhanid rulers of Iran in the 14th century. Its name which refers to the Islamic ruler title sultan translates loosely as "the Regal". Soltaniyeh was visited by Ruy González de Clavijo, who reported that the city was a hub of silk exportation.{{cite book|last1=Clavijo|first1=Ruy Gonzalez de|title=Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6|year=1859|page=[https://archive.org/details/narrativeembass01markgoog/page/n162 93]|url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeembass01markgoog|access-date=10 April 2018}}

In 2005, UNESCO listed Soltaniyeh as one of the World Heritage Sites. The road from Zanjan to Soltaniyeh extends until it reaches to the Katale khor cave.

William Dalrymple notes that Öljaitü intended Soltaniyeh to be "the largest and most magnificent city in the world" but that it "died with him" and is now "a deserted, crumbling spread of ruins."{{cite book|last=Dalrymple|first=William|author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)|title=In Xanadu|year=1989|pages=128–129}}

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 5,864 in 1,649 households,{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006): Zanjan Province|language=fa|publisher=The Statistical Center of Iran|website=amar.org.ir|url=http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/19.xls|access-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920091748/http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/19.xls|format=Excel|archive-date=20 September 2011}} when it was in Soltaniyeh District{{efn|Renamed Soltaniyeh County}} of Abhar County.{{cite report|title=Approval of the organization and chain of citizenship of elements and units of the national divisions of Zanjan province, centered in Zanjan city|language=fa|website=lamtakam.com|via=Lam ta Kam|url=https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/113027|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216213100/https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/113027|publisher=Ministry of the Interior, Defense Political Commission of the Government Council|last=Habibi|first=Hassan|archive-date=16 December 2023|orig-date=Approved 7 July 1369|date=c. 2023|id=Notification 82844/T141K|access-date=16 December 2023}} The following census in 2011 counted 7,116 people in 2,013 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1390 (2011): Zanjan Province|language=fa|publisher=The Statistical Center of Iran|website=irandataportal.syr.edu|via=Iran Data Portal, Syracuse University|url=https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/Zanjan.xls|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121160421/https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/Zanjan.xls|archive-date=21 January 2023|access-date=19 December 2022|format=Excel}} The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 7,638 people in 2,319 households,{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1395 (2016): Zanjan Province|language=fa|publisher=The Statistical Center of Iran|website=amar.org.ir|url=https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_19.xlsx|access-date=19 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427114852/https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_19.xlsx|format=Excel|archive-date=27 April 2022}} by which time the district had been elevated to the status of Soltaniyeh County.{{Cite news|title=Zanjan became the owner of a new city and county|url=http://zanjan.irna.ir/html/1392/13920516/80765513.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014172746/http://zanjan.irna.ir/html/1392/13920516/80765513.htm|archive-date=14 October 2013|website=zanjan.irna.ir|via=Islamic Republic News Agency|language=fa|access-date=25 February 2023|date=16 May 1392}} Soltaniyeh was transferred to the new Central District as the county's capital.

File:Sultaniyya, Friday Mosque. Uljaytu, 1300s. François Préault in 1808.jpg, built by Uljaytu. A possible prototype of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. François Préault in 1808.{{cite journal |last1=Paskaleva |first1=Elena |title=Samarqand’s Congregational Mosque of Bibi Khanum as a Representation of Timurid Legitimacy and Rulership |journal=Manazir Journal |date=9 October 2023 |volume=5 |page=72 |doi=10.36950/manazir.2023.5.4 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374560120_Samarqand's_Congregational_Mosque_of_Bibi_Khanum_as_a_Representation_of_Timurid_Legitimacy_and_Rulership}}|440x440px]]

On 1 April 1318, due to the progress of the Persian missions of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, pope John XII established the archdiocese of Soltania and separated it from the archdiocese of Khanbalik.{{cite book |last1=Habig |first1=Marion Alphonse |title=In Journeyings Often: Franciscan Pioneers in the Orient |date=1953 |publisher=Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University |page=164 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_Journeyings_Often/aCoRAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Waterfield |first1=Robin E. |title=Christians in Persia: Assyrians, Armenians, Roman Catholics and Protestants |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0042750016 |pages=52-53}} In 1329, the Latin Diocese of Samarcanda became its suffragan for the Chagatai Khanate, at least until Tamerlane (founder of the Timurids) swept its see Samarkand. The archdiocese was suppressed as residential see around 1450.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

;Metropolitan Archbishops of Soltania

• Francesco da Perugia, Dominican Order O.P. (1318.08.01 – ?)
• Guillaume Adam, O.P. (1322.10.06 – 1324.10.26); previously Archbishop of Smirna (Smyrna) (Asian Turkey, now İzmir) (1318 – 1322.10.06); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Bar (Montenegro) (1324.10.26 – death 1341)
• Giovanni di Cori, O.P. (1329.08.09 – ?)
• Guglielmo, O.P. (? – ?)
• Giovanni di Piacenza, O.P. (1349.01.09 – ?)
• Tommaso, O.P. (1368.02.28 – ?)
• Domenico Manfredi, O.P. (1388.08.18 – ?)
• Giovanni di Gallofonte, O.P. (1398.08.26 – ?)
• Nicolò Roberti (1401.01.24 – ?); previously Bishop of Ferrara (Italy) (1393.02.04 – 1401.01.24)
• Thomas Abaraner, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?)
• Giovanni, O.P. (1425.12.19 – ?)

File:040315-Soltanieh-IMG 7578-2.jpg Province, Iran]]

Transformed at its suppression as residential see in 1450 into a Latin Titular archbishopric, which was itself suppressed in 1926:

• Titular Bishop Francisco Salazar, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1548.09.12 – ?)
• Titular Bishop: Bishop-elect Bernardino de Carmona (1551.07.10 – ?)
• Titular Archbishop Alberto Bitter (1922.10.09 – 1926.12.19)

• Dome of Soltaniyeh
• Ab Anbar
• List of Catholic dioceses in Central Asia
• Yakhchal
• Traditional water sources of Persian antiquityFile:040315-Soltanieh-IMG 7568-2.jpg, Iran]]

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060614155641/http://www.sultanieh.ir/ Official website]
• [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t3090.htm GCatholic, with residential and titular incumbent bio links]
• [http://irannegah.com/Video.aspx?id=1109 Video of Soltaniyeh]
• Farnoush Tehrāni, The Crown of All Domes, in Persian, Jadid Online, 31 December 2009,.[http://www.jadidonline.com/story/31122009/frnk/soltanieh سلطان گنبدها | جدید آنلاین]. Jadidonline.com. Retrieved on 2012-02-10.
  • Audio slideshow:[http://www.jadidonline.com/images/stories/flash_multimedia/Soltanieh_test/sol_high.html Flash video]. jadidonline.com (6 min 45 sec).

http://sultaniyya.org/

• {{cite journal |last1=Hatef Naiemie |first1=Atri |title=The Ilkhanid City of Sultaniyya: Some Remarks on the Citadel and the Outer City |journal=Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies |date=2020 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2020.1744469}}
• {{EI2|last=Minorsky|first=V.|last2=Bosworth|first2=C.E|last3=Blair|first3=Sheila S.|volume=9|title=Sulṭāniyya|pages=859–861|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/sultaniyya-COM_1118}}

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{{Succession box|title=Capital of Ilkhanate (Persia)|before= Tabriz|after=-|years=1306-1335}}

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{{Zanjan Province|state=collapsed}}

{{Soltaniyeh County|state=collapsed}}

Category:Cities in Zanjan province

Category:Populated places in Soltaniyeh County

Category:World Heritage Sites in Iran