Colossae

kuh-LOSS-ee · Modern Honaz, Turkey

Colossae is a city of the biblical world, known today as Honaz, Turkey.

What is known

Recipient of Paul's epistle to the Colossians, addressing a church he apparently never personally visited (founded instead by his co-worker Epaphras)
Hometown of Philemon and the runaway slave Onesimus, subjects of Paul's letter to Philemon

History

Founded: A Phrygian city in the Lycus Valley, once prominent but declining by the 1st century AD relative to nearby Laodicea and Hierapolis
Population: Estimated 2,000–5,000 residents in the 1st century AD, a marked decline from its earlier prominence
Coordinates: 37.7867° N, 29.2600° E

Archaeology

Colossae remains almost entirely unexcavated — the site is still just a large mound with visible surface traces of a theater, necropolis, and column fragments. Systematic excavation only began in 2021, initially limited to remote sensing and surface survey rather than digging, so most conclusions about the city's Roman-era layout are inferred rather than confirmed.

The acropolis mound (tell) of ancient Colossae, near Denizli, Turkey — source & licence

Scripture references

Colossians 1:2
Colossians 4:12-13

On a modern map

Colossae today

More places

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