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At about the end of the tenth century, the Armenians established a diocese of their rite; Saint Nerses of Lambroun was its most distinguished representative in the twelfth century.
A cave in Tarsus is one of a number of places claiming to be the location of the legend of the Seven Sleepers, common to Christianity and Islam.
Ecclesiastical history
The first bishop, Helenus, dates from the third century; he went several times to Antioch in connexion with the dispute concerning Paul of Samosata. Le Quien mentions twenty-two of its bishops, of whom several are legendary. Among them are:
* Lupus, present at the Council of Ancyra in 314;
* The odorus, at the Council of Nicaea in 325;
* Helladius, condemned at Ephesus, and who appealed to the pope in 433;
* the exegete Diodorus, teacher of Theodore of Mopsuestia and consequently one of the fathers of Nestorianism.
From the sixth century the metropolitan See of Tarsus had seven suffragan bishoprics (Echosd'Orient, X, 145); the Greek archdiocese is again mentioned in the tenth century (op. cit., X, 98), and has existed down to the present day, being comprised in the Patriarchate of Antioch. The Arabs took possession of Tarsus from the seventh century.
The archdiocese of Tarsus (Italian Tarso) remains a Catholic titular see, not to be confused with the titular see of Tarsus deiMaroniti.
Islam and beyond
The Tarsus region was annexed by the Forces of Rashidun Caliphate under the command of Khalid ibnWalid in 637. Tarsus was on the edge of the de facto border with the Byzantine empire in this period of the Taurus Mountains range separating the Armeniac and Anatolic themes from Cilicia, Syria and northern Iraq. Tarsus was near the strategically important Cilician Gates which passed through the Taurus Mountains as well as access to the Mediterranean Sea which was used
