Sura, Syria

Sura (Suriya), was an ancient city on the Euphrates River in northern Syria, today on a site 25 km west of Raqqa and 35 km north of Resafa.

In the 3rd century, Sura was a marginal attachment to the Strata Diocletiana to protect it against the Parthians.

According to the Notitia dignitatum, Sura was the seat of the Prefect of the Legio XVI Flavia Firma.

Sura became a Christian bishopric, a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Hierapolis Euphratensis, the capital of the Roman province of Syria Euphratensis, as witnessed by a 6th-century Notitia Episcopatuum.

[2][3][4] No longer a residential bishopric, Sura is now listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

Remains of the fortress at Sura. Photo by Frank Kidner