the overseer of every land and sea". The loyalty to Rome allowed Phanagoria to maintain a dominant position in the region until the 4th century, when it was sacked and destroyed by the invading Huns. Middle Ages By the 7th century, the town had recovered from a century of invasions from the steppe peoples. It served as the capital of Old Great Bulgaria between 632 and 665 under Kubrat. Afterwards Phanagoria became (at least nominally) a Byzantine dependency. A Khazar tudun was nonetheless present in the town and de facto control probably rested in Khazar hands until the defeat of Georgius Tzul in 1016. In 704, the deposed Byzantine emperor Justinian II settled in Phanagoria (then governed by the Khazar tudun Balgatzin) with his wife Theodora, a sister of the Khazar Khagan Busir Glavan, before returning to Constantinople by way of Bulgaria. In the 10th century, the town seems to have faced an invasion, supposedly by the Rus. After that, Phanagoria could not compete in significance with neighboring Tmutarakan. In the late Middle Ages the town of Matrega was built on its ruins; the site was part of a network of Genoese possessions along the northern Black Sea coast. During the 15th century, it was the center of de Ghisolfi dominions. Henceforth there has been no permanent settlement on the site. Ecclesiastical history The Genoese colony was canonically established on 1349.02.21 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Matriga. It was suppressed around 1400 AD. Recorded incumbent : Giovanni di Zechia, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1349.02.22 – 1363?) Titular see The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric in 1928 under the name Matriga, which was changed in 1929 already to Matrega. It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : Titular Bishop Teofilius Matulionis (1928.12.08 – 1943.01.09), as Auxiliary Bishop of Mohilev (Belarus) (1928.12.08 – 1943.01.09); later Bishop of Kaišiadorys (Lithuania) (1943.01.09 – 1962.08.20) and on emeritate created Archbishop ad personam (1962.02.09 – death 1962.08.20) Titular Bishop Rafael González Estrada (1944.05.16 – death 1994.03.07), first as Auxiliary Bishop of Quetzaltenango, Los Altos (Guatemala) (1944.05.16 – 1955), then Auxiliary Bishop of Guatemala (Guatemala) (1955 – emeritate 1984.05.29). Excavations The location of Phanagoria was determined in the 18th century, when marble statue bases with dedications to Aphrodite were discovered there. Hecataeus and Strabo mention a local sanctuary of Aphrodite as the largest in the Pontic region.