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In the several centuries following the founding of [[Christianity]], five particular cities and centers of Christianity were considered to be the '''Apostolic Sees'''.

The Churches in each of these cities was considered Apostolic because it was founded (at least allegedly) by one of the [[Apostle]]s.

* [[Rome]], in present-day Italy, from the Apostle [[Saint Peter]].

* [[Constantinople]], now [[Istanbul]] in present-day Turkey, from the Apostle [[Saint Andrew]]. (See [[Patriarch of Constantinople]].)

* [[Antioch]], in present-day Syria, from the Apostle [[Saint Peter]]. (See [[Patriarch of Antioch]], [[Antiochian Orthodox Church]], [[Syrian Orthodox Church]].)

* [[Alexandria]], in present-day Egypt, from the Apostle [[Saint Mark]]. (Three bishops now claim to hold this office as St. Mark's successor: one [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] patriarch, one [[Eastern Rites|Eastern-rite]] Catholic patriarch, and the [[Coptic Christianity|Coptic]] pope.)

* [[Jerusalem]], in present-day Israel, or Palestine, from the twelve [[apostle]]s themselves as the original [[Christian Church|Church]]. (See [[Patriarch of Jerusalem]].)

== Present day ==

In the present day, the See of Rome is the seat of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the See of Constantinople is the primary See of the (less centralized) [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. The other three Eastern Sees are seats of Eastern Orthodox patriarchs.

== See also ==

* [[Holy See]]
* [[episcopal see]]

[[Category:Christian history]]

[[it:Sedi apostoliche]]

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Apostolic_See" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_See, used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]