Alexandria Troas

tributed greatly to its embellishment; the aqueduct still

preserved is due to the latter. Constantine considered
making Troas the capital of the Roman Empire.[6]

1.2 Roman
In Roman times, it was a signicant port for travelling
between Anatolia and Europe. Paul of Tarsus sailed for
[7]
Coin (Didrachm) of Alexandreia, 102-66 BC. Obverse: Laureate Europe for the rst time from Alexandria Troas and
head of Apollo. Reverse: Apollo Smintheus standing right, quiver returned there from Europe (it was there that the episode
over shoulder, holding bow, arrow, and patera, of the raising of Eutychus later occurred[8] ). Ignatius of
[ in exergue].
Antioch also paused at this city before continuing to his
martyrdom at Rome.[9]
Alexandria Troas (Alexandria of the Troad"; Greek:
; Turkish:
Eski Stambul) is
the site of an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean 1.3 Byzantine
Sea near the northern tip of Turkey's western coast, a little south of Tenedos (modern Bozcaada). It is located Several of its later bishops are known: Marinus in 325;
southeast of modern Dalyan, a village in the Ezine dis- Niconius in 344; Sylvanus at the beginning of the 5th
trict of anakkale Province. The site sprawls over an es- century; Pionius in 451; Leo in 787; Peter, friend of
timated 400 hectares (990 acres); among the few struc- the Patriarch Ignatius, and adversary to Michael, in the
tures remaining today are a ruined bath, an odeon, a ninth century. In the 10th century Troas is given as a
theatre, gymnasium complex[1] and a recently uncovered suragan of Cyzicus and distinct from the famous Troy
stadion.[2] The circuit of the old walls can still be traced. (Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum, 552; Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani,
64); it is not known when the city was destroyed and
the diocese disappeared. The bishopric remains a titular
1 History
see of the Catholic Church under the name Troas, vacant
since 1971.[10]

1.1

Hellenistic

Troas is also a titular see of the Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Bishop Savas (Zembillas) of Troas[11] served as hierarch from 2002 to 2011,
and then became Metropolitan Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.[12]

[1]

According to Strabo, this site was rst called Sigeia;

around 306 BC Antigonus refounded the city as the
much-expanded Antigonia Troas by settling the people
of ve other towns in Sigeia,[3] including the once inuential city of Neandreia.[4] It did not receive its name
until its name was changed by Lysimachus to Alexandria Troas, in 301 BC, in memory of Alexander III of
Macedon (Pliny merely states that the name changed from
Antigonia to Alexandria[5] ). As the chief port of northwest Asia Minor, the place prospered greatly in Roman
times, becoming a free and autonomous city as early
as 188 BC,[3] and the existing remains suciently attest
its former importance. In its heyday the city may have
had a population of about 100,000.[4] Strabo mentions
that a Roman colony was created at the location in the
reign of Augustus, named Colonia Alexandria Augusta
Troas (called simply Troas during this period). Augustus,
Hadrian and the rich grammarian Herodes Atticus con-

1.4 Ottoman
Karasid Turkomans settled in the area of the Troad in
the 14th century. Their beylik was conquered by the Ottomans in 1336. The ruins of Alexandria Troas came
to be known among the Turks as Eski Stambul, the Old
City.[1] The sites stones were much plundered for building material (for example Mehmed IV took columns to
adorn his Yeni Valide Mosque in Istanbul). As of the
mid-18th century the site served as a lurking place for
bandetti.[13]
1

1.5

Modern

By 1911, the site had been overgrown with vallonea oaks

and much plundered, but the circuit of the old walls could
still be traced, and in several places they were fairly well
preserved. They had a circumference of about ten kilometres, and were fortied with towers at regular intervals.
[14]
Remains of an ancient bath and gymnasium complex can be found within this area; this building is locally
known as Bal Saray (Honey Palace) and was originally endowed by Herodes Atticus in the year 135.[1] Trajan built
an aqueduct which can still be traced.[14] The harbour had
two large basins, now almost choked with sand. It is the
subject of an early twenty-rst century study by German
archaeologists digging and surveying at the site. Their excavation uncovered the remains of a large stadium dating
to about 100 BC.[2]

References

[1] John Freely (2003). The Aegean Coast of Turkey. Redhouse Press, Istanbul, pp.3-8.
[2] Gina Jacobs (2010). Remnants of Glory: A found stadium conjures Olympic history. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
[3] Jona Lendering (2006). Alexandria in Troas (from
Livius.org). Retrieved 2010-4-15.
[4] Robert Jewett (2005). The Troas Project: Investigating
Maritime and Land Routes to Clarify the Role of Alexandria Troas in Commerce and Religion. Retrieved 20104-15.
[5] Pliny, Naturalis Historia 5:124.
[6] Vailh, Simon (1912). "Troas". Catholic Encyclopedia
15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
[7] Paul of Tarsus. Acts 16:8-11.
[8] Acts 20:5-12.
[9] Ignatius of Antioch. Ad Philad. 11:2; Ad Smyrn. 12:1.
[10] Annuario Ponticio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013
ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 997
[11] Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (2002-1-28).
Ordination of Bishop-Elect Savas Zembillas on Saturday,
February 2, 2002 at Holy Trinity Cathedral. Retrieved
2010-4-15.
[12] Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (2011-11-3).
Bishop Savas of Troas Elected Metropolitan of Pittsburgh.
Retrieved 2011-11-17.
[13] Richard Chandler. Travels in Asia Minor, 1764-65.
Quoted in Freely, op. cit.
[14] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alexandria Troas".
Encyclopdia Britannica 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

EXTERNAL LINKS

3 Bibliography
Feuser, Stefan, Der Hafen von Alexandria Troas
(Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt, 2009) (Asia Minor Studien, 63).

4 External links

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Alexandria Troas Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria%20Troas?oldid=650503524 Contributors: Panairjdde, Llywrch,

Charles Matthews, Topbanana, Carlossuarez46, Folks at 137, Adamsan, Pmanderson, Paul August, QuartierLatin1968, Art LaPella, NetBot, Stephenparsons, Hesperian, Ross Burgess, Dejvid, Pol098, Bluemoose, Stefanomione, Phlebas, FlaBot, Odysses, Orioane, Ssbohio, Hmains, Bluebot, Cplakidas, DIEGO RICARDO PEREIRA, Cydebot, Hebrides, Skittleys, Ajcee7, Thijs!bot, Marek69, Missvain,
Roger2909, Jllm06, The Anomebot2, Saltwater4, Baristarim, Gun Powder Ma, Peter Clarke, Deor, VolkovBot, Dipa1965, Dvl007, Takabeg, Catalographer, MonoBot, Lightbot, Legobot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Nedim Ardoa, AlexanderVanLoon, Ian W. Scott, Vidimian, PrinceRegentLuitpold, Crusoe8181, Esoglou, EmausBot, ZroBot, PBS-AWB, Marcocapelle, JohnThorne, Nimetapoeg, Ruinwalker, Lekoren,
Lfdder, X mariooo and Anonymous: 15

5.2

Images

File:Alexandreia-Smintheus.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Alexandreia-Smintheus.jpg License:

CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=166026 Original artist: CNG, (uploaded by Odysses)
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File:Troas_Therme_2.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Troas_Therme_2.JPG License: CC BY-SA
3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Horacio36
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BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work, using
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Original artist: NordNordWest

5.3

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