Chrysoupolis

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Chrysoupolis ( ancient Greek Χρυσούπολη = gold city ) was a Byzantine city at the mouth of the Strymon . The ruins of the city are about 2.5 km northwest of Paralia Ofryniou in the Kaledes district . It was the most important port on the Strymonian Gulf from the 10th to the 16th centuries . There were also ships upriver to Lake Achinos , which is now drained.

history

The city was founded in the 8th or 9th century and is considered the successor settlement of ancient Eion . It was on the road from Thessaloniki to Kavala . After the decline of Amphipolis , which was about 5 km northwest, the Amphipolis diocese was transferred to Chrysoupolis in 869 . The western fortification was built in the Middle Byzantine period. Historians from this period often continue to call the city Amphipolis, although they mean the city at the mouth of the Strymon. 1082 Chrysoupolis is in a Chrysobullos logos of Alexios I. mentioned. In 1341 Andronikos III. renew the city walls and an extension was added to the east. In the same century there was a further expansion before the city was conquered by the Ottomans under Mehmed II . Chrysoupolis was the most important trading center in the region under Ottoman rule. However, increasing piracy hit the city so hard that it was relocated to Orfani Castle 6 km to the east at the beginning of the 16th century . When Pierre Belon visited the region in 1547, Chrysoupolis was in ruins.

description

The older western castle complex is located south of the old harbor basin. It covered an area of ​​about 3  hectares . Some sections of the western, southern and eastern walls are still in ruins. The later extension, which was about 5 hectares in size, extended to the east. From this only the southern and eastern wall lines can be followed. A settlement outside the walls stretched west of the fortification. The city used to be thought of as the Byzantine Kaisaropolis .

The titular bishopric Chrysopolis in Macedonia goes back to Chrysoupolis.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pierre Belon: Les Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables, trouvees en Grece, Asie, Judee, Egypte, Arabie & autres pays estranges, redigées en trois livres, par Pierre Belon, du Mans. Reveuz de nouveau & augmentez de figures. Le Catalog contenant les plus notables choses, est en la page suyvante , 1588, p. 125 ( online )

Coordinates: 40 ° 47 '  N , 23 ° 53'  E