Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia ( grc, Ἁδριανούπολις ἐν Παφλαγονίᾳ) was a city in southwestern

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(modern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

), about 3km west of modern

Eskipazar Eskipazar is a town and district of Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, the population of the district was 16,365, of whom 8,457 lived in the town of Eskipazar. The district covers an area of , and the ...

. It was inhabited at least from the 1st century BC to the 8th century AD. It was named after the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. The city also bore the names of Caesarea or Kaisareia (Καισάρεια) and Proseilemmene.

History

Hadrianapolis had settlements in the late

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and early

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

periods. When Emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

(347–395) made parts of Paphlagonia and Bithynia into a new province called

Honorias Honorias ( el, ) was a late Roman province encompassing parts of Bithynia and Paphlagonia in Asia Minor (modern Asian Turkey). Its capital was Claudiopolis (modern Bolu), and its governor held the modest rank of ''praeses''. History The pr ...

, Hadrianopolis became known as Hadrianopolis in Honoriade, the name by which the ancient episcopal see is known in the list of what are now

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

s included in the ''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' (Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides names ...

''. It is known as the birthplace of Saints Alypios the Stylite and Stylianos of Paphlagonia.

Excavations

Excavations started in 2003. Archaeological surface surveys have uncovered 14 public buildings and other structures in the ancient city. Among these public buildings are two baths, two churches, a defense structure, rock tombs, a theater, an arched and domed structure, a monumental cultic niche, walls, a villa, other monumental buildings and some religious buildings. The church floors are decorated with mosaics and have images of the rivers of

Gihon Gihon is the name of the second river mentioned in the second chapter of the biblical Book of Genesis. The Gihon is mentioned as one of four rivers (along with the Tigris, Euphrates, and Pishon) issuing out of the Garden of Eden that branched fr ...

Pishon The Pishon ( ''Pîšōn'') is one of four rivers (along with Hiddekel (Tigris), Perath (Euphrates) and Gihon) mentioned in the Biblical Book of Genesis. In that passage, a source river flows out of Eden to water the Garden of Eden and from th ...

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

and

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

imprinted on them, which are mentioned in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. Various animals are also depicted in the mosaics of the ancient city, which has been likened to the ancient city of Zeugma. One of the earliest known churches in Anatolia was excavated in Hadrianopolis. In December 2019, archaeologists unearthed an 1800-year-old

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

slab containing a female silhouette most likely depicts Demeter. According to the archaeologist Ersin Çelikbaş, there was an inscription on the surface of the slab- "Herakleides, the son of Glaukos". "The slab has a figure of a woman on it wearing a traditional dress, holding ears of wheat in her right hand and wearing a belt with a snake on her waist. Most probably, this is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture Demeter" said Ersin Çelikbaş. In 2022 new mosaics with polychrome peacock and amphora figures with grape basket decorations were found in a Roman fort. Geophysical and other surveys have revealed 14 public buildings and other structures in the ancient city so far.

References

External links

* "The Paphlagonia Project: An Overview on the Results"

Roman towns and cities in Turkey Roman Paphlagonia Former populated places in Turkey Hadrian History of Karabük Province Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey {{AncientPaphlagonia-geo-stub