Marmara Island ( ) is a Turkish
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
in the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...
. With an area of it is the largest island in the Sea of Marmara and is the second largest island of Turkey after
Gökçeada
Imbros or İmroz Adası, officially Gökçeada (lit. ''Heavenly Island'') since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1 ...
(older name in Turkish: ; el, Ίμβρος, links=no ''Imvros''). It is the center of Marmara district in
Balıkesir Province
Balıkesir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, Aegean. Its adjacent provinces are Çanakkale Province, Çanakkale to the west, İzmir Province, İzmir to the southw ...
. Transportation is possible from
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
by ship and ferry, and by motorboat from
Tekirdağ
Tekirdağ (; see also its other names) is a city in Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. In 2019 the city's population was 204,001.
Tekirdağ town is a commercial centre with a harbour ...
and
Erdek
Erdek (formerly known as ''Artàke'', el, Αρτάκη) is a town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The population was 34,000 in 2010. Located on the Kapıdağ Peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Er ...
. Marmara island is full of historical treasures which increase its attractiveness. The town of "Mermer Plaj"/Marble Beach takes its name from the marble for which the town is famous and which gives the island and the sea their name.
Etymology
![Grande Ludovisi Altemps Inv8574 dettaglio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Grande_Ludovisi_Altemps_Inv8574_dettaglio.jpg)
In ancient times the island was called Proikonesos () or Prokonnesos (), Latinized as Proconnesus.
The modern name "Marmara" is derived from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(''marmaron'') and that from (''mármaros''), "crystalline rock", "shining stone", perhaps from the verb (''marmaírō''), "to flash, sparkle, gleam", because it was famous for the white
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
quarried there. Under the name ''Proconnesus'' it is a
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 archbish ...
of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
(the see has been vacant since the death in 1963 of the most recent occupant), and of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
.
Proconnesian marble is used extensively in the
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
in Constantinople, and exclusively in the
Herculean Sarcophagus of Genzano now in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. Additionally, it was used in the Basilica of Maxentius and the arch of Septime Severe in the Roman Forum (Marble is still the island's primary export).
History
Historical evidence of the first Hellenic presence on the island of Marmara (ancient Prokonnessos) came with the early colonization of Ionian Greeks in the 8th century BC. Stories and legends identify the island as a visiting place of
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...
and the
Argonauts
The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...
and with the Hellenic expedition against Troy. In 493 BC it was burned by a
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n fleet fighting for
Darius the Great
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...
.
The island was ruled for the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
under a Greek tyrant named
Metrodorus.
In 410 BC,
Alcibiades conquered it for Athens.
During the
Diocletianic Persecution
The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...
, the Emperor
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
ordered low-status
Manichaean
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
s to be executed while high-status Manichaeans were to be sent to work in the quarries of Proconnesus or the mines of
Khirbat Faynan Khirbat Faynan, known in late Roman and Byzantine texts as Phaino or Phaeno, is an archaeological site in Wadi Faynan, southern Jordan. It lies just south of the Dead Sea in Jordan. The site was an ancient copper mine that overlooks two Wadis and ...
.
During the reign of
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
in the 4th century, notable aristocracy from
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
first settled on the island. By 569, many
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 ...
aristocrats had built palaces on the island that they had accepted as their home. The greatest palace of this period was built by the Emperor
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
. With the Emperor came a large entourage of nobility, palace guards, tradesmen, and servants. Justinian also built a large convent on Marmara that is one of the earliest in recorded history. The Byzantine royal presence on the island was strongly felt through strong ties to the
Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
. During most of its history, the island was called "Proikonnesos" (island of the royal dowry), and "Prinkipo", (island of the aristocracy).
From the fall of the Byzantine Empire through the beginning of the
Ottoman period
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, the island was almost exclusively populated by
Greek Orthodox Christiansbr>
Beginning in the 17th century some Turks and a relatively large number of
Jewish people
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
lived on the island; most of these were Sephardi who had left Spain after the Inquisition. During World War I much of the population was forced off the island onto the mainland. And, following the war, as a result of the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
and the
population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...
, all remaining Greeks native to the island of Marmara emigrated to Greece and other locations around the globe.
The island's Greek Orthodox diaspora settled primarily in
Neos Marmaras
Neos Marmaras ( el, Νέος Μαρμαράς, ''Néos Marmarás'', , "New Marmara") is a town on the Sithonia peninsula, in the Chalkidiki peninsula, Greece. In 2011, Neos Marmaras had 3,352 permanent residents; however, the summer-time populat ...
in Chalkidiki, the island of
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
and in the city of
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
in northern
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. In addition, Canada, Australia and South America were popular destinations for Greek immigration of that time. Many of the former Jewish residents settled in the North American cities of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland (Oregon) and the Seattle/Tacoma area.
Many of the current residents of Marmara Adasi are descendants of Turks who fled Greek islands during the population transfers of the 1920s and Circassians (Çerkesler) originally from the Russian Caucasus.
1935 earthquake
On 4 January 1935 at 16:41:29 local time, an
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
hit the Marmara Island and its neighboring islands
Avşa
Avşa Island ( tr, Avşa Adası) or Türkeli is a Turkish island in the southern Sea of Marmara with an area of about . It was the classical and Byzantine Aphousia ( el, Ἀφουσία or Ἀφησιά) and was a place of exile during the Byzant ...
and
Paşalimanı
Paşalimanı Island ( tr, Paşalimanı Adası), formerly Halone ( gr, Ἁλώνη), is a small island in the southern Sea of Marmara in Turkey. The island is the fourth biggest island (21.3 km2) of Turkey and administratively belongs to the Erdek ...
, causing five deaths, 30 people injured and several villages destroyed.
Administration center and the villages
Marmara Island has five villages and one central town. The center is called Marmara and is the administration center of two more islands (Avşa and Ekinlik Islands) nearby. The population was mainly Greek along with some Turkish and Jewish population in Marmara settlement until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. Today the local people are originally from different regions of Turkey and Balkans, mainly from Middle and East of Black Sea Region and Western Thrace of Greece. The permanent population, distances from the center, the current names and the previous names of the villages are:
*Marmara ''(Greek; Marmara and Proconnesus); 2183''
*Çinarli ''(Greek; Galemi); 503, 7 Km''
*Gündoğdu ''(Greek; Prastos); 278, 4 Km''
*Topağaç ''(Greek; Kılazaki); 518, 12 Km''
*Asmalı ''(Greek; Aftoni); 237, 18 Km''
*Saraylar ''(Greek; Palatia); 2687, 24 Km''
Panoramic view
See also
*
SS ''Kurtuluş'', a cargo ship sank off the island in 1942 carrying food aid to
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
References
Further reading
Paperspresented to the II. National Symposium on the Aegean Islands, 2–3 July 2004, Gökçeada, Çanakkale
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek geography
Islands of the Sea of Marmara
Islands of Turkey
Populated places in Balıkesir Province
Proconnesus
Fishing communities in Turkey
Islands of Balıkesir Province
Catholic titular sees in Asia
Members of the Delian League