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Maroneia ( el, Μαρώνεια) is a village and a former municipality in Rhodope regional unit,
East Macedonia and Thrace Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη, translit=Anatolikí Makedonía ke Thráki, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the coun ...
,
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 ...
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality
Maroneia-Sapes Maroneia-Sapes ( el, Μαρώνεια-Σάπες) is a municipality in the Rhodope regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Sapes. The municipality has an area of 641.751 km2. Municipality The mu ...
, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 287.155 km2. Population 6,350 (2011). The seat of the municipality was in Xylagani.


History

In legend, it was said to have been founded by
Maron Maron, also called Maroun or Maro ( syr, ܡܪܘܢ, '; ar, مارون; la, Maron; grc-gre, Μάρων), was a 4th-century Syrian Syriac Christian hermit monk in the Taurus Mountains whose followers, after his death, founded a religious Chris ...
, a son of
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, or even a companion of
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...
. According to
Pseudo-Scymnus Pseudo-Scymnus is the name given by Augustus Meineke to the unknown author of a work on geography written in Classical Greek, the ''Periodos to Nicomedes''. It is an account of the world ('' periegesis'') in 'comic' iambic trimeters which is dedi ...
it was founded by
Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
in the fourth year of the fifty-ninth
Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...
(540 BCE). According to
Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
, its ancient name was Ortagures or Ortagurea. It was located on the hill of Agios Charalampos, and archaeological findings date it as a much older and as a pure
Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
city.
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
says it belonged to the
Cicones The Cicones (; ) or Ciconians were a Homeric ThracianHerodotus, ''The Histories'' (Penguin Classics), edd. John M. Marincola and Aubery de Selincourt, 2003, p. 452 (I10): "The Thracian tribes lying along his route were the Paeti, Cicones, Bisto ...
. Maroneia was close to the
Ismaros Ismarus or Ismaros ( grc, Ἴσμαρος) was a city of the Cicones, in ancient Thrace, mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey''. Homeric Ismarus After their departure from Troy, Odysseus and his companions stop at Ismaros. They sack the town, and ...
mentioned by
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
in the ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...
''. Some scholars identify Maroneia with his Ismaros. Homer has Odysseus plundering the city but sparing Maron, whom he identifies as a priest of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
. Maron presents Odysseus with a gift of
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
, as well as with gold and silver. In the era of
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, Maroneia was famous for its wine production. The wine was esteemed everywhere; it was said to possess the odor of
nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
, and to be capable of mixture with twenty or more times its quantity with water. That the people of Maroneia venerated
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, we learn not just from its famous Dionysian Sanctuary, the foundations of which can still be seen today, but also from the city's coins. It was a member of the Delian League. In 200 BCE it was taken by
Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...
; and when he was ordered by the Romans to evacuate the towns of Thrace, he vented his rage by slaughtering a great number of the inhabitants of the city. The
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
subsequently granted Maroneia to Attalus, King of
Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...
, but almost immediately revoked their gift and declared it a free city. Maroneia was the largest and most important of all ancient Greek colonies of Western Thrace. The city owed its prosperity to the extensive and rich territory and also to the port which favored the development of intense commercial activity. Furthermore, Romans had granted many privileges to the city, such as the proclamation its freedom and the increase of its territory, where a dense network of rural settlements was developed. Today's settlement is located on a hillside of mount Ismaros. It was transferred there in the 17th century CE due to the threat of piracy. During the Greek Revolution of 1821, people from Maroneia, like Panagiotis Michanidis and Georgios Gevidis, supported the revolt. In December 1877
Captain Petko Voyvoda Petko Kirkov Kaloyanov Петко Кирков (Каракирков, Киряков, Калоянов), better known as Captain Petko Voyvoda (Капитан Петко Войвода; 5 December 1844 – 7 February 1900) was a 19th-centur ...
overthrew the Ottoman rule and established a free administration in the town. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic
titular bishopric 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 ...
called Maronea.


Notable people

*
Metrocles Metrocles ( grc-gre, Μητροκλῆς; fl. c. 325 BC) was a Cynic philosopher from Maroneia. He studied in Aristotle’s Lyceum under Theophrastus, and eventually became a follower of Crates of Thebes, who married Metrocles’ sister Hippar ...
(4th century BC), Cynic philosopher * Hipparchia, Cynic philosopher and sister of Metrocles *
Sotades Sotades ( el, Σωτάδης; 3rd century BC) was an Ancient Greek literature#Hellenistic poetry, Ancient Greek poet. Biography Sotades was born in Maroneia, either the one in Thrace, or in Crete. He lived in History of Alexandria#Ptolemaic era, ...
(3rd century BC), poet * Petko Kiryakov (Captain Petko Voyvoda) (1844–1900), Bulgarian politician and leader of the national revolution *
Archbishop Michael of America Archbishop Michael (May 27, 1892 – July 13, 1958), born Thucydides Konstantinides ( el, Θουκυδίδης Κωνσταντινίδης), in Maroneia of Western Thrace, was the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America from December ...
(1892-1958)


Notes


Sources

*Durando, Furio, ''Greece: A Guide to the Archaeological Sites'', 2004. * *Smith, William, (1857), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography''. * Psoma, Selene, Chryssa Karadima and Domna Terzopoulou, ''The Coins from Maroneia and the Classical City at Molyvoti: A Contribution to the History of Aegean Thrace'' (Athens: Diffusion de Boccard, 2008) (Meletemata, 62). {{Maroneia-Sapes div Populated places in Rhodope (regional unit) Ionian colonies in Thrace Populated places in ancient Thrace Catholic titular sees in Europe Members of the Delian League