Nara Burnu (
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
"Cape Nara"), formerly Nağara Burnu,
in English Nagara Point, and in older sources Point Pesquies,
is a headland on the
Anatolia
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 ...
n side of the
Dardanelles Straits
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
, north of
Çanakkale
Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate).
Çanakkale is ...
.
It is the narrowest and, with , the deepest, section of the
Dardanelles Strait
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
. As a result, it is also the point where the
surface current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a r ...
from the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
to the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
is the strongest, with 1.5 to 2 times the normal rate, occasionally reaching the speed of per hour. The undercurrent is per hour, flowing in the opposite direction.
[Oceanography of the Turkish Straits - Volume 2, Issue 1 - Page 2-9, 1988. "The first two stations cover the northeastern part of the Strait from its Marmara end (Gelibolu-Çardak section) to the vicinity of the Nara Burnu where the channel is constricted and bends sharply. The profiles of the hydrographic properties are ..."] The ancient and medieval city of
Abydos is located at the Nara promontory.
Due to the narrowness of the straits at this point, the site was often chosen for crossings of the Dardanelles by armies, beginning with the
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
monarch
Xerxes I
Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...
during his
Invasion of Greece in 480 BC, who deployed
pontoon bridges
A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry.
...
to allow his army to cross on foot.
References
Dardanelles
Promontories
Geography of Çanakkale Province
Headlands of Turkey
{{coord, 40, 11, 47, N, 26, 24, 52, E, region:TR, display=title