Uranopolis or Ouranopolis ( grc, Οὐρανόπολις) was a city in the
Chalcidice
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...
in ancient
Macedonia
Macedonia most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
, allegedly founded by
Alexarchus, brother of king
Cassander of Macedonia. Uranopolis was the site of a
mint in the Kingdom of
Thrace. Coins of Uranopolis are known for displaying
Athena or the Muse
Aphrodite Urania, the muse of astronomy, sitting on a globe. The globe represents the
Celestial Sphere
In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...
. It is a common misunderstanding that the globe represents the earth and that this is the first known depiction of the earth in its actual shape.
As
Pliny the Elder does not mention
Sane in his list of towns of Acte (modern
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
), some consider that Uranopolis occupied its site.
Name given erroneously to a city in Galatia
In the 19th and early 20th centuries the name "Uranopolis" was mistakenly given to the town and
bishopric of
Verinopolis in the
Catholic Church's list of
titular sees. Verinopolis was in the late
Roman province of
Galatia Prima
Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...
. Its ruins are near present-day Köhne in
Turkey.
Siméon Vailhé, "Uranopolis" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1912)
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References
Bibliography
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Hellenistic colonies in Chalcidice
Ancient Athos
Antipatrid colonies in Macedonia
Populated places in ancient Macedonia
Former populated places in Greece