The Biga River () is a small river in
Çanakkale Province
Çanakkale Province () is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Its area is 9,817 km2, and its population is 559,383 (2022).
Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province ...
in northwestern Turkey. The river begins at the base of
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida' ...
and trends generally northeasterly to the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
. It is about east of the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
. It flows past the towns of
Çan
Çan is a town in Çanakkale Province in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Çan District. and
Biga
Biga may refer to:
Places
* Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey
* Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province
* Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province
* Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part ...
and enters the Sea of Marmara at
Karabiga. It is also known as the Çan (''Çan Çayı'')
"Republic of Turkey 2002"
NW quadrant, CIA Map Number 802565, July 2002, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Kocabaş (''Kocabaş Çayı'').
The Biga was the classical Granicus (, ''Granikòs Potamós'').
The banks near the modern-day town of Biga were the site of the Battle of the Granicus
The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydos (Hellespont ...
, fought in 334 BC between the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
and the forces of the Persian Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...
of Darius III
Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.
Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...
. This was Alexander's first victory over the Persians. In antiquity, the river was described as having strong, turbulent current, with steep banks and varying depth.
There is also a valley named in its honor on Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. The Granicus Valles is at 29.72° N, 131.0° E and runs for .
Notes
References
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External links
Livius.org: Granicus
- pictures of the stream
Rivers of Turkey
Landforms of Çanakkale Province
{{Turkey-river-stub