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Perinthos in Marmara Ereğlisi, an Ancient Capital on the Sea

On the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, on the peninsula where Marmara Ereğlisi stands today, lies a port city with a history of well over two and a half thousand years.

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Perinthos in Marmara Ereğlisi, an Ancient Capital on the Sea

On the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, on the peninsula where Marmara Ereğlisi stands today, lies a port city with a history of well over two and a half thousand years. Its name was Perinthos, and in later periods Herakleia. Its walls still stand, its theatre is being brought to light by excavation, and its burial mounds and finds are scattered across the district and its museums. This guide describes the city, its history, and where and how to see it today.

A port city on the Propontis

Perinthos lies on the northern shore of the Propontis, the ancient name of the Sea of Marmara, in the Marmara Ereğlisi district of Tekirdağ. According to the official page of the excavation team, the city sits along the Istanbul-Tekirdağ-Çanakkale-İzmir main highway. It is roughly 90 kilometres from Istanbul and 43 kilometres from Tekirdağ. The Culture Portal of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism states that the city was founded in the 6th century BC by groups who came from the island of Samos.

The site holds the status of a first and third degree archaeological site. The record on the Culture Portal rests on the 2014 Tekirdağ Culture Inventory of the Tekirdağ Governorate Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism; the inventory was prepared within a support programme of the Thrace Development Agency. A master's thesis prepared at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2023 presents Perinthos as an important port city of Eastern Thrace. The same thesis lists an acropolis, a lower city, necropolis areas and two large harbours. In other words, the subject is not a single monument but a whole urban layout spread over a peninsula and the slopes around it. Because modern Marmara Ereğlisi grew on and beside the ancient city, ancient traces often appear in the middle of everyday life.

The history of the city, from the Persians to provincial capital

According to the entry in the Turkey Tourism Encyclopedia, the city first came under Persian rule and regained its independence in 476-475 BC. In the middle of the 4th century BC, Philip II of Macedon besieged the city and failed to take it; this siege is the best known reason Perinthos appears in ancient authors. The encyclopedia also reports that Alexander the Great had coins struck here in his own name.

The city was an important centre in the Roman period. The thesis at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University records that Perinthos served as the capital of the province of Thrace in Roman times. The same encyclopedia entry writes that the Roman Empire won the war between Rome and Byzantion, and that in memory of this war a large statue of Septimius Severus was set up in Perinthos. The name of the city later changed to Herakleia. The entry also notes that the city, known under the name Herakleia, was renowned for carpet weaving. Sources say different things about when the name changed. For this reason it is correct to place the two names side by side, as Perinthos/Herakleia. The excavation team also presents itself under this double name.

The acropolis and the line of the walls

The Culture Portal says that the walls are the best preserved monument that Perinthos has handed down from antiquity. They consist of the acropolis walls and the lower city walls, and they enclose the city on the north and the west. In the northwest corner of the acropolis the walls are preserved in places to a height of 6 to 7 metres. The sea walls on the north of the peninsula, facing the harbour, still stand in part to about 5 metres. The official record states that the walls seen in Ereğli today date from the 5th century AD.

Because the southern slopes of the acropolis are very steep, no wall was thought necessary in that direction. In the southwest, retaining walls were built to stop the ground from sliding under the weight of the buildings. When you walk along the walls, reading the natural topography of the acropolis, seeing where a wall was needed and where the slope was enough, is an instructive exercise. The northern lower city walls in the Kalekapı quarter, on the other hand, have been completely destroyed by construction activity; this loss also shows how difficult it is to protect archaeological sites inside a living town.

A city built like a theatre

The Culture Portal reports that the ancient author Diodoros, describing the siege by Philip II in the middle of the 4th century BC, wrote that the houses on the slopes of the acropolis looked from afar like people sitting on the rows of a theatre. This comparison explains very well how the city was placed on a sloping hillside, step by step. Seen from the sea, the houses resembled rising rows of seating.

The thesis of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University counts the theatre among the structures that survive today. On the excavation team's page, the theatre and the stadium are listed as separate excavation areas, and in the theatre the stage building and the theatron appear as separate photo headings. The 2022 season of work here is also listed separately on the team's page. Rather than offering an exact comparison for the size of the theatre, it is more accurate to see it as one part of the city's layout spread over the slope.

Necropolis, tumuli and water channels

The city was an organised geography not only of the living but also of the dead. The excavation team presents the necropolis area and the vaulted structure as separate excavation areas. The Turkey Tourism Encyclopedia describes the Thracian tumuli as monumental burial mounds from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The same entry reports that in Thracian custom the dead were buried with their horses, and that separate tumuli were even built for the horses. The finds of the Naip Tumulus displayed in the Tekirdağ Museum are a good starting point for those who want to see traces of this custom in the region.

The encyclopedia also mentions a sarcophagus from the Roman period. The sarcophagus was commissioned by Valeria Lucia, known as Cleopatra, for Mocellus, the son of her husband Marcus. The thesis at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, for its part, lists among the surviving structural remains the wall towers, fragments of the wall bodies, and examples of civil architecture from later periods such as the Constantine/Metropolitan House. The encyclopedia also records that in excavations carried out in 1993 through the Tekirdağ Museum Directorate a basilica with a mosaic floor was uncovered; this structure is mentioned as an archaeological remain that tells of the later period of the city.

Water was also an important part of city life. The same encyclopedia writes that from the Roman period onward the water needs of the city were met from Değirmendere, with water brought to Marmara Ereğlisi in terracotta pipes from about 17 kilometres away. So every fountain or aqueduct fragment you meet while walking in the district belongs to a very long tradition of engineering.

Excavations and what has emerged since 2021

The thesis of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University says that the current excavation work in the ancient city began in 2021. The 2021 and 2022 seasons can be followed under separate headings on the excavation team's page. In 2021 the temple area, the O.N.16-17 area and a sounding stand out. In 2022 the temple area with the Byzantine necropolis and the work at the theatre are listed.

The team's work headings are not limited to excavation. The page includes 3D documentation, small finds, architecture and anthropological studies. It also lists geophysical surveys by Istanbul Technical University, a topographic map, conservation and restoration, underwater work and zooarchaeological studies. This list shows that a modern archaeological project is far more than digging soil. The excavation house is in the Bahçelievler neighbourhood of Marmaraereğlisi, and its address appears on the team's official page.

Because the work continues, the appearance of the site can change over time. An excavation trench you see today, or an area that has been covered over, may be something quite different a few seasons later. This makes every visit a little different.

Where to see the finds and how to visit

The finds of Perinthos are not gathered in one place. The thesis at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University states that many archaeological objects belonging to the city are displayed in the Tekirdağ Museum, in the Marmaraereğlisi Open Air Museum (Municipal Park, the Stone Garden), in the garden of the Marmaraereğlisi Municipality building and in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.

The official page of the Tekirdağ Museum says that the Stone Works Hall displays stelae, votive stelae and statues from several ancient sites including Perinthos. In the museum garden, architectural fragments from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods are on open display. For working days and hours, check the current information on muze.gov.tr.

According to the Culture Portal, the archaeological site lies on the left side of the road leading to the centre of Marmara Ereğlisi. For the entry conditions of the excavation area, consult the official pages of the Tekirdağ Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and of the Perinthos Excavation. A sensible order is to visit the museum first to get to know the finds, then go to the district and read the location of the walls and the theatre. The hours when the light is low are better for photographing the walls; in summer heat, do not forget water and a hat.

Sources

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