Bathonea

Bathonea (Bathoneia) is the name of a long-lost ancient Roman city that was found in 2009 to be located on the European shore of the sea of Marmara, 20 km west from Istanbul in Turkey.[1][2]

The ruins of this town, which have always remained visible, were studied extensively in 1930 by the Swiss archeologist Ernest Mamboury,[3] who - basing upon ancient sources - identified the settlement as the town of Regium.[3] In 2009 a new identification has been proposed, with the Hellenistic-Roman city of Bathonea.[1][2]

At present excavations are conducted under the direction of Dr. Şengül Aydıngün, an associate Professor of the Kocaeli University. The settlement lies 20 kilometres west from Istanbul. Bathonea's site is eight kilometers wide, reaching a small inlet west of Istanbul on the banks of Lake Küçükçekmece. Some remains of this city could be submerged in the waters of this lake. A researcher found in the middle of the lake a lighthouse that belongs to Bathonea. If this is verified, it'll represent one of just three Roman lighthouses known to have existed in the eastern Mediterranean, next to those at Alexandria and Patara.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Heritage Key
  2. 1 2 Independent
  3. 1 2 Mamboury (1953)

Sources


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