page_title: Abydos (Hellespont)
section_title: Medieval period
hierarchical_section_title: Abydos (Hellespont) / History / Medieval period
caption_attribution_description: Türkçe: Çanakkale –Abydos Burnu.Istanbul Boğazı’na giriş Clara Barthold Mayer, 43,5 x 57,5 cm, 18. yüzyıl sonları
context_page_description: Abydos was an ancient city and bishopric in Mysia. It was located at the Nara Burnu promontory on the Asian coast of the Hellespont, opposite the ancient city of Sestos, and near the city of Çanakkale in Turkey. Abydos was founded in c. 670 BC at the most narrow point in the straits, and thus was one of the main crossing points between Europe and Asia, until its replacement by the crossing between Lampsacus and Kallipolis in the 13th century, and the abandonment of Abydos in the early 14th century.
  In Greek mythology, Abydos is presented in the myth of Hero and Leander as the home of Leander. The city is also mentioned in Rodanthe and Dosikles, a novel written by Theodore Prodromos, a 12th-century writer, in which Dosikles kidnaps Rodanthe at Abydos.
context_section_description: Pope Martin I rested at Abydos in the summer of 653 whilst en route to Constantinople. As a result of the administrative reforms of the 7th century, Abydos came to be administered as part of the theme of Opsikion. The office of kommerkiarios of Abydos is first attested in the mid-7th century, and was later sometimes combined with the office of paraphylax, the military governor of the fort, introduced in the 8th century, at which time the office of komes ton stenon is last mentioned.
  After the 7th century AD, Abydos became a major seaport. Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, during his campaign against Constantinople, crossed over into Thrace at Abydos in July 717. The office of archon at Abydos was restored in the late 8th century and endured until the early 9th century. In 801, Empress Irene reduced commercial tariffs collected at Abydos. Emperor Nikephoros I, Irene's successor, introduced a tax on slaves purchased beyond the city. The city later also became part of the theme of the Aegean Sea and was the seat of a tourmarches.
  Abydos was sacked by an Arab fleet led by Leo of Tripoli in 904 AD whilst en route to Constantinople. The revolt of Bardas Phokas was defeated by Emperor Basil II at Abydos in 989 AD. In 992, the Venetians were granted reduced commercial tariffs at Abydos as a special privilege. In the early 11th century, Abydos became the seat of a separate command and the office of strategos (governor) of Abydos is first mentioned in 1004 with authority over the northern shore of the Hellespont and the islands of the Sea of Marmara.
  In 1024, a Rus' raid led by a certain Chrysocheir defeated the local commander at Abydos and proceeded to travel south through the Hellespont. Following the Battle of Manzikert, Abydos was seized by the Seljuk Turks, but was recovered in 1086 AD, in which year Leo Kephalas was appointed katepano of Abydos. Abydos' population likely increased at this time as a result of the arrival of refugees from northwestern Anatolia who had fled the advance of the Turks. In 1092/1093, the city was attacked by Tzachas, a Turkish pirate. Emperor Manuel I Komnenos repaired Abydos' fortifications in the late 12th century.
  By the 13th century AD, the crossing from Lampsacus to Kallipolis had become more common and largely replaced the crossing from Abydos to Sestos. During the Fourth Crusade, in 1204, the Venetians seized Abydos, and, following the Sack of Constantinople and the formation of the Latin Empire later that year, Emperor Baldwin granted the land between Abydos and Adramyttium to his brother Henry of Flanders. Henry of Flanders passed through Abydos on 11 November 1204 and continued his march to Adramyttium. Abydos was seized by the Empire of Nicaea, a successor state of the Eastern Roman Empire, during its offensive in 1206–1207, but was reconquered by the Latin Empire in 1212–1213. The city was later recovered by Emperor John III Vatatzes. Abydos declined in the 13th century, and was eventually abandoned between 1304 and 1310/1318 due to the threat of Turkish tribes and disintegration of Roman control over the region.
caption: View of the straits at Abydos.
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