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Alexandria Troas

Alexandria Troas
Αλεξάνδρεια Τρωάς
Eski Stambul
Troas Therme 2.JPG
Thermae in Aleaxandria Troas
Alexandria Troas is located in Turkey
Alexandria Troas
Shown within Turkey
Alternate name Sigeia, Antigonia Troas, Colonia Alexandria Augusta Troas, Troas
Location Dalyan, Çanakkale Province, Turkey
Region Troad
Coordinates 39°45′06″N 26°09′31″E / 39.75167°N 26.15861°E / 39.75167; 26.15861Coordinates: 39°45′06″N 26°09′31″E / 39.75167°N 26.15861°E / 39.75167; 26.15861
Type Settlement
Area 400 ha (990 acres)

Alexandria Troas ("Alexandria of the Troad"; Greek: Αλεξάνδρεια Τρωάς; Turkish: Eski Stambul) is the site of an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey's western coast, a little south of Tenedos (modern Bozcaada). It is located southeast of modern Dalyan, a village in the Ezine district of Çanakkale Province. The site sprawls over an estimated 400 hectares (990 acres); among the few structures remaining today are a ruined bath, an odeon, a theatre, gymnasium complex and a recently uncovered stadion. The circuit of the old walls can still be traced.

According to Strabo, this site was first called Sigeia; around 306 BC Antigonus refounded the city as the much-expanded Antigonia Troas by settling the people of five other towns in Sigeia, including the once influential city of Neandreia. It did not receive its name until its name was changed by Lysimachus to Alexandria Troas, in 301 BC, in memory of Alexander III of Macedon (Pliny merely states that the name changed from Antigonia to Alexandria). As the chief port of north-west Asia Minor, the place prospered greatly in Roman times, becoming a "free and autonomous city" as early as 188 BC, and the existing remains sufficiently attest its former importance. In its heyday the city may have had a population of about 100,000.Strabo mentions that a Roman colony was created at the location in the reign of Augustus, named Colonia Alexandria Augusta Troas (called simply Troas during this period). Augustus, Hadrian and the rich grammarian Herodes Atticus contributed greatly to its embellishment; the aqueduct still preserved is due to the latter. Constantine considered making Troas the capital of the Roman Empire.


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