Sarayburnu

Sarayburnu (Turkish: Sarayburnu, meaning Palace Horn; known in English as the Seraglio Point) is a promontory separating the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, Turkey. The area is where the renowned Topkapı Palace and Gülhane Park stand. Sarayburnu is included in the historic areas of Istanbul, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

The first settlement on the Sarayburnu goes back to Neolithic, c. 6600 BC. The settlement lasted for almost a millennium before being inundated by the rising level of the sea; however, it might have been moved further inland. The artifacts from this settlement recovered during excavations display some of the distinct features of other artifacts found in other excavations in northwestern Turkey.

Another settlement on the Sarayburnu, named Lygos, was founded by Thracian tribes between the 13th and 11th centuries BC, along with the neighbouring Semistra, which Pliny the Elder had mentioned in his historical accounts. Only a few walls and substructures belonging to Lygos have survived to date, near the location where the famous Topkapı Palace now stands. During the period of Byzantium, the Acropolis used to stand where the Topkapı Palace stands today.

In 667 BC ancient Greek settlers from Megara (near Athens) under the command of King Byzas established Byzantium at the Sarayburnu. Earlier, in 685 BC, the Megarans had established Chalcedon (present-day Kadıköy) on the Anatolian shore, across the Bosporus. Actually the oldest settlements in present-day Istanbul are found on the Anatolian side; such as the Fikirtepe mound which dates from the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age), with artifacts dating from 5500-3500 BC. In nearby Kadıköy (ancient Chalcedon), a large port settlement dating from the Phoenicians (which predates the Megaran settlement) has been discovered.

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