Alexandria Troas
Alexandria Troas (mod. Eski Stambul) is an ancient Greek city of the Troad, situated on the west coast at nearly its middle point, a little south of Tenedos.
It was founded by Antigonus perhaps about 310 BC, and was called by him Antigonia Troas. Early in the next century the name was changed by Lysimachus to Alexandria Troas, in memory of Alexander the Great. As the chief port of north-west Asia Minor, the place prospered greatly in Roman times, and the existing remains sufficiently attest its former importance. A Roman colony was sent to the place, as Strabo mentions, in the reign of Augustus. Thence Paul of Tarsus sailed for Europe for the first time, and there occurred later the episode of the raising of Eutychus (Acts 20:5-12).
The site as of 1911 was covered with valonia oaks, and has been much plundered (for example Mehmed IV took columns to adorn his new Valideh mosque in Istambul), but the circuit of the old walls can be traced, and in several places they are fairly well preserved. They had a circumference of about six English miles, and were fortified with towers at regular intervals. Remains of some ancient buildings, including a bath and gymnasium, can be found within this area. Trajan built an aqueduct which can still be traced. The harbour had two large basins, now almost choked with sand.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
