About Kyzikos
Near Erdek, Kyzikos was a wealthy city of the Propontis, with harbours on the isthmus connecting the Kapıdağ Peninsula to the mainland. The vast remains of its Temple of Hadrian and scattered ruins reveal a metropolis now spread across farmland.
History
Kyzikos developed in the first half of the first millennium BCE and became a major port on the Black Sea–Aegean trade route. Its electrum coins circulated widely as a trusted currency. Retaining privileges under Pergamene and Roman rule, it expanded in the second century CE with a great Temple of Hadrian and public buildings. Earthquakes badly damaged its harbours and architecture. It remained a Byzantine regional centre before settlement gradually shifted towards Erdek.
Highlights and principal structures
- Temple of Hadrian
- Amphitheatre
- Theatre
- Three harbours
- City walls
- Roman waterworks
- Necropolis
Historical period
Archaic–Hellenistic–Roman