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Bithynica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2013

Extract

The following notes are the results of several journeys in the district between Brusa and Mihallitch, which, in spite of its accessibility, is archaeologically ill known.

they deal with:—

1. The Byzantine Churches of Triglia and Syge.

2. The Byzantine fortresses: Caesarea Germanice, Katoikia, Koubouklia.

3. Besbicus-Kalolimno.

4. Inscriptions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1907

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References

Page 285 Note 1 Κλεώνυμος καὶ Παπαδόπουλος Βιθυνικά σώζονται παραλίως πολλὰ ἐρείπια ἐντὸς τῶν θαλατσίων ὐδάτων As far as I could gather from enquiries at Triglia these remains are slightly east of the village.

Page 287 Note 1 See below.

Page 287 Note 2 Cf. B.C.H. xvii. 545 ff., cf. xxiii. 592 (2). Evangelides identifies it with Bryllion (Steph. Byz. s.v.) in Πλάτων 159.

Page 287 Note 3 See especially the Synaxarium Cons'politanut, M. J. Gedeon's Βυζαντινὸν Εορτο λόγιον and Tr. Evangelides Βίοιτῶν Αγίων (Athens, 1895).

Page 287 Note 4 Triglia and Syki certainly existed in the fourteenth century, being marked on the Catalan (1395) and other maps. Triglia is mentioned earlier by Cantacuzenus (i. 45, ii. 34).

Page 287 Note 5 Σωτήρ xii. (1889), 93–96, 154–157, 275–281; cf. Πλάτων x. (1889), 274–286; Περὶ Τριγλείας ἀρχαίου Βρυλλίου by the same author. The monastery of Melikion (see below) is the subject of a special study by Hergès, A. in Bessarione, v. (1899), 921.Google Scholar

Page 287 Note 6 M. J. Gedeon, Εγγραφοι Λίθοικαὶ Κεράμια p. 27.

Page 287 Note 7 Kleonymos, p. 43, ἀγίου Στεφάνου ἤ τοῦ Βαθέως ᾿Ρύακοσ the latter is certainly wrong, as the monastery τοῦ Βαθέως ῾Ρύακοσ was dedicated to the Saviour and still exists behind the village.

Page 287 Note 8 The two names are of course not incompatible. Similarly the monastery founded by Theophanes on Kalolimno is called indifferently τοῦ ἀγίου Θεοφάνουσ after its founder or Σωτῆροσ after the dedication.

Page 287 note 9 Gedeon, Βυζ Εορτολόγιον Jan. 11.

Page 287 note 10 Acta SS. Mar. 26, B Βυζ Εορτολόγιον Mar. 26, 27, Sept. 3.

Page 288 note 1 This is the date given with the Hegira year 1039 by Evangelides in Βίοι τῶν Αγίων p. 85: 1613, the date given in Σωτήρ thus appears to be an error.

Page 288 note 2 Evangelides mentions especially the minaret and dome: the south wall has also been extensively repaired.

Page 288 note 3 A similar lintel lies just inside the threshold of the west door of the church.

Page 290 note 1 The tile arch in which this window was set is plainly visible in the outer face of the southern wall.

Page 290 note 2 The arcade here seems to have opened on a colonnade along the south side of the church.

Page 290 note 3 Synax. Cp. Oct. 6. Two local saints of the name are known, Niketas, bishop of Apollonia (Mar. 20) and Niketas, Hegoumenos of Medikion (Ap. 3); both, however, lived at about the same time as Niketas Patricius.

Page 292 note 1 ‘On the side to the west are on either side the door a shallow neech, and over these are arches in the wall from pillaster to pillaster’ (Covel, B.M. Add. MS. 22, 912 f. 266).

Page 292 note 2 α, β, γ, δ, shew the space covered by the dome; ε, ζ windows.

Page 292 note 3 One of the columns supporting the dome—the north-eastern—is reputed to be of an artificial and semi-translucent stone: it is really of very ordinary granite. Many ‘lords’ have attempted (in vain) to steal it, as it contains gold. For this reason, presumably, I was forbidden to complete my measurements of the interior of the church.

Page 292 note 4 ‘The floor hath been all finely tessallated: in the nave remaine many pieces; one pane is very entire where I have placed it, of black and white marble.’ Covel, loc. cit.

Page 292 note 5 AlsoΑγίου Σεργίου τοῦ Μηδικιῶνοσ (Acta Nicetae, Ap. 3).

Page 293 note 1 Bessarione, v. 1899, 9–21, where 780 is given as the probable date of the foundation. Other references are to be found in Acta SS. Apr. 3 and May 4; Theod. Stud. p. 1317 (Migne); Mich. Pselli, Ep. 29; Νέος Ελληνομνήμων, iii. 382, No. 13 (Sigillion, 1657); Sathas, Μεσ. Β, βλ. iii. 601 (do. 1674).

Page 293 note 2 This is also the plan given by Covel's rough sketch: he found twenty-five monks there. Add. MS. 22, 912 f. 266.

Page 293 note 3 Mar. 17 (S. Theosterictus), 28 (S. Hilarion), Apr. 1 (S. Macarius), cf. Anal. Boll. xvi. (1857), 140 sqq. (Acta S. Macarii); cf. also Theod. Stud. Ep. ii. 146; Migne, Patr. Gr. C. 1165 ( Vita S. Stephani junioris.)

Page 293 note 4 Sathas, Μες. Βιβλ iii. 587, cites a sigillion of 1652, Περὶ τῶν χωρίων Τριγλίας καὶ Ελεγμῶν ὄτι σταυροπήγιά εἰσι καὶ οὐχὶ ὐποκείμενα τῷ Προύσησ The metropolitan of Brusa, however, claimed the title of Τριγλίας in 1658 (Evangelides) and in a patriarchal sigillion of 1657 Triglia is ὐποκειμένη τῇ μητροπόλει Προύσης (Νέος Ελληνομνήμων, iii. 1906, p. 382, No. 13): but the freedom of the monasteries Pelekete and Medikion is vindicated by later sigillia, Sathas, Μες. Βιβλ iii. 594 (1658), 601 (1675), respectively, that of Pelekete again in 1788 (Ξενοφάνησ i. 333) and 1794 (Νέος Ελληνομνήμων iii. 398, No. 76).

Page 294 note 1 The correct spelling is Συκή but as this word has an obscene significance in Turkish, Συγὴ is the form in use.

Page 294 note 2 The village, church, and an ἀγίασμα with healing powers are mentioned by Wheler (p. 213), and some particulars of the church are given by MacFarlane, Charles (Turkey and its Destiny (1851), ii. 87).Google Scholar A single inscription (funerary) is recorded by Evangelides, Ξενοφάνησ i. 332.

Page 294 note 3 After the fire in 1808. His name was Comnenes of Mytilene (Willis, Holy Sepulchre, p. 156).

Page 297 note 1 Loc. cit.

Page 297 note 2 Boots are a regular offering to Michael, S. in Lesbos, : B.S.A. ii. 151.Google Scholar

Page 297 note 3 This is especially interesting as the only hint I have heard of apparitions in this or the neighbouring churches.

Page 298 note 1 Deubner, de Incubatione, 65 i f.; M. Hamilton, Incubation, p. 139; cf. W. Lueken, Michael, pp. 74 ff.

Page 298 note 2 Procopius (de Aedificiis, 316) speaks of a church of S. Michael and a hospital there (ἀρχαγγέλου τέμενος καὶ τῶν νοσούντων ἀναπαυστήριον) and the name Pythia is sufficient warrant for the assumption that Apollo was the original patron of the baths. Some description of Pythia Therma (Kouri near Yalova) is given by G. Makris (τὸ Κατιρλι p. 61) and M. Gedeon in Νεολόγοσ (Constantinople, Sept. 1887, No. 5490). The church retains its dedication.

Page 298 note 3 Sacr. Serm. iv (i. 503, Dind.).

Page 298 note 4 P. 37 B.

Page 298 note 5 Hamilton, loc. cit. 222. The church at Tepejik is modern, but a cell has been specially built off the south aisle for violent lunatics. Another instance of this function of S. Michael can be cited from Nenita in Chios where (in 1638) madmen were brought to regain their sanity at the church of the Taxiarchs (see inf. p. 345). I was told in Chios this year that though the Anargyri and the Panagia were now the chief healers of the island, S. Michael was still credited with such powers at Nenita.

Page 298 note 6 Hamilton, 218.

Page 298 note 7 She has healing shrines at Kapu-Dagh (succeeding Dindymene ?), at Kurshunlu (succeeding Placiane) especially for eye diseases, at Kios (Παζαριώτισσα) and at Triglia (see above).

Page 298 note 8 N.H. v. 143.

Page 298 note 9 v. i. 14.

Page 298 note 10 Or. xlvii. p. 546 R.

Page 298 note 11 The best view of the coinage is given in the Recueil des Monnaies Grecques d'Asie Mineure, i. 2. 280.

Page 298 note 12 Acta SS. May 9.

Page 298 note 13 Acta SS. April 3.

Page 298 note 14 These details are given by the version published by T. E. Evangelides in his Βίοιτῶν Αγίων The text runs: Καισάρειαν τὴν ἐν Βιθυνιᾳ πάντες ἴσασιν ὠς ὐπερεξηρημένην τῶν πλησιοχώρων πόλεων καὶ οἰονεὶ ἀποτετμημένην διά τε τὸ τοῦ πολίσματος ὀχυρώτατον καὶ ὠραιον καὶ διὰ τὸ τοῦ ἀέρος εὔκρατον καὶ ἐλευθέριον καὶ καὶ τὸ καιροὺς τῶν ἐπικαρπίων ἀφθονώτατον

Page 299 note 1 Imhoof, Mon. Gr. 439, where the coin is attributed to the Germanicia Commagenes: this is corrected in the same author's Gr. Münzen, p. 73 [597]. I bought a coin in Brusa with the legend Καισάρειας Γερμανικῆς πρὸς ᾿ Ο (Recueil des Monti. d'Asie M., Pl. XLIV. 3 = No. 3, p. 281.)

Page 299 note 2 B.M. Catal. (Bithynia), No. 7.

Page 299 note 3 Ibid. No. 2.

Page 299 note 4 The derivation of Tachtali from takt (=throne) and aali (= sublime), which gives some colour to the theory of the ancient importance of the place, is nevertheless erroneous; the name is really from takta=plank; Kleonymos (Βιθυνικά p. 97) says the inhabitants are wood-cutters.

Page 299 note 5 At Besh-Evler.

Page 299 note 6 Ed. 1657, i. 285.

Page 299 note 7 B.M. Add. MS. 22, 912.

Page 299 note 8 ii. 191.

Page 299 note 9 i. 78 (Tartali).

Page 299 note 10 J.R.G.S. 1897, 154.

Page 299 note 11 This implies probably that the village dates back before the Turkish conquest. The later (but still old) settlements of immigrant Greeks retain their language: the Turkish-speaking Greek villages of the district are Aïnasi, Anachori, Dansari, Derekeui, Miletler, Yailajik.

Page 299 note 12 J.H.S. xvii. 268 (1). The inscription was first copied about 1670 by Faulkner of Smyrna, who gave his copy to Covel. It is bound at f. 73 of Add. MS. 22, 914 with the note Taken at Tachtale on a Greeke church wall named St. Teodoro: Covel remarks that he was unable to find Mr. Faulkner's inscription. Cornutus is mentioned in C.I.G. 3671: he seems to have been a Cyzicene, probably therefore not the Pro-praetor (Waddington, Fastes, 123).

Page 299 note 13 J.H.S. xvii. 269 (3). I was unable to obtain a fresh copy, as the bath where it is, was occupied by women.

Page 299 note 14 Lequien, Oriens Xt. 1. 628.

Page 300 note 1 G. Pachy, 417 B (1305 Muralt). Von Hammer gives the date as 1307 (immediately before the capture of Besbicus). The first may have been a temporary occupation.

Page 300 note 2 Cf. Pachy, loc. cit. γύναια καὶ παιδάρια πλῆθος μύριον πρὸς τὸ φρούριον φεύγοντα

Page 301 note 1 G. Pachy ii. 380 B φρούριόν τι κατὰ τὴν Μυσίαν τὴν ἐν Ολύμπͺ τὰ Κουβούκλεια λεγόμενον

Page 301 note 2 The word Κουβούκλια is the Byzantine form (surviving in modern Greek) of the Latin Cubicula. The village is better known by its Turkish name, Giubekler.

Page 301 note 3 A geological sketch of the island is given by Texier, , Descr. de l' A.M. ii. 155–6Google Scholar, Mineure, Asie, (L'Univers, xii. 135–6).Google Scholar Pliny regarded it as an island detached by an earthquake from the continent, N.H. ii. 204 (Natura). Besbicum Bithyniae avellit. Dioscorides (Mat. Med. v. 135) and Belon (p. 176) refer to the island as a place where the mollusc ἁλκυόνειον was found.

Page 301 note 4 s.v. Βέσβικοσ

Page 301 note 5 Ap. Rh. i. 989 ff.

Page 302 note 1 Arg. i. 1164 ff.

Page 303 note 1 Frag. 42, σῆμα δὲ αὐτοῦ δείκνυσθαι κατὰ τὸν τὸν ῾Ρύνδακον ποταμὸν οὐ πόρ᾿ῥω θαλάσσης λόφον τινὰ καὶ τοῦτον ἐπικαλεῖσθαι Αίγαίωνος καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόφου τούτου πίδακας ἐκδιδόναι ἐκατὸν καὶ ταύτας καλεῖσθαι παλάμας Βριάρεω

Page 303 note 2 Aigaion also was said to have come from ‘Pelasgian’ Euboea (Schol. A p. Rh. i. 1165), and we may surmise that the population was of the same stock as that of Scylace and Placia on the mainland. A dedication to ‘the Hero’ after the Thracian manner was found in the island by Evangelides (B.C.H. xxiv. 874 (14) from Ξενοφάνησ i. 327), where are ten other inscriptions copied by him at Besbicus.

Page 303 note 3 Steph. Byz., Schol. Ap. Rh.

Page 303 note 4 The type of name seems euphemistic, possibly implying a popular derivation of Βέσβικοσ from βδέω or some such word. It occurs first in the seventh century, Jo. Ant. fragg. in F. Hist. Gr. v. p. 38. The later authors waver between Kalonymos and the modern Kalolimnos or Kalolimiona (‘fair haven’). Randolph and the Sailing Directions for Marmora mention the name Papa (‘the Pope's Island’ in Covel) evidently from the number of monks: it is, however, possibly Besbicus which is referred to by Lupazzolo (1638, B. M. Lansdowne MS. 792) as one of the Symplegades … ‘isola del Papa a quale fu datto da esso Sanmo la maladicione che non producesse alcuna cosa, che cossi sta sin hora.’

Page 303 note 5 See the various Vitae Theophanis prefixed to de Boor's edition: there are considerable remains of the monastery τοῦ Μεγάλου Αγροῦ Παναγία Καρά Δάγ half an hour west of Kurshunlu; it is the ‘castle’ marked on Pococke's and Chevalier's maps, and Carabella's, temple of Neptune’ (Rev. Arch. 1879, 202).Google Scholar The church is a ruin, though here also are remains of an opus sectile pavement. The place has been described by T. E. Evangelides Βίοι τῶν ῾ Αγίων and Judeich, W. (Silzb. Pr. Akad. 1898, ii).Google Scholar

Page 304 note 1 It was already ‘of old ffabrick’ in Luke's time (1680).

Page 304 note 2 Amongst them is the figure of the founder holding a conventional domed church: the original church was probably domed, to judge from the design of the pavement.

Page 304 note 3 Hammer, Von, Gesch. Osm. Reichs, i. 180.Google Scholar

Page 304 note 4 Cf. Buondelmonti (1420) § 63, ‘ad dexteram Calonimon insula videtur in montibus posita nimis: et quia olim per omnem Graeci dominabantur, tunc temporis haec erat habitata: nunc vero in desolationem redacta est et indomita animalia vagantur per eam.’ Martelli (c. 1489, B.M. Add. MS. 15, 760 f. 39 r.) is slightly more explicit: ‘Calonimon et ipsa angusta et deserta insula sequitur, vel mons potius editissimus in mari, in quo oppidum olim fuisse vestigia declarant. Nunc vero omnino deserta insula, ambitus P.M. XVIII, indomitis ferisque animalibus tantum pervia.’ His map, which bears no relation to the real shape of the island, shews a conventional castle and ruins on the northern bay: this and the statement about the vestigia are probably borrowed from Buondelmonti's map; Bordone (1528) also probably draws on the same author, when he calls the island ‘tutta montuosa e da bestie posseduta’ f. LXII. v.

Page 304 note 5 See the notice in Ath. Mitt. xxvii. 418 if.

Page 304 note 6 Quoted by Mordtmann, , Ausland, 1856, p. 650.Google Scholar ‘Die Insel Emir Ali hat ein röthliches Ansehen wie Tenedos, und hat 18 Miglien im Umfange. Sie hat drei Dörfer und ist gut umgebaut.’ Gerlach also (Türkisches Tagebuch, p. 255) speaks of it (‘Calominum’) as ‘von etlichen Dörfern bewohnet’ in 1576.

Page 304 note 7 B.M. Add. MSS. 22, 912 f. 29 r.

Page 304 note 8 B.M. Harl. MSS. 7021 f. 419 r. Randolph, B. (Archipelago, 1687, p. 67)Google Scholar, generally a first-hand authority, says the island was uninhabited, but Covel and Luke both landed.

Page 304 note 9 Already in 1835 when Texier visited the island (Descr. de l'Asie Mineure, ii. 156).

Page 305 note 1 Evangelides (in Πλάτων 83–9) mentions as peculiarities of the Greek spoken, the ‘liquid’ ὐγρόν pronunciation of ρ, and the use of a ch sound for χ The true Greek descent of the inhabitants is defended by Chourmouzes (῾ Η νῆσος ᾿ Αντιγόνη p. 54, note) on the curious ground of their frequent quarrels.

Page 305 note 2 Luke says 110 persons paid Haratch at 10 dollars each; for population Mordtmann, (1854) gives 100 houses, Chourmouzes (1869) 80–90 houses, Evangelides 2,500 persons.

Page 305 note 3 Mordtmann gives 19,564 p. land-tax, 17,000 tithes, 6,000 head-tax, 1,200 fisheries and shipping, 1,000 silk, 750 wine, total 46,414.

Page 305 note 4 So Luke: I ascertained that the revenues still went to a mosque at Constantinople but was unable to discover its name.