Hellenistic According to
Strabo, this site was first called Sigia (Σιγία); around 306 BC
Antigonus refounded the city as the much-expanded Antigonia Troas by settling the people of five other towns in Sigia, 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 the Great of Macedon (
Pliny merely states that the name changed from Antigonia to Alexandria). The city continued being called Alexandria Troas, as is stated in the 4th-5th c. AD
Tabula Peutingeriana. 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,
Roman In Roman times, it was a significant port for travelling between
Anatolia and Europe. According to the account in the
Acts of the Apostles,
Paul of Tarsus sailed for Europe for the first time from Alexandria Troas and returned there from Europe (it was there that the episode of the raising of
Eutychus occurred).
Ignatius of Antioch also paused at this city before continuing to his martyrdom at Rome.
Byzantine Several of its later
bishops are known: Marinus in 325; Niconius in 344; Sylvanus at the beginning of the 5th century; Pionius in 451; Leo in 787; Peter, friend of the
Patriarch Ignatius, and adversary to Michael, in the ninth century. In the 10th century Troas is given as a suffragan of
Cyzicus and distinct from the famous
Troy (
Heinrich Gelzer,
Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum, 552;
Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani, 64); it is not known when the city was destroyed and the diocese disappeared. The bishopric remains a
titular see of the
Catholic Church under the name Troas, vacant since 1971. Troas is also a titular see of the
Eastern Orthodox Church under the
Ecumenical Patriarchate. Bishop Savas (Zembillas) of Troas served as hierarch from 2002 to 2011, and then became
Metropolitan Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh in the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Ottoman Karasid Turkomans settled in the area of the Troad in the 14th century. Their
beylik was conquered by the Ottomans in 1336. The ruins of Alexandria Troas came to be known among the Turks as
Eski Stambul, the "Old City".
Modern By 1911, the site had been overgrown with
Vallonea oaks and much plundered, but the circuit of the old walls could still be traced, and in several places they were fairly well preserved. They had a circumference of about ten kilometres, and were fortified with towers at regular intervals. Remains of an ancient bath and gymnasium complex can be found within this area; this building is locally known as
Bal Saray (Honey Palace) and was originally endowed by Herodes Atticus in the year 135. ==See also==