Malagina served as a major encampment and fortified staging area (
aplekton) for the
Byzantine army. It was the
aplekton closest to the imperial capital of
Constantinople, and, as such, of major importance during imperial expeditions to the East: it was here that the armies of the powerful themes of
Anatolikon,
Opsikion and
Thrakesion joined the emperor. The region was also the site of the major imperial horse ranches (
metata) in
Asia Minor. It is first mentioned in historical sources in 798, when Empress
Irene assembled an army there. Other sources state that the first mention of Malagina is in a text attributed to St. Methodius, dating from the late seventh century. The site was attacked by the Arabs in 798, 860 and in ca. 875. In 1145, Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos rebuilt the city, restored the fortifications of the district's main fortress at Metabole after a Turkish raid, and used it as a base for his campaigns against the
Seljuk Sultanate of Iconium. The castle of Malagina had fallen into disuse, since the
Ottomans, who had settled in the mountains east of Malagina, advanced gradually towards the south to the Byzantine territory along the Sangarius. Malagina was conquered by the Ottomans in 1306. ==Location==