Sea of Marmara (Bithynia, Hellespontos und Europe)

Research project P 14570 Sea of Marmara (Bithynia, Hellespontos and Europe) Johannes KODER 09.10.2000 The byzantine provinces of Europe (eastern Thrace) and - on the Asiatic shore of the Sea of Marmara - Bithynia and Hellespontos, all of them next to the capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), hold a high significance for the town and for the whole empire, especially regarding aspects of military, economy and traffic situation. Nevertheless, this important area has no description of its own history and geography up to now. The well-known Kommission flir die Tabula Imperii Byzantini of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where preparatory work from several years still exists, tries to remedy this desideratum by supporting the project,,Sea of Marmara". In accordance with its well-established conception there will be an elaborated description of the region`s history, church-history, economy, but also its traffic connections such as Via Egnatia or Via Trajana. Monuments, which are archaeologically provable even today, will be recorded and documented through several surveys, monuments already lost (settlements, castles and fortresses, churches etc.) are to be caught up with scientific literature, simply to ,complete the picture" of byzantine life in this area. The volume`s` core will be a catalog, arranged in alphabetical order, presenting all the toponyms proved in a historical or archaeological way, each with a short historical summary and a description of all the remains still existing. In such a way, there will arise a historicogeographical picture of the area around Sea of Marmara from Late Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages, a picture, which is to be depict on a map, too.