Gölyazı

Gölyazı is a Turkish town founded on a small peninsula on Lake Uluabat.

Gölyazı was founded by the Ancient Greeks.^[1][2] but remains of the Roman period are abundant.^[3]

Every year the town holds the Stork Festival and until the 20th century, Greeks and Manavlar lived together.^[4] In ancient times it was known as Apolloniatis The name Gölyazı means Fisherwoman

History

Possibly founded as a colony by Miletus, the antiquity of the city is supported by coins from as early as 450BCE, which bear the anchor symbol of Apollo and which have been attributed by some scholars to this Apollonia. The city experienced prosperity under the Attalids during Hellenistic times.

The Roman Emperor Hadrian visited the city and in the Byzantine period, it belonged to the Diocese of Bithinya, then Nicomedia. In 1302 the Ottoman king Osman I took refuge in the castle after the Battle of Bapheus but retreated.

Ruins

The ruins of Gölyazı are, 3.7 kilometers south of the highway. Some remains include:

• An ancient Roman highway.
• A sarcophagus and cover cut from the natural rock at the edge of the ancient road, in a mausoleum in 8.5 x 8.5 meters in size.
• The so-called "Stone Gate" at the narrowest part of the peninsula and city wall with thickness of 5 meters in some places.

• 

  remains of the old Greek Church

• 

  remains of the ancient city walls

• 

  remains of the ancient city

• 

  Gölyazi (Apollonia) ruins

• 

  Lake Uluabat from Gölyazi

References

1. Shachar, Ilan. "Greek Colonization and the Eponymous Apollo." Mediterranean Historical Review (2000), 15:2, 1-26.
2. William Smith, ed. (1854–1857). "Apollonia ad Rhyndacum". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. (London: John Murray, 1854).
3. Aybek S. and Öz A. K. “Preliminary Report of the Archeological Survey at Apollonia Ad Rhyndacum”, Anatolia 27, 1-25, 2004. Aybek S. and Öz. A. K. “The Apollo Sanctuary of Apollonia ad Rhyndacum”, Ist International Symposium on the Oracle in Antiquity and the Cults of Apollo in Asia Minor, Ege University, Izmir, 2005. Abmeier A. “Zur Geschichte von Apollonia am Rhyndakos", E. Schwertheim (ed.), Mysische Studien. AMStud 1, 1990.
4. "Gölyazı - Index Anatolicus". nisanyanmap.com. Retrieved 2016-03-28.

Coordinates: 40°17′00″N 28°57′00″E / 40.2833°N 28.9500°E