The Biga River ( tr, Biga Çayı) is a small river in

Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province has a European (Thrace) and an Asian (Anatolia) part. The E ...

in northwestern Turkey. The river begins at the base of Mount Ida and trends generally northeasterly to the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via t ...

. It is about east of the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

. It flows past the towns of

Çan Çan is a town and district of Çanakkale Province in the Marmara region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the ...

and

Biga Biga may refer to: Places * Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey * Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province * Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province * Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest par ...

and enters the Sea of Marmara at Karabiga. It is also known as the Çan (''Çan Çayı'')"Republic of Turkey 2002"
NW quadrant, CIA Map Number 802565, July 2002, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Kocabaş (''Kocabaş Çayı''). The Biga was the classical Granicus ( grc, Γρανικὸς ποταμός, ''Granikòs Potamós''). The banks near the modern-day town of Biga were the site of the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the Gr ...

, fought in 334 BC between the Macedonian army of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

and the forces of the Persian Empire of Darius III. This was Alexander's first victory over the Persians. In antiquity, the river was described as having strong, turbulent current, with steep banks and varying depth. There is also a valley named in its honor on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. The Granicus Valles is at 29.72° N, 131.0° E and runs for .

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Livius.org: Granicus
- pictures of the stream

Rivers of Turkey Landforms of Çanakkale Province {{Turkey-river-stub