Bartın River (''Bartın Çayı''), anciently known as Parthenius or Parthenios (), is a small river in the east of the Black Sea Region of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its source is in the

Ilgaz Mountains Ilgaz Mountains (; ) is a mountain range in northwest Anatolia, Turkey. It belongs to the Pontic Mountains system. Geography In west Black Sea region, there are three ranges of mountains, which run parallel to the Black Sea coast. Ilgaz Moun ...

, in

Kastamonu Province Kastamonu Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey, in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region in the north of the country. It is surrounded by Sinop Province, Sinop to the east, Bartın Province, Bartın, Karabük Province ...

and

Karabük Province Karabük Province () is a landlocked province in the northern part of Anatolia (northern central Turkey), located about north of Ankara, away from Zonguldak and away from Kastamonu. Its area is 4,142 km2, and its population is 252,058 (2022 ...

. The river flows to the north, passes through

Bartın Bartın is a city in northern Turkey, near the Black Sea. It is the seat of Bartın Province and Bartın District.Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

near Boğaz village in a delta. The last on the Bartın River, between Bartın and the Black Sea coast, are navigable for vessels. The Greek name is ancient, as the river is mentioned by

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''. Because the ancient name sounds like ''Parthen-'' (Παρθέν-, ancient Greek for 'virgin' or 'purity'), ancient Greek authors fabled that it derived its name from the fact that

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

, patron goddess of virgins, loved to bathe in its waters or to hunt on its banks, or from the purity of its waters. The river has its sources on Mount Olgassys, and in its northwestern course formed the boundary between

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...

and

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

. It empties itself into the Euxine (Black Sea) about 90 stadia west of Amastris.Arrian, Peripl. p. 14;

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

''Pont.'' 4.10 49; Amm. Marc. xxii 9.

References

Black Sea Bartın Rivers of Turkey Landforms of Kastamonu Province Landforms of Karabük Province Landforms of Bartin Province {{Turkey-river-stub