Caryanda or Karyanda () was a city on the coast of

ancient Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia ( Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian mainlanders ...

in southwestern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

describes it as a city and harbour (λίμην) near Myndus and Cos. But λιμήν, in the text of Stephanus, is an emendation or alteration: the manuscripts use the word λίμνη ('lake').

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

places Caryanda between Myndus and Bargylia, and he describes it, according to the common text, as "a lake, and island of the same name with it;" and thus the texts of Stephanus, who derived his information from Strabo, agree with the texts of Strabo. Pliny simply mentions the island Caryanda with a town; but he is in that passage only enumerating islands. In another passage he mentions Caryanda as a place on the mainland, and

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

does so too.

Scylax of Caryanda Scylax of Caryanda (; ) was a Greek explorer and writer during the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE of the Achaemenid Empire. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The periplus sometim ...

, one of the most famous mariners and explorers of ancient times, was a native of Caryanda. He lived in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC and served the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n king

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

. Originally, Caryanda was located on an island of the same name, approximately 19 km north of the Dorian Greek city of

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus ( ; Latin: ''Halicarnassus'' or ''Halicarnāsus''; ''Halikarnāssós''; ; Carian language, Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia.

, the dominant city of the peninsula. Later Caryanda was relocated to a site on a bay on the north coast of the Bodrum Peninsula near Göl, in what is today the Turkish tourist resort town of

Türkbükü Türkbükü is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Bodrum, Muğla Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,566 (2022). It is a coastal town on the Turkish Riviera on the opposite side of the Bodrum peninsula from the town of Bodrum. T ...

. There it was known as (Caryanda) Neapolis. Caryanda was a member of the

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

dominated

Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...

during the 5th century BC.

Notes

References

Populated places in ancient Caria Geography of Muğla Province History of Muğla Province Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Members of the Delian League Bodrum District {{Muğla-geo-stub