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Panion () or Panias (Πανιάς), in early
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
times known as Theodosiopolis (Θεοδοσιούπολις) and in later Byzantine and Ottoman times Panidos (Greek: Πάνιδος, Turkish: ''Banıdoz''), was a town in
Eastern Thrace East Thrace or Eastern Thrace, also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the part of Turkey that is geographically in Southeast Europe. Turkish Thrace accounts for 3.03% of Turkey's land area and 15% of its population. The largest c ...
on the coast of the
Marmara Sea The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
, on the site of the modern settlement of Barbaros in
Tekirdağ Province Tekirdağ Province (, ) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 6,190 km2, and its population is 1,142,451 (2022). It is located in the East Thrace region of the country, also known as European Turkey, one of only t ...
,
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 ...
.


History

The settlement dates to antiquity, perhaps founded by the
Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...
. Known as ''Panion'', ''Panias'', or ''Panis'' ("place dedicated to Pan") in antiquity.


Early and middle Byzantine periods

The city walls were restored sometime between 383 and 403, and shortly after, in , the historian
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...
was born in the city. At around the same time the city was officially renamed to Theodosiopolis, and the name was used in tandem with Panion for some time thereafter. The "bishop of new Theodosiopolis" (''episcopus novae Theodosiopolis'') Babylas addressed a letter to Emperor
Leo I the Thracian Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (; ), was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (; ), probably to ...
() on the saint
Proterius of Alexandria Pope Proterius of Alexandria (died 457) was Patriarch of Alexandria from 451 to 457. He had been appointed by the Council of Chalcedon to replace the deposed Dioscorus. He regarded as hieromartyr by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic ...
. In the 6th-century ''
Synecdemus The ''Synecdemus'' or ''Synekdemos'' () is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of their cities. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian Justinia ...
'', Panion is listed as one of the cities of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of Europa. In the 536 Synod of Constantinople, Andreas, the "bishop of the Paniots, that is the Theodosiopolitans", took part. The name of Theodosiopolis apparently survived until the middle Byzantine period, as a—now lost—border marker with the inscription ''kastron Theodospolis'' is known from the 8th/10th century. A bishop Justin is known from an inscription of the 6th/7th centuries, Reginus participated in the
Third Council of Constantinople The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, and by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical a ...
in 680, and John in the
Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...
in 787. In 813, the town was one of the few settlements that were able to successfully resist the invasion of the Bulgarian ruler
Krum Krum (, ), often referred to as Krum the Fearsome () was the Khan of Bulgaria from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper a ...
, due to its strong and well-maintained fortifications and the numerous inhabitants, who assisted in the defence. During the subsequent rebellion of
Thomas the Slav Thomas the Slav (,  – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Emperor Michael II the Amorian (). An army officer of Slavic origin from the Pontus reg ...
in 820, the city sided with the rebel, and along with neighbouring Heraclea continued resisting the forces of Emperor Michael II the Amorian even after Thomas' death in October 823. Only after the city walls were damaged by an earthquake in February 824, did the inhabitants of the two cities surrender. Repairs to the city on Imperial orders are attested in an inscription variously dated to 824/829 or 842/856. Another inscription, dated to the 9th century but possibly earlier, mentions repairs undertaken by the bishop Theodore. A number of lead seals from the 9th–12th centuries attest to the existence of a bishop Acindynus (9th/10th century), an archpriest Michael (10th/11th century), an unnamed ''
archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...
'' of the town (10th century), the bishops John and Paul (11th century), the ''
oikonomos ''Oikonomos'' (, from - 'house' and - 'rule, law'), Latinization of names, Latinized œconomus, oeconomus, or economos, was an Ancient Greek word meaning "household manager." In Byzantine Empire, Byzantine times, the term was used as a title of ...
'' Leo (11th/12th century), and the bishop Constantine Manasses, possibly the historian of the same name. A gravestone dated 27 February 965 mentions a Basil Diakonos, who founded a church dedicated to the Holy Unmercenaries, probably in the town. A great earthquake in September 1063 damaged the city. In 1096, the
First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...
passed by the city on its way across the Balkans to
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. A few years later, the town was visited by the English pilgrim Sæwulf, on his return from the Holy Land. In 1136, two estates in the town, owned by the Triakontaphyllos family, belonged to the Pantokrator Monastery. The 12th-century traveller and geographer
al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...
visited the city of (''Banedhos'') in the middle of the century, and praised its spacious streets and its shops.


Latin rule, late Byzantine period and the Ottoman conquest

In the '' Partitio Romaniae'' of 1204, Panion is recorded as belonging to the ''
episkepsis An ''episkepsis'' ( , pl. ''episkepseis'', ) was a fiscal district in the middle Byzantine Empire (10th–13th centuries). In its strict technical sense, it refers to a domain or other property, in some cases including entire villages or towns, allo ...
'' of
Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
, and came under Venetian control. However, the town tried to oppose the
Latins The term Latins has been used throughout history to refer to various peoples, ethnicities and religious groups using Latin or the Latin-derived Romance languages, as part of the legacy of the Roman Empire. In the Ancient World, it referred to th ...
, and the Venetians launched a punitive expedition that plundered the city in 1205. In the next year, the city was entirely destroyed by the Bulgarian ruler
Kaloyan Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ivan I, Ioannitsa or Johannitsa (; 1170 – October 1207), the Roman Slayer, was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, who led the anti-Byzantine upr ...
, who resettled many of its inhabitants on the banks of the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
. It is unknown when the city was resettled. Under Latin rule, a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
bishop resided in Panion (''Panadensem''), attested since 1208. With the decline and conquest of the Latin Empire by the
Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by Walter Abel Heurtley, W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C ...
, Panion came again under Byzantine control and the see was restored to Greek Orthodox control. The town was probably occupied by the
Catalan Company The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (; , , , or ) was a company of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor in the early 14th century and hired by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Anatolian b ...
in 1306–1307, and its bishop was accused by
Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople Athanasius I of Constantinople (; – 28 October 1310) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for two terms, from 1289 to 1293 and from 1303 to 1309. He was born in Adrianople and died in Constantinople. Chosen by the emperor Androniko ...
of collaborating with them. Bishop Ignatius is attested in 1351–1368, during which time the area fell to the
Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...
; Panion itself was occupied without resistance by the future sultan
Murad I Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "Head of state, sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Mura ...
in 1359. In 1382, Emperor
John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. His long reign was marked by constant civil war, the spread of the Black Death and several military defea ...
ceded the town, along with Heraclea, Rhaidestos, and
Selymbria Selymbria (),Demosthenes, '' de Rhod. lib.'', p. 198, ed. Reiske. or Selybria (Σηλυβρία), or Selybrie (Σηλυβρίη), was a town of ancient Thrace on the Propontis, 22 Roman miles east from Perinthus, and 44 Roman miles west from Cons ...
, to his son
Andronikos IV Palaiologos Andronikos IV Palaiologos or Andronicus IV Palaeologus (; 11 April 1348 – 25/28 June 1385) was the eldest son of Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos. Appointed co-emperor from 1352, he had a troubled relationship with his father: he launched a ...
and his grandson
John VII Palaiologos John VII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 1370 – 22 September 1408) was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor for five months in 1390, from 14 April to 17 September. A handful of sources suggest that John VII sometimes used the name Andro ...
. It is unclear whether the Byzantines had retaken it in the meantime, as this is not mentioned in the sources, and it is possible that this deed represented a nominal transfer of territories not actually under Byzantine control at the time. The town was returned to Byzantine control in the 1403 Treaty of Gallipoli, but some Turkish troops may have remained garrisoned there. At any rate, the town was quickly lost again, perhaps as early as the 1410s. The town is most frequently mentioned during this time as a place of shipment of grain, particularly for supplying Constantinople. The settlement remained predominantly Greek-populated under Ottoman rule, numbering 1,748 Greek inhabitants as late as 1922.


Notable people

*
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...
, historian


References


Sources

* * {{Former settlements in Turkey Populated places in ancient Thrace Geography of medieval Thrace Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Defunct dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses History of Tekirdağ Province