Why was the ancient city of Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia abandoned?

Little is known about why the ancient city of Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia, located in the modern day Eskipazar district of Turkey's Black Sea province of Karabük, was abandoned in late antiquity.

Credit: DHA

İbrahim Şahin, the culture and tourism director of Karabük, and Ersin Çelikbaş, an academic at Karabük University’s archaeology department, have recently carried out examinations at the site.

According to Ersin Çelikbaş, an academic at Karabük University’s archaeology department, Hadrianopolis witnessed a sudden evacuation in the 7th century.

“This year’s excavations revealed that there was a sudden evacuation in the ancient city. We are trying to find out the reason — whether an earthquake happened, an invasion occurred or a big fire broke out. But we can certainly say that life here ended in the 7th century. There was not even a single person in the ancient city. Now, we will investigate the reason. At first, we will study the disasters that happened during those times and then political and social events that might have happened,” he said.

“We hope to obtain clear results by next year,” he added.

Credit: DHA

The officials also conducted examinations of a 500-year-old structure in the ancient city. The structure, unearthed during excavations, is believed to be one of the oldest churches in Anatolia.

Speaking to journalists, Çelikbaş said mosaics uncovered in the church dated back to the 5th century AD. He stressed the mosaics had not been destroyed. “We found very important figures on the mosaics. We found a panel with one bull figure, one lion figure and two peacocks. When we look at similar examples of these figures in Anatolia, the most complete example is the mosaic that we found in Hadrianopolis this year”, he added.

“It is a very important ancient city and a ‘mosaic haven,’ because Hadrianopolis is known mostly for its mosaics. It was the most important city in the western Black Sea region. It was the seat of an eparchy and many notable religious functionaries lived here. This year’s works unearthed many small findings from the 6th century. We are about to get more important results in our works. We are about to solve the mystery in the ancient city,” he added.

Credit: DHA

Hadrianopolis was inhabited in the late Hellenistic, Roman and early Byzantine periods. Surface surveys have uncovered 14 public buildings and other structures in the city. Two baths, two churches, a defense structure, rock tombs, a theater, an arched and domed structure, a monumental cultic niche, walls, a villa, other monumental buildings and some religious buildings were found.

Excavation works in Hadrianopolis started in 2003 and have been continuing with intervals.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [October 14, 2018]