Byzantine Heraclea in Thrace (Perinthus): History and Significance

Heraclea in Thrace, ancient Perinthus, was an important city of Thrace in the Byzantine times and played an significant religious role during the whole medieval period.

Location and names of Heraclea.

Heraclea was a city located on the north coast of the Propontis (modern-day Sea of Marmara) in Thrace. It was at the junction of the Via Egnatia and the main Balkan road to Naissus. Today, its site is located near the modern city of Marmara Ereğlisi, in Turkey.

In Antiquity, the city was called Perinthus. Roman Emperor Diocletian (who was Herculius in official terminology) renamed it Heraclea (Herakleia in Greek). It was called by its ancient name until up to the mid-15th century. It is sometimes called Heraclea Perinthus or Heraclea in Thrace. It should not be confused with other cities called Heraclea, like Heraclea Pontica or Heraclea in Cappadocia.

Early history of Perinthus.

It was founded in the 7th century BC by greek colonists and became an important port city in the region. Destroyed by the Persian king Xerxes in 479 BC, it also resisted Philip II of Macedonia and was later rebuilt by Alexander the Great.

In both hellenestic and roman times, the city was an important center of trade and commerce, and seems to have been even more important than Byzantium, being both a harbour and a point where several important roads met. It was home to many temples, including a temple of Apollo, several public baths, a large theater and large fortifications. In late Roman times, it even had an imperial palace.

Heraclea during the Byzantine era.

Heraclea has been mentioned by many authors in Byzantine times, mostly as a geographical site or for its religious importance.

The metropolitan see of Heraclea.

According to Procopius, Heraclea had been the most important city of the province of Europa. It became the see of a bishop in 325 and was even a metropolis (like an archbishop in the West). Among its suffragans was the city of Byzantium. Theodorus (328-355) was the most famous bishop of Heraclea, and his most famous character. Involved in the religious controversies of his time, he was an ally of Eusebius against the Athanasians. He was deposed around 347 and died around 355. As he was serving, Byzantium became in 330 the new capital of the empire and was renamed Constantinople. It became independent at that time or in 381, and soon superior with the establishment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Nonetheless, Heraclea remained a metropolitan see with 5 suffragans. In the early 10th-century, it had 15 bishops as suffragans and even 17 in the 11th-century. With the Turkish conquest, the number of suffragans reduced drastically, but it still had two in the early 20th-century.

The political and strategic role of the city.

During the troubled times of the early Byzantine era, Heraclea was attacked many times: by the Goths after the battle of Adrianople in 378, then by Attila. In the 6th-century, Emperor Justinian restored the old imperial palace and the aqueducts of the city. Nonetheless, the Avars attacked and damaged the city in 591. Later, it was again attacked by the Bulgars.

In the 9th-century, Heraclea supported the major revolt of Thomas the Slav against Michael II in 821-823.

After the sack of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 and the partition of the Byzantine Empire, “Yraclee” was assigned to the Venetians. A Latin diocesan Bishop was established and the Catholic Church still lists Heraclea as a titular see.

It was reclaimed by Byzantines in the 13th-century and played an important role during the Byzantine civil wars of the 14th century. In 1382, together with Rhaidesios and some other Thracian towns, Heraclea was given over to Andronikos IV.

As the rest of the remaining Byzantine territories, it was soon after conquered by the Turks.

Remains of the Byzantine Heraclea.

The city, known today as Marmara Ereğlisi, has significant remains of its ancient and medieval past. Regarding the Byzantine remains, ruins of walls, an aqueduct and at least one church have been preserved.

This church may be the one of St. Glykeria, mentioned in the literary sources, which had been damaged by the Avars in 591 and rebuilt by Emperor Maurice (582-602). It is a basilica erected in the 5th-century. In its architecture, it seems closely linked to the church designs of Constantinople. The floor mosaics are particularly well made and preserved. Stones of the basilica seem to have been used in the construction of a tower meant to guard a secondary gate – though the time of the destruction of the church is not certain, it might not have stood for more than 150 years. Instead of the large building, a small chapel was built on the site, perhaps in the 12th-century.