Ancient City of Ainos (Enez, Thrace)
Ainos, today the town of Enez in Edirne Province (Turkish Thrace), was an
ancient harbour city situated at the estuary of the River Hebros (modern
Meriç/Evros), where it flowed into the Aegean Sea. The ancient city occupied a
rocky ridge surrounded by lagoons and marshes at the edge of the Thracian plain.
(Source: Enez – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enez
Thomas Schmidts, “Ainos – A Hub between Sea and Inland”
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeum/catalog/view/871/1458/98990)
Founded in the 7th century BC as an Aeolian Greek colony (probably from
Mytilene on Lesbos or from Cyme), Ainos became a major commercial outlet for the
timber and agricultural products of inland Thrace. In myth, its eponymous founder
was Aeneus, son of Apollo; Homer’s Iliad already mentions the city as the
home of Peirous, leader of Thracian allies of Troy.
(Source: ToposText – Ainos (Thrace)
https://topostext.org/place/407261PAin
Enez – ancient history section
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enez)
During the Classical period (5th–4th c. BC) Ainos prospered as a trading port of
Rhodope, became a member of the Athenian (Delian) League, and contributed
troops and ships to Athenian campaigns. In the Hellenistic era it passed successively
under Macedonian, Seleucid and Ptolemaic control before becoming, in 185 BC, a
free city under Roman rule.
(Source: ToposText – Ainos (Thrace)
https://topostext.org/place/407261PAin
Ainos in Thrace – Research Perspectives in Historical Geography
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/882)
In Roman and Early Byzantine times Ainos flourished as a transport hub, linking
sea routes in the northern Aegean with inland river and land routes across Thrace.
Epigraphic evidence for a shipowner (naukleros), unique in Roman Thrace, underlines
its maritime importance. Over the centuries, however, silting of the coastline
shifted the shoreline several kilometres seaward, so that modern Enez now lies inland
from the ancient harbour.
(Source: “The Thracian harbour city Ainos in Roman and Byzantine times” – Leibniz-Zentrum
https://www.byzanz-mainz.de/en/research/project-details/the-thracian-harbour-city-ainos-in-roman-and-byzantine-times-the-development-of-a-traffic-hub-in-a-changing-environment
Case Studies on Ainos and Anastasioupol (PDF)
https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/Bosphorus-BlackSea/Ainos-Schmidts2021.pdf)
In the Byzantine period Ainos was fortified as part of the Theme of Thrace, its
walls being strengthened under Emperor Justinian I. In the late Middle Ages it
came under the control of the Genoese Gattilusio family before being captured by
the Ottomans under Mehmed II in 1456.
(Source: Enez – Byzantine and Ottoman history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enez
Ainos in Thrace – Research Perspectives
https://journals.openedition.org/anatoliaantiqua/882)
Today, visitors to Enez can explore the Enez Castle, the restored Hagia Sophia
Mosque, the tomb of Has Yunus Bey, the ruins of the so-called Basilica of the
King’s Daughter, as well as extensive cemeteries and archaeological zones in and
around the town. Numerous finds – including pottery, figurines, sculpture, glass and
metalwork from the Archaic to Byzantine periods – are on display in the Edirne
Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum and other collections.
(Source: Turkish Archaeological News – Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Edirne
https://turkisharchaeonews.net/museum/archaeological-and-ethnographic-museum-edirne
Anatolian Archaeology – Ancient Treasures of Ainos
https://www.anatolianarchaeology.net/ancient-treasures-of-ainos-unearthed-in-northwestern-turkiye-now-on-display-in-edirne-museum/)