Histria Archaeological Site

 ruins, archaeological site, interesting place

 Upload a photo

Ancient Greek City of Histria
On the bank of lake Sinoe, at a distance of 500 stadia from the mouth of river Istros (as Strabo tells us), lies the Ancient City of Histria, the first Greek colony on the west shores of the Black Sea and oldest city within the boundaries of today Romania.

The colony was founded in the middle of the 7th century BC. (year 657 BC according to historian Eusebius) by colonists from Milet, to trade with the native Getae. The city had an uninterrupted growth for 1300 years, beginning with the Greek period and ending with the Roman - Byzantine period.
To the north Sinoe Lake was an open bay and to the south was another bay which served as the port. On the highest point of the coastal plain the acropolis was established with the sanctuaries. The settlement, erected in the 6th century, was 1/2 mile (800 meters) further west. It had a strong defense wall, collected water by aqueducts 12.5 miles (20 km) long, and had streets paved with stones.
In the archaic and classical periods, when Histria flourished, it was situated near good arable land. It served as a port of trade soon after its establishment, with fishing and agriculture additional sources of income. By 100 AD, fishing was almost the only source of Istrian revenue. There is no archaeological evidence indicating that trade with the interior preceded the foundation of Istros. Traders penetrated to the interior through Istros and the valley of the Danube, demonstrated by finds of Attic black-figure pottery, coins, ornamental objects, an Ionian lebes and many fragments of amphoras. Amphoras have been found in great quantity at Histria, some imported but some local – local pottery was produced following establishment of the colony and certainly before mid-6th century.
Around the turn of the millennium, Histria became a Roman town. In the Roman period between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, temples were built for the Roman gods, as well as a public bath and houses for the wealthy. Altogether, it was in continuous existence for some 14 centuries, starting with the Greek period up to the Roman-Byzantine period. The Halmyris bay where was the city founded was closed by sand deposits and access to the Black Sea gradually was cut. Trade continued until the 6th century AD. The invasion of the Avars and the Slavs in the 7th century AD almost entirely destroyed the fortress, and the Istrians dispersed; the name and the city disappeared.
The ruins of the settlement were first identified in 1868 by French archaeologist Ernest Desjardins. Archaeological excavations were started by Vasile Pârvan in 1914, and continued after his death in 1927 by teams of archaeologists led successively by Scarlat and Marcelle Lambrino (1928–1943), Emil Condurachi (1949–1970), Dionisie Pippidi, Petre Alexandrescu and Alexandru Suceveanu.