Maroneia

Maroneia was an ancient port city between Hebrus and Mesta, probably the Homeric Ismarus. It extended from the present village of Maroneia, south of Komotini at the foot of the Rhodope Mountains, to the Aegean coast.

The Homeric Ismarus

Ismarus was already famous in the Odyssey for its wine. Odysseus got there by Maron, the Thracian priest-king of Apollo, son of Euanthes and King of Cicones, the heady red wine, with which he made the Cyclops Polyphemus drunk to dazzle him. In Ovid Hebrus and Strymon are called Ismarier.

Geography, history, archeology

Maroneia is located 30 km southeast of Komotini and is a rural village with traditional houses still, it is close to the Ismarida Lake in a charming landscape in the midst of huge archaeological sites, which extend to the coast. The ancient city was founded at the foothills of Ismarus Mountains (southern Rhodope ) by settlers of the island of Chios in the 7th century BC. They flourished in the 5th century BC and along with Abdera and Aino she was the most important commercial center of Thrace. In the reddish rocks around there are small caves. Slightly salty lakes with many fish and birds characterize the landscape. In the nearby fishing village of Agios Charalambos is.

The archaeological site of Maroneia covers an area of two kilometers and contains remains of the ancient city walls, a theater, a sanctuary, which was probably dedicated to Dionysus, and mosaic floors of a house dating from the 3rd century BC

Maroneia was hometown of the ancient Greek philosopher Metrokles, who was among the Cynics, and his sister Hipparchia, who was also a philosopher.