Heraclea Pontica

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Heraclea Pontica (Greek: Ηράκλεια Ποντική; modern day Karadeniz Ereğli, in the Zonguldak Province of Turkey, on the Black Sea), an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor, at the mouth of the river Lycus. It was founded by a Megarian colony, which soon subjugated the native Mariandynians and extended its power over a considerable territory.

The prosperity of the city, rudely shaken by the Galatians and the Bithynians, was utterly destroyed in the Mithridatic Wars. It was the birthplace of Heraclides Ponticus. In the early twentieth century the town was best known for its lignite coal-mines, from which Istanbul received a good part of its supply.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.