Prusias ad Hypium

Prusias ad Hypium (Ancient Greek: Προῦσα πρὸς τῷ Ὑππίῳ ποταμῷ) was a city in ancient Bithynia, and afterwards in the late Roman province of Honorias. In the 4th century it became a bishopric that was a suffragan of Claudiopolis in Honoriade. Before its conquest by King Prusias I of Bithynia, it was named Cierus or Kieros (Ancient Greek: Κίερος) and belonged to the Heraclea Pontica. Photius writes that it was called Kieros, after the river which flows by it.

Location

The site is near Konuralp, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Düzce on the road to Akçakoca, in northwestern Turkey.

History

The settlement, initially named "Hypios", was later renamed "Kieros". According to Ancient Greek historical writer Memnon of Heraclea (c. 1st century), King Prusias I of Bithynia (r. 228 – 182 BC) captured the town of Kieros from the Heracleans, united it to his dominions, and changed its name to "Prusias". Pliny and Ptolemy merely mention it, one placing it at the foot of Mt. Hypius, the other east of the river Hypius. It was an important city on the road between Nicomedia (modern İzmit) at Propontis and Amastris (Amasra) at Euxine in the Pontus region.

In about 74 BC, control of the region, and so of the city, was taken by the Roman Empire. From then on, the city was called "Prusias ad Hypium". The city grew from four to twelve phylai during the Roman period until the 2nd century. Three Roman emperors, Hadrian (r. 117–138), Caracalla (r. 198–217), and Elagabalus (r. 218–222), visited the city in northwestern Asia Minor. Already after the reign of Vespasian (r. 69–79), the city became autonomous in internal affairs and minted its own coins, though it remained dependent to Rome in foreign policy. In the beginning of the 5th century, the city became part of the newly established late Roman province of Honorias, and after 451 AD, it lost its wealth towards the end of the Byzantine period.

In 1323, the city was conquered from the Byzantine Empire by Osman Ghazi (r. c. 1299 – 1323/4), the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Osman Ghazi handed over the city's control to his commander Konur Alp Bey. In the Ottoman period, the city center was abandoned, and the settlement was called "Üskübü" from σκοπή (skopi) meaning "watchtower". During the Ottoman period, Islamic culture became prevalent.

With the beginning of the Republican era (after 1923), the town's name was changed to "Konuralp". The name "Üskübü" is still used among the inhabitants.

Archaeology

In the 19th century, travellers passing by the city discovered archaeological fragments. There are official letters preserved in the Ottoman Archives indicating archaeological findings. The transport of a marble sculpture to the Istanbul Archaeology Museums in 1893–94 is mentioned in documents. Documents dated 1903 and 1909 relate to regulations for reuse and to secure archaeological findings until their delivery to the government, respectively.

Scientific archaeological excavations were conducted by the archaeology department of Düzce University under the patronage of the Konuralp Museum and supported by the Municipality of Düzce.

A plan of the city is not known. The archaeological remains and finds suggest that the settlement had a Hellenistic polis character. Main remains are part of the ramparts, a rampart gate, open-air theatre, aqueduct, and a Roman bridge. Some remnants of the ancient city are under the buildings of the modern settlement of vernacular architecture.

According to inscriptions found at the site, a gymnasium and an agora existed in the ancient city. Their location and plan remain unknown. An inscription states that people contributed money to the construction and repair works of the agora. Another public building in the city, of which the location is not known, is the Domitius bathhouse, mentioned on the honor inscription erected for the son of M. Iulius Cabinius Sacerdos of Prusias. A colonnaded street runs southwest from the Roman bridge. Architectural fragments such as entablatures, arches, pediments, pavements, and drains are found on the site. A bath and aqueduct are from the early Ottoman period.

In 2020, archaeologists discovered a Medusa head dating back to the 1st or 2nd century AD.

In 2023, archaeologists found the head of Alexander the Great's statue.

City walls and the "Horse Gate"

The ramparts of the city were built suitable to the topography of the terrain. The western city walls are 4.70 m (15.4 ft) high at a length of 118 m (387 ft). The city walls were built during the Hellenistic and Roman periods in ashlar. Some cut stones were reused in altar and other architectural elements during the repairs in the Byzantine Empire. At the western end of the walls, there is an entrance built with reused block stones. 200 m (660 ft) of the Byzantine city walls are still standing. These walls start right across the ancient bridge located at the edge of the road to Akçakoca, and run as far as Hamam Street. Some of the walls remaining in the gardens of the houses form the foundations of the garden walls. There are also walls dating back to the Ottoman period on the high parts of the slope where the city was founded.

Coins from the time of Roman emperor Gallienus (r. 253–268) depict the main gate of the city with two towers. This gate is not extant. The "Horse Gate", which stands today within the settlement of Konuralp, and its extension ramparts are monuments of first grade. The city walls were repaired in different periods with reused inscribed materials. The gate lintel is made of local limestone material. It is a reused grave stele with an ancient Greek inscription dedicated to the mother of a Prusiasan and features a horse relief. The city wall extending in a southeast direction from the gate is connected to a square-plan tower. There is a small gate, formed by reused inscribed stone blocks, on the southern walls.