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A few kilometers south of Ören (which means "ruined place") is a mound marking the site of the ancient (Lydian) town
of ADRAMYTTEION, in Strabo's time the Roman port of Pedasus. First settled in 1443 B.C., the town was later destroyed
by pirates and between 1093 and 1109 was rebuilt further inland (as Adramittium).
ADRAMYTTEION (or Adramittium Thebe further east) is also identified with the Thebe of Homeric legend. According to
Homer it was founded by Hercules in honor of his wife Thebe, daughter of Adramys (brother of the Lydian king Croesus).
The town, where Hector's wife Andromache had her palace, was sacked by Achilles in the ninth year of the Trojan War.
In reality Thebe was probably founded by themiians about 600 B.C., growing to be an important trading town on the
route between Troy and Pergamum (Bergama). It was already in ruins in Strabo's day.
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In ancient records , the name Adramytteion
was mentioned in 480 B.C. by Herodotes for the fist time . Aristotle, while talking about the
Adramytteion Constitution in his work "POLITEIAI" , pointed out to the cultural importance of the
city in Antiquity . The world-famous geographer and author , Strabon ,stressed on especially the
central importance of the Adramytteion , while explaining the cities of antiquity in the region
in the 1 st century B.C.Later, the city which was ruled respectively by Romans , Byzantium , Seljuks ,
Karesioğulları and the Ottomans , was given the name "Kemer" in 1484 because of the aqueducts of the
vicinity; and in the 19 th century based on the name of Sultan Abdülhamit's son Burhanettin ,
the city's name was changed and given the name "Burhaniye".
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ROCK ALTARS
During the excavations and archaelogical structure researches carried out
in the region since 1995 by the supervision of the Associate Professor Engin BEKSAÇ , an instructor at Sakarya
University Fine Arts Faculty, “Rock Altars” were found, examples of which are very rare to find in Turkey and
only can be seen in Eastern and Mid-European countries; and they were introduced to the attention of science,
archaeology, culture and tourism authorities for the first time. The rock Altars , which can densely be seen in the
foot of the Madra Mountain of our region, especially in the borders of Burhaniye, are different from the worship
places of Antiquity in terms of planning. While the basic religious centers were preserving the worship structures;
in the vicinity of the Rock Altars no particular importance was given to religious structures that can last till
the present. The reason for this is that the way of religious thinking represented by the rock altars should be
combined and united with the nature .This religious belief which has a Mother Goddess in the center refers to the
Rock Altar and to the Mother Goddess and her Husband, therefore; the Rock Altar was considered as the “Throne of The Two”,
on which the Goddess and her Husband sit and ruled all the livings of the universe. In this cult of nature, the Rock Altar
symbolized the Masculine Power of Nature and the cave, the Feminine Power of Nature along with the mysteries. The
ceremonies held at the Rock Altars most probably were symbolizing the structure of the universe. The religious ceremonies
were held in order to show the functioning of the structure of the universe. The selected ones of the Mother Goddess Cult
were first gathering in a flat area; and then were washing themselves in the pools around the area to become purified.
In this way, they were getting ready to present the vows to the Goddess and to the ceremony; thus there were niches
carved around the Rock Altars. From the group which gathered around the altar, certain people were chosen and taken to
the highest peak of the rock in order to reach the secrets of the Goddess, and after the purification ceremony made
with blood in the pool located there, the “Knowledge of the Goddess” was whispered into their ears in front of the
“Throne of the Two” which symbolized the Mother Goddess and her Husband. That the Rock Altars, which are in the style
of Trako-Frig, had a history starting from the Early Iron Age and even leading to the Bronze Age. It is considered
that later these altars were used in Roman times and were active in the Early Christianity. The altars were organized
in a way to meet the needs of cults and they show characteristics about the region that is acrossroad and a melting pot
of The Iron Age Thracian and European Cults and the Anatolian and Agean Cults. The Rock Altars, which are the best
examples of “The Belief of Divine Nature and Abundance” existing since the Neolithic Age, have not concealed their
secrets to mankind just like the universe they represent. More researches need to be carried out about them.
Researches carried out in Burhaniye and its surrounding will take us to unprecedented and more advanced results
with no doubt.
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The pictures are taken from the official web site of Burhaniye Municipality. http://www.burhaniye.bel.tr
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