The story of Abydos

An entire Persian army once marched through this town to cross from Asia into Europe. Abydos was founded around 670 BC at the narrowest point of the Dardanelles, on the Nara headland of the Asian shore facing ancient Sestos, and it remained one of the main crossing points between the two continents until a crossing between Lampsakos and Kallipolis replaced it in the 13th century. In 480 BC, Xerxes I and his army passed through Abydos to cross the Hellespont on pontoon bridges.

Greek myth makes the town the home of Leander in the legend of Hero and Leander, and the Iliad names it an ally of Troy. It grew rich exporting tuna from the Hellespont. The site was first identified in 1675 and later visited by travellers such as Lord Byron; its acropolis is called Mal Tepe in Turkish.

Little survives, as the ruins were plundered for building stone and the area became a restricted military zone.