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Taken from Chart
L1573, Sourced from the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk)
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Although 19th century academics knew of Myndos through the writings of Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny etc, its location had not been confirmed. Below are some of the first northern Europeans who visited and described the area in the 1800s
Francis Beaufort Captain of HMS Frederikssteen visited
the area during a survey of the south coast of Asia Minor in 1811 & 1812.
Beaufort made two visits to Myndus1.
The first on
the advice and with the assistance of the Governor of Bodrum:
“The governor described some large
ruins in that direction; he entreated us to accept of his horses, and sent his
nephew, who was Agha of the district, as a guide. Northing worth noticing
occurred on the road to those ruins, which we found insignificant and modern;
and as the guide knew of no others in the neighbourhood, we returned…”
Beaufort left
Bodrum heading for Malta, however at that time Malta had initiated a period of
quarantine for all ships that that had visited the mainland, consequently he
decided to spend the next fortnight “examining
the coast and islands to the westward of that port. Landing only on detached
rocks, or on the solitary beach to obtain our angles, we avoided all
intercourse with the inhabitants; and every temptation to visit the ruins that
we passed, was resisted.”
Strabo’s
description of the location was “Next to
Halicarnassus is Termerium a cape of the Myndii, opposite to the cape of
Scandaria of Cos. Proceeding towards Myndus are the capes Astypalæa and
Zephyrium; and immediately beyond the latter, the city of Myndus, with a
harbour…”
As Beaufort
made his way round the promontory of Karabaghla, he records that “we passed two places which might answer
for the position of the antient Mydus.”
The first was
“Kady-Kalassy” as it corresponded with a description by
Strabo, but he goes on to reflect “on the other hand, the little port of
Gumishlu answers better to the word harbour, which he (Strabo) applies to Myndus, as the remains of piers
which cross its mouth are still visible.”
Beaufort goes
on to say that both locations “there are
several ruins” and suggests that further examination would be required to
resolve the question; however the self imposed rules of quarantine prohibited
them from going ashore.
On his marine
chart Promontories of Hallicanassus & Triopium & the Island of Kos
published in 1817 Port Gumishlu and Kady-Kalassy are shown, and in italics
below each name is written “Perhaps
Myndus”
1 Karamina or A Brief Description of the
South Coast of Asia-Minor and the Remains of Antiquity, 1817.
Available on
Google Books. See links page
William Martin Leake. Although not a visitor, as it seems
likely that Leake did not personally visit the area, he is often cited along
with Beaufort regarding the confirmation of Gümüşlük as the location of Myndos
In his
“Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor”2 using other historical and geographical
evidence he agrees with Beaufort, commenting that “We can hardly doubt that Myndus stood in the small sheltered port of
Gumishlú, where Captain Beaufort remarked the remains of an ancient pier at the
entrance to the port and some ruins at the head of the bay.”
2 Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor: With
Comparative Remarks on the Ancient and Modern Geography of That Country, 1842
Available on
Google Books. See links page
Charles Boileau Elliot, Vicar of
Godalming, described the site as follows3:
“Immediately above the little port of
Gumishlu enclosed on three sides by hills, one rises to greater elevation than
the rest, covered with fragments of a city of whose name no record can be
traced near the spot; but history records that this was Mindus, built by a
colony from Troezen…”
“… Not a human
inhabitation exists with a mile and a half of the remains of Myndus; and even
there but one is to be seen, that of a peasant who supplied us with milk,
the only article we could procure"
3Travels in the Three Great Empires of
Austria, Russia and Turkey Vol 2, 1838
Available on
Google Books. See links page
Commander Thomas Graves RN of HMS Beacon charted the
sea around Gümüşlük and surveyed the remains of the city in 1837; subsequently
Admiralty Chart 1531 was released by the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty
in 1844 under the title of “Gumishlu the Antient Myndus”.
The document below is a digital copy of the original hand drawn chart which Graves submitted to the Hydrographic Office on the 23 of March 1839 and was used to produce Admiralty Chart 1531.
+comp.jpg "Port Gumishlu and the Remains of Ancient Myndus") |
Sourced from
the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk)
|
C. T. Newton accompanied by Lieutenant
Smith explored the area in the autumn of 18574 and with the aid of
Admiralty Chart 1531 they traced the outline of the city walls and visited
several of the features marked on the chart including the fifty-two bases of
columns “Some of these are standing in
situ, others thrown down. They are of green stone, resembling that used in the
foundations of the Mausoleum.”
Of
the stadium he wrote “The outline of the
stadium is still visible, though nearly obliterated. It is probable that, since
the Chart was made, much marble has been carried off by sea; and, on the other
hand the plough has effaced in many places the traces of foundations. The
greater part of the low land near the shore is now cultivated.”
Although
only in Gümüşlük for one day Newton identifies and comments on most of the
features shown on the admiralty chart and provides a fairly comprehensive
description of the site at that time.
Towards
the end of the chapter, describing his visit Newton comments “The site of Myndus presents a most desolate
appearance, being stripped of marbles, and nearly all traces of ancient
edifices having disappeared, except what is built into Byzantine churches.”
4 A History of Discoveries
at Halicarnassus, Cnidus and Branchidæ,1863.
Available on
Google Books. See links page
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