The Byzantine Castle in Akbas on Thracian Chersonessos

The Thracian Chersonessos had more than one natural port on the coasts of the Hellespont and the Aegean Sea. These ports were located at the mouth of the valleys formed by the rivers that had reached the Aegean Sea and the Hellespont. The ports were connected with each other by the networks that the valleys had formed. These geographical characteristics of the peninsula were one of the qualities sought for the market places of the Byzantine period. Historical data also indicate this. The market places on the peninsula were taken under conservation with the long wall on the isthmus reconstructed against the attacks from the land in the era of Justinian. Written data show that Justinian had defensive structures constructed on the Peninsula, simultaneously with the 'long wall'. However, this is not supported with archaeological data. This creates a serious problem primarily in understanding the military geography and defensive system of the Peninsula. To contribute to the settlement of this problem, at the first stage, it was intended to determine and document the defensive structures of the peninsula on the coast of the strait. At this stage, traces of the defensive structures in Gallipoli, Koila, Madytos and Eleius were detected and documented, respectively. In the present study, it was aimed to evaluate the archaeological data we detected in the Byzantine castle in Sestos-Akbaş on the Yalova Valley and the results we obtained from the archaeogeophysical studies. © Archaeopress and the individual authors 2015. All rights reserved.