Olbia, Ukraine

Pontic Olbia (Ancient Greek: Ὀλβία Ποντική, Ukrainian: Ольвія) or simply Olbia was an ancient Greek city on the shore of the Southern Bug estuary (Hypanis or Ὕπανις,) in Ukraine, opposite Berezan Island. It was founded in the 7th century BC by colonists from Miletus. Its harbour was one of the main emporia on the Black Sea for the export of cereals, fish, and slaves to Greece, and for the import of Attic goods to Scythia.

Layout

The site of the Greek colony covers the area of fifty hectares and its fortifications form an isosceles triangle about a mile long and half a mile wide. The region was also the site of several villages (modern Victorovka and Dneprovskoe) which may have been settled by Greeks.

As for the town itself, the lower town (now largerly submerged by the Bug river) was occupied chiefly by the dockyards and the houses of artisans. The upper town was a main residential quarter, composed of square blocks and centered on the agora. The town was ringed by a defensive stone wall with towers. The upper town was also the site of the first settlement on the site in the archaic period. There is evidence that the town itself was laid out over a grid plan from the 6th century - one of the first after the town of Smyrna.

Olbia

Olbia (Italian: [ˈɔlbja],locally: [ˈolbja]; Sardinian: Terranòa; Gallurese: Tarranòa) is a city and comune of 58,066 inhabitants (February 2014) in northeastern Sardinia (Italy), in the Gallura sub-region. Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages (Giudicati period) and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the city during the period of Fascism.

Geography

It is the economic centre of this part of the island (commercial centres, food industry) and is very close to the famous Costa Smeralda tourist area. It is one of the administrative capitals of the province of Olbia-Tempio, operative since 2005 and canceled after a referendum seven years later. A dynamic city, which presents itself as a tourist destination, for the beautiful sea and beaches and also for the large number of places of cultural interest to visit.

History

Olbia (the name is of Greek origin) is very ancient and was possibly founded by the Punics, according to the archaeological findings. It contains ruins from Phoenician and Carthaginian settlement to the Roman Era, when it was an important port, and the Middle Ages, when it was the capital of the Giudicato of Gallura, one of the four independent states of Sardinia.

Olbia (disambiguation)

Olbia may refer to:

Olbia may also refer to:

Olbia (Egypt)

Olbia or Arsinoe (Greek: Ἀρσινόη) was an ancient city in the Regio Troglodytica upon the western coast of the Red Sea between Philoteras (Quseir or Kosseir) and Myos Hormos. (Strabo xvi. p. 769; Steph. B. s. v. Ἀρσινόη). The city was renamed from Olbia to Arsinoe by Ptolemy II in honor of Arsinoe II of Egypt, who was both his sister and wife. According to Agatharchides (de Rub. Mar. p. 53), there were hot springs in its neighborhood. The city stood nearly at the point where the limestone range of the Arabian hills joins the Mons Porphyrites, and at the southern entrance of the Gulf of Suez (the Heroopolite Gulf).

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.