Tios: Ancient Harbour City at Filyos

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1. What is Tios?
2. How do you get to Tios?
3. When is the best time to visit Tios?
4. What is the history of Tios?
5. What is Tios famous for?
6. What can you see at Tios?
7. Frequently asked questions about Tios
8. What do the official records say about Tios?

What is Tios?

Tios (in Greek Tieion, in Latin Tium) is the ancient city on the coast at Filyos, where the Filyos river, the ancient Billaios, reaches the Black Sea. It is the second ancient city of Zonguldak province after Herakleia (Karadeniz Ereğli), and the place where Philetaerus, founder of the royal dynasty of Pergamon, was born.

The ruins lie in and around the small town of Filyos, between the river mouth and a headland. The 2002 inventory lists an ancient harbour, a castle, aqueducts, an open-air theatre and church remains, carrying traces of the Roman, Byzantine and Genoese periods. The provincial culture directorate presents the acropolis and the ancient harbour as the site’s highlights (Zonguldak Culture and Tourism Directorate).

How do you get to Tios?

Filyos is about 27 km east of Zonguldak and 18 km from Çaycuma (Wikipedia). By car or taxi, follow the coast road east from Zonguldak or north from Çaycuma. Zonguldak Airport (ONQ), in Çaycuma district, is the nearest airport.

The site is spread through the town and along the shore, so wear sturdy shoes and expect to walk between the different parts.

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When is the best time to visit Tios?

Late spring to early autumn. From June to September you can combine the ruins with Filyos beach, one of the sandy beaches the inventory lists along this coast. In winter the site is exposed to wind and rain off the Black Sea, and paths can be muddy.

What is the history of Tios?

Tios was founded as a colony of Miletus in the 7th century BC (Wikipedia). The geographer Strabo thought the town was “only remarkable as the birthplace of Philetaerus”. Philetaerus (c. 343–263 BC) served the Hellenistic kings Antigonus and Lysimachus, who made him commander of Pergamon; in 282 BC he took control of the city and its treasury and ruled for nearly forty years, founding the Attalid dynasty that made Pergamon one of the great cities of the Greek world (Wikipedia).

At the start of the 3rd century BC Queen Amastris joined Tios with three neighbouring towns to form the new city of Amastris (today’s Amasra), but Tios soon broke away again. It later belonged to the kingdom of Bithynia, and passed to Rome when the last Bithynian king, Nicomedes IV, left his kingdom to the Romans in 74 BC. The city struck its own coins as late as the reign of Gallienus in the 3rd century AD.

In late antiquity Theodosius I placed Tios in the new province of Honorias, named after his son Honorius. It was a bishopric from at least the 4th century, under the metropolitan of Claudiopolis (Bolu); its bishops attended church councils from Ephesus in 431 to Constantinople in 869. The castle on the site was occupied into the late Byzantine period, and the inventory notes Genoese traces too, from the centuries when Genoa controlled trade along this coast.

What is Tios famous for?

• Philetaerus. The founder of the Pergamon dynasty was born here.
• A harbour city. Its ancient harbour at the river mouth made it a trading town for more than two thousand years.
• Layers of occupation. Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Genoese remains on one headland.
• A border town. Ancient writers could not agree whether Tios belonged to Paphlagonia or to Bithynia, and in 535 Justinian’s decree merging Honorias with Paphlagonia named the city (Wikipedia).

What can you see at Tios?

The acropolis. The high ground of the ancient city, with views over the river mouth and the sea.

The ancient harbour. The remains of the harbour at the mouth of the Filyos river, one of the two highlights named by the provincial culture directorate.

The castle. A fortification occupied into the late Byzantine period, overlooking the shore.

The theatre, aqueducts and church. The inventory lists an open-air theatre, aqueduct arches and the remains of a church among the Roman and Byzantine monuments of the site.

Filyos beach. The long sandy shore next to the town; combine a morning at the ruins with an afternoon by the sea.

Planning a day. Tios fits well into a coastal day out from Zonguldak: the ruins in the morning, lunch in Filyos and the beach in the afternoon. Travellers heading east can continue along the coast to Bartın and Amasra, the city Queen Amastris founded when she briefly absorbed Tios. Heading west, Gökgöl Cave is on the edge of Zonguldak, and Karadeniz Ereğli is an hour further along the coast.

Opening arrangements at the site can change, particularly in summer when archaeologists may be working, so ask in Filyos or at the Zonguldak Culture and Tourism Directorate which parts are accessible.

Frequently asked questions about Tios

What do the official records say about Tios?

The other ancient city of the province, Filyos, was known in antiquity as Teion (or Tion). The remains in the area bear traces of the Roman, Byzantine and Genoese periods. The ancient harbour, castle, aqueducts, open-air theatre and church remains date from these periods. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Zonguldak Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)