Archaeological excavations being carried out in the area of Bathonea (ancient Greek city), near Lake Küçükçekmece some 20 kilometers west of Istanbul, have recently brought to light a port settlement believed to be the Viking quarter of Constantinople.
According to the Polish archaeologist Blazej Stanislawski, who leads the excavations, up to 7 evidences have been found that the Vikings settled in Bathonea by the lake during the 9th to 11th centuries, according to the Turkish newspaper Milliyet.
The port of Bathonea would have suffered the same fate as that of Theodosius in Yenikapi, being abandoned after the siege of the city in 1204 and the subsequent establishment of the Latin Empire.
According to the researchers, Bathonea would have been used as a shipyard in the Ottoman period, thanks to its location inside the lake connected to the Sea of Marmara.
This would be where the Varangians settled, who arrived as merchants and mercenaries from the 8th century, and who were not allowed to settle within Constantinople. In addition, they could only enter the city in groups of 30 to 35 people and had to leave before sunset, according to what is narrated in the Néstor Chronicle .
The first Viking traces appeared in Bathonea 6 years ago. According to Stanislawski, until now there was no clear information about where they had settled, but the first evidence is the discovery of a port established for foreigners who could not access the one in the city .
Other evidence found at the site includes remains of a church of the Holy Mother, an amber cross, and a necklace depicting the serpent Jörmangandr.
The ancient Hellenistic-Roman city of Bathonea was found partially submerged in the lake, in the center of which are the remains of a structure that researchers believe may have been a lighthouse, similar to the one in Alexandria.
However, it is not certain that the city was named Bathonea . It is currently called that, inspired by two references:the first, Pliny the Elder's mention that the river that empties into the lake was called Bathynias , and the second, that the Byzantine monk Theophanes names the region as Bathyasos .
The site is more than 7 square kilometers, and its wall was at least half as long as the one that surrounded the city of Constantinople.