Gallipoli

This article is about the peninsula. For other uses, see Gallipoli (disambiguation).

Satellite image of the Gallipoli peninsula and surrounding area
ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli

The Gallipoli peninsula (/ɡəˈlɪpəli, ɡæ-/;[1] Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası; Greek: Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, romanized: Chersónisos tis Kallípolis) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east.

Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name Καλλίπολις (Kallípolis), meaning 'beautiful city',[2] the original name of the modern town of Gelibolu. In antiquity, the peninsula was known as the Thracian Chersonese (Ancient Greek: Θρακικὴ Χερσόνησος, romanized: Thrakiké Chersónesos; Latin: Chersonesus Thracica).

The peninsula runs in a south-westerly direction into the Aegean Sea, between the Dardanelles (formerly known as the Hellespont), and the Gulf of Saros (formerly the bay of Melas). In antiquity, it was protected by the Long Wall,[3][4][5][6] a defensive structure built across the narrowest part of the peninsula near the ancient city of Agora. The isthmus traversed by the wall was only 36 stadia in breadth[7] or about 6.5 km (4.0 mi), but the length of the peninsula from this wall to its southern extremity, Cape Mastusia, was 420 stadia[7] or about 77.5 km (48.2 mi).

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
  2. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). "Καλλίπολις". A Greek–English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via Perseus Digital Library Project.
  3. ^ Xenophon (January 1921). Hellenica, Volume II. Translated by Brownson, Carleton L. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674990999.
  4. ^ Diodorus Siculus (January 1933). Library of History, Volume I. Translated by Oldfather, Charles H. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674993075.
  5. ^ Plinius Secundus, Gaius (1855). Bostock, John; Riley, Henry Thomas (eds.). The Natural History. London: H. G. Bohn. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  6. ^ Plutarch (January 1919). Lives (in Ancient Greek). Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674991101. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b Herodotus, The Histories, vi. 36; Xenophon, ibid.; Pseudo-Scylax, Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, 67 (PDF Archived 12 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine)