Abidos

Abidos occupies the Asian shore of the Hellespont at Nara Cape, opposite the old crossing from Sestos. Armies passed between the continents here, while ships bound for Constantinople sailed through the narrow waters below. Under Byzantine rule the port served as a customs station, where imperial officials collected duties from maritime commerce. Its fortunes declined as the crossing farther north, between Lampsacus and Gallipoli, gained importance, but the headland remained beside one of the approaches to the imperial capital.

Ottoman fortifications later shifted the focus south along this coast. In 1462 Mehmed II built the fortress of Kale-i Sultaniye, also called Çimenlik, with Kilitbahir facing it across the strait. The settlement that grew around the Asian fortress became Çanakkale, a separate town south of old Abidos. Soldiers, officials, sailors and craftsmen gathered beneath the new walls, and the paired castles guarded the sea passage towards Constantinople.