40°43′24″N29°30′08″E / 40.72339°N 29.50224°E /40.72339; 29.50224Helenopolis (Greek:Ἑλενόπολις) orDrepana (Δρέπανα) orDrepanon (Δρέπανον) was an ancientThracian and laterGreco-Roman andByzantine town inBithynia,Asia Minor, on the southern side of theGulf of Astacus. Helenopolis has been identified with the modern village ofHersek, in the district ofAltınova,Yalova Province. It is traditionally considered as the birthplace ofSaint Helena.
According to the 6th-century historianProcopius, Helena's son EmperorConstantine the Great renamed the city "Helenopolis" to honor her birthplace; but the name may simply have honored her without marking her birthplace.[1] Constantine also built there a church in honour of the martyrSaint Lucian; it soon grew in importance, and Constantine lived there very often towards the end of his life.
Near it were some famous mineral springs. These mineral springs might be those ofTermal nearYalova.
EmperorJustinian built there an aqueduct, baths and other monuments. It does not seem ever to have grown, and it was slightingly called (a pun on its name)Eleinou Polis, "the wretched town".
Nearby, in the late 11th century,Alexios I Komnenos built a castle called Kibatos or Civetot for Anglo-Saxon mercenaries who had opted to flee England after the Norman Conquest and serve the Byzantine Emperor.On 21 October 1096, the forces of thePeople's Crusade confronted theSeljuk Turks in thebattle of Civetot.The victory of the Turks ended the People's Crusade.In 2019, an academic survey identified the remains of Kibatos/Civetot 3.5 meters underwater in Hersek Lagoon. The remains of the castle span approximately 4,200 square meters and were identified based on architectural similarities to contemporary descriptions.[2] In addition to the discovery of the castle - believed to have been abandoned due to earthquakes at an indeterminate time - among other structures, remains of a pier and lighthouse were found, which were visited byEvliya Çelebi and are known to have been used from the Byzantine period right up until the demise of the Ottoman Empire.[3]
The see of Helenopolis in Bithynia was asuffragan of theMetropolis of Nicomedia.[4]
Michel Le Quien[5] mentions nine of its bishops. Macrinus, the first, is said to have been at theCouncil of Nicaea (325), but his name is not given in the authentic lists of the members of the council. About 400, the church of Helenopolis was governed byPalladius of Galatia, the friend and defender ofJohn Chrysostom, and author of theHistoria Lausiaca. The last known bishop assisted at theCouncil of Constantinople (879-880). Helenopolis occurs in theNotitiae Episcopatuum until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Helenopolis in Bithynia is included in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[4]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Helenopolis".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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