Loryma (Ancient Greek:τὰ Λόρυμα or Λώρυμα) was an ancient town andepiscopal see ofancient Caria, inAsia Minor (Anatolia, Asian Turkey). It is now listed as atitular see.[1] Loryma was a fortified place with a port, close toCape Cynossema, on the westernmost point of theRhodian Chersonesus, in Caria. Its harbour was about 20Roman miles distant fromRhodes[2][3][4][5][6][7] and was belonging to the Rhodians.[8]Strabo applies the name Loryma to the whole of the rocky district, without mentioning the town.[9] The Larumna ofPomponius Mela[10] and the Lorimna of theTabula Peutingeriana perhaps refer to Loryma, although it is also possible that they may be identical with a place called Larymna mentioned byPliny in the same district.
Loryma was a small fortified town and harbour on the coast of Caria, not far from Cape Cynossema, at the western extremity of the peninsula known asRhodian Chersonesus, opposite to and twenty Roman miles fromRhodes island.[11] It was a fortified and was belonging to the Rhodians.[8]
Its ruins, west of Port Aplothiki, with towers, tombs and ramparts are described byWilliam Martin Leake (Asia Minor, 223).[12] The site was later explored by the British antiquariesTheodore andMabel Bent in March 1888.[13]
Above the bay of Loryma (modern Bozuk Bükü) lie the ruins of a curtain wall surrounding the top of the hill. Constructed from large blocks of stone shaped in-situ, the remaining walls (up to several metres high on the outside) retain very precise corners and sheer faces.
Up to the 12th and 13th centuries, theNotitiæ episcopatuum mention Loryma as one of thesuffragan sees of theStauropolis, the metropolitan see of Caria.Le Quien names three bishops of Loryma:[14]
The see also exists as atitular see in theCatholic Church. Its bishops are:[15]
The British traveler and writerFreya Stark visited Loryma and wrote concerning the historical significance of its sheltered harbor:
In the stillness of Loryma we spent the night. The wind could be heard howling outside, against the hills that enclosed our sheltered water as if it were a mountain tarn. Only a fanning ripple touched the centre. The sound of the wind, inarticulate and busy like the world’s voice, gave an illusion of safety, of an unassailable peace. If it could penetrate, how many sleeping echoes would it waken? Athenians from Samos, dodging the Dorian Cnidus, picking up ship’s tackle at Syme, sheltering at Loryma; Conon, before the battle, with his ninety ships; the Roman fleet that dared not face Hannibal in the offing; Cassius, gathering forces against Rhodes, twenty miles away. Each in their turn passed through the narrow opening and felt the sudden calm. In these places, the natural features have remained unaltered; the moments that visit them, fashioned to one pattern by nature itself, drop like beads on a string, through long pauses, one after the other, into the same silence.[16]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Loryma".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
36°33′58″N28°00′55″E / 36.56611°N 28.01528°E /36.56611; 28.01528