Kybele embarks on historic voyage
Güncelleme Tarihi:
İZMİR - The Kybele, a bireme from circa 600 B.C., reconstructed based on archaelogical data, embarks on a trip from Foça in İzmir to Marseille in France to promote cultural interaction between the people of Turkey and France
A historic bireme ship reconstructed by an association has completed a journey from Turkey to France to re-enact the voyages undertaken in the period circa 600 B.C.
The 360 Degree Historical Research Association of Turkey re-built the "Kybele" based on archaeological data, and the ship set sail from the shores of the Aegean holiday resort of Foça for Marseille, France to once again make this historic trip.
One of 12 Ionian cities
A bireme is a ship with two banks of oars. In 600 B.C., Phokaia, or Foça, was one of the 12 Ionian cities in western Anatolia that had many colonies along the Mediterranean coast, including Marseille.
The reconstructed ship set sail from the town of Urla in the Aegean province of İzmir with 20 rowers, three yardmen, and 25 crewmembers on June 8, within the scope of the association’s "Izmir-Foça-Marseille/ A Journey into History" project.
The "Kybele" left behind the territorial waters of Greece and reached Italy a month after it set sail from Turkey.
The crew will attend more than 400 cultural, economic and social activities and several events to mark the "Turkey Season" in France.
The aim of the project is to shed light on the sources of the shared culture of Anatolia and Europe. It also hopes to awaken historical awareness, to emphasize the influence of Ionian colonial migration from the Aegean on the historical basis of today's European identity, to contribute to peace and fraternity around the Mediterranean Sea, to explain that the Mediterranean is a continent of waters, to contribute to Turkey and France’s image in each other’s country and to the historically friendly relations between the two peoples.
The "Kybele" is expected to return to Istanbul after the activities in France by sailing down the Danube and participating in the "2010 Istanbul European Capital of Culture."
Sailing the Danube
On the return trip from France, the ship will pass through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria and arrive at the port of Constanta, Romania, cross the Black Sea, and eventually reach Istanbul.
The "Kybele" has a 12-meter-tall mast and a 7-by-12-meter rectangular canvas sail. The ship has 20 oars and two rudders, one on each side.