{{short description|Village in the East Macedonia and Thrace region of Greece}} {{for |the settlement of ancient Attica |Maroneia (Attica)}} {{Redirect |Maronia |the genus of moths |Maronia (moth){{!}}''Maronia'' (moth)}} {{Infobox Greek Dimos |name = Maroneia |name_local = Μαρώνεια |type = municipal unit |image_map = DE Maronias.svg |map_caption = Location within the regional unit |periph = East Macedonia and Thrace |periphunit = Rhodope |municipality = Maroneia-Sapes |pop_municunit = 5129 |pop_community = 514 |population_as_of = 2021 |area_municunit = 287.2 |elevation = |coordinates = {{coord|40|54|N|25|31|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |postal_code = |area_code = |licence = ΚΟ |website = |image_skyline = 20091122 Marwneia Rhodope Greece 2.jpg |caption_skyline = }} thumb|right|View of the ancient theatre thumb|right|Marmaritsa beach, Maroneia

'''Maroneia''' ({{langx|el|Μαρώνεια}}) is a village and a former municipality in Rhodope regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Maroneia-Sapes, of which it is a municipal unit.<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL8-SrPzKAEPjjtIl9LGdkF53UIxsx942CdyqxSQYNuqAGCF0IfB9HI6hq6ZkZV96FIukI0UzcPsWCK0LpLhpa7rhiWB4R5ntTnoWw7U8E1Amg.|title=ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text|language=el|publisher=Government Gazette}}</ref> The municipal unit has an area of 287.155 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-21 }}</ref> Population 5,129 (2021). The seat of the municipality was in Xylagani.

==History== In legend, it was said to have been founded by Maron, a son of Dionysus,<ref>Euripides, ''Cyclops'', v. 100, 141</ref> or even a companion of Osiris.<ref>{{Cite Diodorus|1.20}}</ref> According to Pseudo-Scymnus it was founded by Chios in the fourth year of the fifty-ninth Olympiad (540&nbsp;BCE).<ref>Pseudo-Scymnus, 675 ff</ref> According to Pliny, its ancient name was '''Ortagures''' or '''Ortagurea'''.<ref>{{Cite Pliny|4.11.18}}</ref> It was located on the hill of Agios Charalampos,<ref>{{Cite DARE|24864}}</ref> and archaeological findings<ref>{{Cite web |title=ANCIENT MARONEIA (Archaeological Site) {{!}} Rhodope {{!}} Thrace {{!}} Golden Greece |url=https://golden-greece.gr/en/archaeological/thraki/rodopi/kommaronia |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=golden-greece.gr |language=en}}</ref> date it as a much older and as a pure Thracian city. Herodotus says it belonged to the Cicones.<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|7.109}}</ref>

Maroneia was close to the Ismaros mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey''.<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'', ix. 196-211</ref> Some scholars identify Maroneia with his Ismaros.<ref>Isaac, B., (1986), ''The Greek Settlements in Thrace Until the Macedonian Conquest'', page 113. BRILL.</ref> Homer has Odysseus plundering the city but sparing Maron, whom he identifies as a priest of Apollo. Maron presents Odysseus with a gift of wine, as well as with gold and silver.

In the era of Ancient Greece and Rome, Maroneia was famous for its wine production. The wine was esteemed everywhere; it was said to possess the odor of nectar,<ref>Nonnus, i. 12, xvii. 6, xix. 11</ref> and to be capable of mixture with twenty or more times its quantity with water.<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'', ix. 209; Pliny, xiv. 4. s. 6</ref> That the people of Maroneia venerated Dionysus, we learn not just from its famous Dionysian Sanctuary, the foundations of which can still be seen today, but also from the city's coins. It was a member of the Delian League.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/32#259 Athenian Tribute Lists]</ref>

In 200&nbsp;BCE it was taken by Philip V of Macedon; and when he was ordered by the Romans to evacuate the towns of Thrace, he vented his rage by slaughtering a great number of the inhabitants of the city.<ref>Livy, xxxi. 16; xxxix. 24; Polybius, xxii. 6, 13, xxiii. 11, 13</ref> The Roman Republic subsequently granted Maroneia to Attalus, King of Pergamon, but almost immediately revoked their gift and declared it a free city.<ref>Polybius, xxx. 3</ref>

Maroneia was the largest and most important of all ancient Greek colonies of Western Thrace. The city owed its prosperity to the extensive and rich territory and to the port which favored the development of intense commercial activity. Furthermore, Romans had granted many privileges to the city, such as the proclamation of its freedom and the increase of its territory, where a dense network of rural settlements was developed.<ref>D. C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of Western Thrace during the Roman Antiquity (in Greek), Thessaloniki 2005, p. 97-108</ref>

Today's settlement is located on the hillside of mount Ismaros. It was transferred there in the 17th century CE due to the threat of piracy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archaeology Online, Βυζαντινό οδοιπορικό στη Θράκη, Nikolaos Zikos, curator of antiquities (in Greek)|url=http://www.arxaiologia.gr/assets/media/PDF/migrated/279.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829072046/http://www.arxaiologia.gr/assets/media/PDF/migrated/279.pdf|archive-date=2011-08-29|access-date=2011-08-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Guide to Eastern Macedonia and Thrace|url=http://www.xanthi.ilsp.gr/cultureportalweb/article.php?article_id=1075&topic_id=9&level=&belongs=&area_id=3&lang=gr|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.xanthi.ilsp.gr}}</ref>

During the Greek Revolution of 1821, people from Maroneia, like Panagiotis Michanidis and Georgios Gevidis, supported the revolt.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ιδεογραφήματα, Θρακιώτες φιλικοί|url=http://www.ideografhmata.gr/forum/viewtopic.php?f=114&t=10387&start=0&sid=71e7306416ae92e5f0dfc9c2e4ab22a2&view=print|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310212356/http://ideografhmata.gr/forum/viewtopic.php?f=114&start=0&t=10387&view=print|archive-date=2016-03-10|access-date=2010-07-30}}</ref>

In December 1877 Captain Petko Voyvoda overthrew the Ottoman rule and established free administration in the town.

==Ecclesiastical history== In 1316 the church of Maroneia was received by the metropolis of Chalcedon, which was facing severe decline, until 1327.<ref name=Vryonis>Vryonis, Speros (1971). The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamisation from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: California University Press. p. 301</ref>

It is the seat of a Roman Catholic titular bishopric called Maronea.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2m45.html |title=Maronea |website=catholic-hierarchy.org |access-date=8 July 2017}}</ref>

== Notable people == *Metrocles (4th century BC), Cynic philosopher *Hipparchia, Cynic philosopher and sister of Metrocles *Sotades (3rd century BC), poet *Petko Kiryakov (Captain Petko Voyvoda) (1844–1900), Bulgarian politician and leader of the national revolution *Archbishop Michael of America (1892-1958)

==Notes== {{reflist}} {{DGRG|title=Maroneia}}

==Sources== *Durando, Furio, ''Greece: A Guide to the Archaeological Sites'', 2004. *{{CathEncy|wstitle=Maronia}} *Smith, William, (1857), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography''. * Psoma, Selene, Chryssa Karadima and Domna Terzopoulou, ''The Coins from Maroneia and the Classical City at Molyvoti: A Contribution to the History of Aegean Thrace'' (Athens: Diffusion de Boccard, 2008) (Meletemata, 62).

{{commons category|Maroneia}} {{Wikivoyage|Maroneia}} {{Maroneia-Sapes div}}

Category:Populated places in Rhodope (regional unit) Category:Ionian colonies in Thrace Category:Populated places in ancient Thrace Category:Catholic titular sees in Europe Category:Members of the Delian League