Hypsili Hissar

Hypsili Hissar is a town in south western Turkey in the former Ottoman caza of Sivri Hissar, vilayet of Smyrna, near the site of the ruins of the Ionian League city-state Lebedos (Lebedus in Latin) and believed to have derived from that settlement from the time when most of the population was deported to Ephesus.

History

Lebedos in greek times was on the coast, ninety stadia to the east of Cape Myonnesus, and 120 west of Colophon. According to Pausanias, the town was inhabited by Carians when the Ionian Greeks immigrated there under the guidance of Andræmon, a son of Codrus. Strabo however states it was colonized by Andropompus, and that it previously bore the name of Artis. It became a flourishing city by its commerce, and was famous for its mineral springs, and a member of the Ionian League. In the third century-BC, it was nearly destroyed by Lysimachus—a Macedonian officer and one "successor" (diadochus) of Alexander the Great, later a king (306 BCE) in Thrace and Asia Minor, who transported the population to Ephesus.

Under Roman rule, it flourished anew, became the meeting place of the actors of all Ionia, and festivals were celebrated in honour of Dionysus.