Kotyora was a coastal settlement on the south coast of the Black Sea, east of Sinope, in the region of the Tiberians. The location of the settlement has not been determined with certainty. According to the prevailing version, Kotyora is located in Kraz Limani, north of the modern city of Ordu and 45 km north-east of Giresun (Farnakeia-Kerasous). The identification with the Kraz Limani is based on the traces of an ancient port found at this location, as well as the fact that in more recent times the Ordu was renamed Kotyora, taking on its ancient name again.
Apart from the name “Kotyora”, which is mentioned by Arrian and Diodorus, the place name is also given by Ptolemy as “Kotyoron”, while the Periplous of the Black Sea mentions the place as “Kotyoros”. According to the Souda dictionary, the name “Kytora” is later. This name, as well as the “Kyteoron”, “Kyteoros” and “Cytorus”, mentioned by Ptolemy, are corruptions of the original place name. The inhabitants of the city were called Kotiorites and Kotyorians. Xenophon mentions that Kotyora was a Greek city, a colony of Sinope.
At the beginning of 400 BC the Myrians parked there, on their way from Trabzon to Heraklion. Initially, the inhabitants of Kotyora did not welcomed them in a friendly way. They barred soldiers from entering the city, refused to treat the sick, and refused to trade with the Myrians, making it impossible to supply the army. The mercenaries then invaded the city, settled their patients in some houses and looted the residents’ estates. Their violence provoked the intervention of Sinope, who sent ambassadors to the city. Thanks to their mediation, the relations between the people of Kotyori and the mercenary army were restored. Around 183-2 BC, after the conquest of Sinope by Farnakis I, king of Pontus, the colonies of Sinope Kotyoras and Kerasos were also subordinated to the kingdom of Pontus, either following their metropolis or because they were conquered. A little later, around 180 BC, Farnakis I transported inhabitants from Kotyora and Kerasounta for the establishment of the neighboring Farnakia. Since then, it seems that Kotyora has declined and shrunk demographically, as Arrianos mentions that in his time it was just a town, and in fact not big enough.
The historical continuity of Kotyora during the Byzantine period remains uncertain. The silence of the sources of that time about the place name suggests that perhaps the settlement was abandoned. That is why the hypothesis was made, that after the decline of the city, at the latest in the Late Medieval times, the Kotiorites moved to the neighboring Vonalimani, a name that survives to this day. Nevertheless, the existence until the 19th century of a Byzantine fortress in the area of Ordu is an indication that the settlement continued to exist during Byzantine times. The fortress is no longer preserved and the continuity of the residence is impossible to certify, as there are currently military facilities at the site.
Based on the location of Kotyora near the modern Ordu, it can be concluded that the inhabitants of the city were engaged in agriculture and livestock, as in the hinterland east of the Ordu there are areas suitable for cultivation and pastures. The port of Kotyora served the extensive maritime trade of Sinope. Sinope was probably supplied with iron from this city, since from Kotyora the ores mined in the steel mines were channeled to the market.
The city did not have full autonomy. At the end of the 5th century BC, its inhabitants were obliged to pay a tax to Sinope, which was considered a kind of rent for the country of Kotyora, because at the founding of the colony Sinope was the one who had occupied the land on behalf of the Kotyori. At the same time, the dependence of the Kotyors on their metropolis was extended to the administration of the city, which had been taken over by a commissioner appointed by Sinope. Finally, the existence of a police officer is testified, but we do not have more information to determine the time of his action. The evidence for the cults that existed in the city is limited to a legendary find of a golden statue that probably represents Mercury.
If we accept the identification of Kotyora with the port near the modern Ordu, the city was at the beginning of a road that led inland; two large river deltas to the east provided the city with food and a citadel dominated the coast. Traces of the city port carved into the rock were visible in Kraz Limani until the mid-19th century, but are no longer visible. Kotyora was surrounded by a wall, as can be deduced from Xenophon’s narrative, but no remains have been found. 19th century fountains identify the citadel with the modern Boz Tepe. A little further south of the Ordu are the ruins of a fortress with the characteristic carved underground passage that led to a reservoir. The fort was probably the work of the rulers of Pontus.
SOURCE: kotsari.com