Hellespont

The Hellespont, today commonly known as the Dardanelles, is a strait in northwestern Turkey that connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. The waterway runs roughly 97 kilometers (about 60 miles) in length, with a width that varies from a few kilometers at its narrowest to broader sections toward the northern and southern ends. The European shore is marked by the Gallipoli Peninsula, while the Asian shore lies along the Anatolian mainland near Çanakkale. Through the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles links to the Bosporus and the Black Sea.

Etymology and myth associate the name with Helle, daughter of Athamas and Nephele in Greek mythology, who is said to have fallen into the strait while crossing on the golden ram. The ancient name Hellespont appears in classical Greek literature and endured in later periods.

Historically, the strait has been a strategic chokepoint, controlling access between the Aegean and the Black Sea and serving as a vital maritime route for empires and trade. It featured prominently in ancient conflicts such as the Greco-Persian Wars and in Byzantine and Ottoman history. In World War I, the Dardanelles Campaign (Gallipoli Campaign) aimed to secure a sea route to Russia but ended in a costly Allied defeat and influenced subsequent military and political developments.

In the modern era, the strait remains within Turkish territorial waters and is governed in part by the Montreux Convention (1936), which regulates naval passage through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. It is a busy commercial and passenger route, with ferry services and substantial shipping traffic, and it sits near important archaeological and historic sites, including Troy and the Gallipoli peninsula.