Object description

Heraclea Pontica , known in Byzantine and later times as Pontoheraclea , was an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor, at the mouth of the river Lycus. It was founded by the Greek city-state of Megara in approximately 560–558 and was named after Heracles whom the Greeks believed entered the underworld at a cave on the adjoining Archerusian promontory . The site is now the location of the modern city Karadeniz Ereğli, in the Zonguldak Province of Turkey.