Nice small map titled Dardanelles et Golfe de Saros, from wood engraving  with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring. Overall size approx.  16.5 x 16 cm, image size approx. 11.5 x 9.5 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Cartographer is Charles Perron.

Dardanelles

formerly Hellespont , Turkish Çanakkale Boğazı

narrow strait in northwestern Turkey, 38 miles (61 km) long and 0.75 to 4 miles  (1.2 to 6.5 km) wide, linking the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. The city  of Dardanus in the Troad (territory around ancient Troy), where Mithradates VI  (king of Pontus) and Sulla (the Roman general) signed a treaty in 85 BCE, gave  the strait its name.

The Dardanelles lies between the peninsula of Gallipoli in Europe (northwest)  and the mainland of Asia Minor (southeast). It has an average depth of 180 feet  (55 metres) and reaches a maximum depth of 300 feet (90 metres) in the narrowest  central section. There is a rapid surface current from the Sea of Marmara to the  Aegean and a compensatory undercurrent returning more saline water. Important  ports along the shores of the Dardanelles are Gallipoli, Eceabat, and Çanakkale.  Many famous castles stand along its banks. The waters are rich in various kinds  of fish that migrate between the Black and Aegean seas via the Bosporus strait,  the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles.

The Dardanelles holds a significant place in history. As the Hellespont, it was  the scene of the Greek legend of the two lovers Hero and Leander. The ancient  city of Troy defended the strait from its strategic position at the southwest  end (Asian side). In 480 BCE the Persian army of Xerxes I crossed the strait by  a bridge of boats. Alexander the Great did the same in 334 BCE on his expedition  against Persia. The strait has always been of great strategic and economic  importance as the gateway to Istanbul and the Black Sea from the Mediterranean.  The strait was forced by a British fleet under Adm. Sir John T. Duckworth in  1807. During World War I the Allies failed to capture it, although a British  submarine penetrated the minefields and sank a Turkish battleship off the Golden  Horn, an inlet on the Bosporus. The location of the Dardanelles has given it  international political importance.

Gulf of Saros

Saros Bay or Gulf of Saros (Turkish: Saros Körfezi; originally Greek: κόλπος του  Σάρρου). Ancient Greeks also called it Gulf of Melas (Μέλανα κόλπον), before it  was renamed.

The bay is 75 km (47 mi) long and 35 km (22 mi) wide. Far from industrialized  areas and thanks to underwater currents, it is a popular summer recreation  resort with sandy strands and crystal-clear sea. Scuba diving, windsurfing and  fishing are the most practiced water sports here.

Settlements around the bay are: Gökçetepe, Mecidiye, Erikli, Danişment, Yayla,  Karaincirli, Vakıf, Büyükevren, Sultaniçe, Gülçavuş and Enez, all in Edirne  Province. The islands of Gökçeada (Imbros) lie outside Saros Bay and Samothrace  in the Aegean Sea, Greece, is in short distance.

The North Anatolian Fault Zone, the most prominent active fault in Turkey and  the source of numerous large earthquakes throughout the history, passes through  the Gulf of İzmit and traverses the Marmara Sea reaching to the Saros Bay to the  southeast.

On the Southern shore of the Dardanelles, across from Gallipoli, was the  location of legendary Troy.