Qualla: Sea of Marmara https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/5/z/sea-of-marmara-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Sea of Marmara https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara Sea of Marmara: Introduction https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara/ Photo credit Ferdinand Bonheur, Public domain. Between the Black Sea and the Aegean lies a sea that belongs entirely to one country. The Sea of Marmara is an inland water entirely within Turkey's borders — connected to both its neighbouring seas but owned by neither, a hinge point where the continents of Europe and Asia almost touch. The ancient Greeks called it the Propontis: the sea in front of the sea, the water you crossed before reaching the Black Sea beyond. They had a word for what it was, but they did not yet know what it would become.

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Image: Ferdinand Bonheur | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/5/z/sea-of-marmara-wp/sx5z-sea-of-marmara-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Sea of Marmara: Named for Stone https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara/ Photo credit Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0. The Propontis acquired its modern name from a single island on its southern shore. Marmara Island has been quarried for marble — *mármaron* in Greek — since Roman times, supplying stone for Hagia Sophia, for imperial sarcophagi, and for a thousand lesser monuments across the anci...

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Image: Jorge Láscar from Australia | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/5/z/sea-of-marmara-wp/sx5z-sea-of-marmara-named-for-stone.mp3 0:06 2 full Sea of Marmara: Myth and Misfortune on the Propontis https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara/ Photo credit Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 4.0. Greek mythology assigned a dark story to these waters. A storm on the Propontis, according to the myth, blew the Argonauts back to an island they had recently left. In the confusion of the night, either Jason or Heracles killed King Cyzicus — the local ruler who had welcomed them...

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Image: Brocken Inaglory | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/5/z/sea-of-marmara-wp/sx5z-sea-of-marmara-myth-and-misfortune-on-the-propontis.mp3 0:06 3 full Sea of Marmara: Islands, Straits, and a Third of a Nation https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara/ Photo credit Amir Pashaei, CC BY-SA 4.0. Two archipelagos divide the Marmara's surface. To the north, the Princes' Islands — Büyükada, Heybeliada, Burgazada, Kınaliada, and several smaller outcroppings — sit within ferry distance of Istanbul's European and Asian shores, part of the city's extended geography. To the sout...

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Image: Amir Pashaei | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/5/z/sea-of-marmara-wp/sx5z-sea-of-marmara-islands-straits-and-a-third-of-a-nation.mp3 0:06 4 full Sea of Marmara: The Year the Sea Turned https://qualla.com/sea-of-marmara/ Photo credit Nico Crisafulli from USA, CC BY 2.0. In January 2021, a substance began appearing on the surface of the Sea of Marmara that Turks had long given a name to but rarely seen at this scale: *deniz salyası*, sea snot — a mucilage formed by marine microorganisms when the water is too warm, too polluted, and too nutrient-r...

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Image: Nico Crisafulli from USA | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/5/z/sea-of-marmara-wp/sx5z-sea-of-marmara-the-year-the-sea-turned.mp3 0:06 5 full