Marmara is a Turkish island in the Sea of Marmara. It is the largest island in the Sea of Marmara that is the center of Marmara district in Balıkesir Province. Transportation is possible from Istanbul by ship and ferry, and by motorboat from Tekirdağ and Erdek.
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Historical evidence of the first Hellenic presence on the island of Marmara (ancient Prokonnessos) came with the early colonization of Ionian Greeks in the 3rd Millennium B.C. Stories and legends identify the island as a visiting place of Jason and The Argonauts and with the Hellenic expedition against Troy. In ancient times, the island was called Proconnesus or Prokonnesos (Προκόννησος). In 493 BC it was burned by a Phœnician fleet fighting for Darius.[1] In 410 Alcibiades conquered it for Athens.[1]
During the reign of Constantine the Great in the 4th century notable aristocracy from Constantinople first settled on the island. By 569, many Byzantine aristocrats had built palaces on the island that they had accepted as their home. The greatest palace of this period was built by the Emperor Justinian I. With the Emperor came a large entourage of nobility, palace guards, tradesmen, and servants. Justinian also built a large convent on Marmara that is one of the earliest in recorded history. The Byzantine royal presence on the island was strongly felt through strong ties to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. During most of its history, the island was called "Proikonnesos" (island of the royal dowry), and "Prinkipo", (island of the aristocracy).
From the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the years directly following World War I, the island was almost exclusively populated by Greek Orthodox Greeks[1]. During World War I much of the population was forced off of the island onto the mainland. And, following the war, as a result of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, all remaining Greeks native to the island of Marmara emigrated to Greece and other locations around the globe.
In Greece, the island's Greek diaspora settled primarily in New Marmara, the island of Euboea, and in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Still others from the island settled in the Americas, primarily in the USA, in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon and the Seattle/Tacoma, Washington area. As well, still others emigrated to Canada, Australia and South America.
On 4 January 1935 at 16:41:29 local time, an earthquake hit the Marmara Island and its neighboring islands Avşa and Paşalimanı, causing five deaths, 30 persons injured and several villages destroyed.[2]
Its name derives from the Greek μάρμαρον (marmaron)[3] and that from μάρμαρος (marmaros), "crystalline rock", "shining stone"[4][5], perhaps from the verb μαρμαίρω (marmairō), "to flash, sparkle, gleam"[6], because it is famous for its white marble. Under the name Proconnesus it is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.[1] The see is currently vacant.[7]
The name "Marmara" came from the wealth of great marble deposits that are found on the island. Much of the marble used in the building of the Hagia Sophia came from the marble quarries on the island. An example of this marble is to the Herculean Sarcophagus of Genzano now in the British Museum.
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