The Prosphorion Harbour (Greek: Προσφόριον) was a harbour in the city of Constantinople, active from the time when the city was still the Greek colony of Byzantium (657 BC – 324 AD), until the eve of the first millennium.[1][2] Gradually enlarged, it was the first port to be built in the area of the future Constantinople.[1][2]
: the harbour's name could derive from one of her appellatives, "Phosphoros" ("Light-bringer")The Prosphorion harbour (first inlet from bottom along the left side of Golden Horn), from Byzantium nunc Constantinopolis by Braun and Hogenberg, 1572
The first harbour to be built in Constantinople's area during the time when it was the city-state of
Emperors Valens (r. 364–378) and Theodosius I (r. 379–395).[1] Right after the foundation of Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324, the port received the name of "closed harbour" (Greek: κλειστός λιμήν, kleistos limen) since it was protected by moles and defended by the sea walls and by the Tower of Eugenius.[2]
The name of "Prosphorion", which the harbour assumed after the foundation of Constantinople, could derive either from its proximity to the city market (
Emperor during his trips from the Palace of Blachernae to the Hagia Sophia cathedral.[2] The dockyard lay just in front of the Gate of Eugenius, known in that period as the "Royal Gate" (Greek: πυλή βασιλική, pyle basilike), since the Emperor had to cross it in order to reach the church.[2]
