Histria (ancient city)

Histria or Istros (Ancient Greek: Ἰστρίη) was founded as a Greek colony or polis (πόλις, city) on the western coast of the Black Sea near the mouth of the Danube (known as Ister in Ancient Greek) whose banks are today about 70 km away. In antiquity, it also bore the names Istropolis, Istriopolis, and Histriopolis (Ἰστρόπολις, Ἰστρία πόλις) or simply Istros/Histros (Ἴστρος). It is now located on the inland shore of a Black Sea lagoon, Lake Sinoe, north of Năvodari and near the modern town of Istria, province of Dobruja, Romania.

It may be considered the first urban settlement on today's Romanian territory, founded by Milesian settlers in the 7th century BC and inhabited for at least 1,200 years. Earlier settlements related to the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture precede the settlement at Histria by several millennia, however lack key aspects which characterize urbanization in the concept of Polis and in our modern world. Therefore, it may be most accurate to categorize the Cucuteni-Trypillia settlements as proto-cities, and Histria as the first planned city in Romania.

It was under Roman rule from the 1st century AD in the Roman province of Moesia. The Tabula Peutingeriana shows it 11 miles from Tomis and 9 miles from Ad Stoma.

Invasions during the 7th century AD rendered it indefensible, and the city was abandoned.