Why ancient Greeks called the founders of Chalcedon the blind

Nature · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Founded in 685 BC, the maritime town of Chalcedon was mocked by contemporaries for its location. While the nearby settlement of Byzantium claimed the superior position on the Bosporus, Chalcedon was dismissed as the City of the Blind. Yet, the town thrived, becoming a center of trade, religion, and history.

Located on a small peninsula near the mouth of the Bosporus, Chalcedon was established by Megarian colonists seventeen years before the founding of Byzantium. Ancient observers, including the Persian general Megabazus and later writers like Strabo and Pliny, famously labeled the founders blind. They argued that the settlers ignored the clearly superior site on the opposite shore, which the Megarians would eventually select for Byzantium in 657 BC. The oracle of Apollo reportedly instructed later colonists to build their city opposite to these supposedly sightless pioneers.

Despite this reputation, the town flourished. It built numerous temples, including one dedicated to Apollo that housed an oracle, and maintained a dependent territory known as Chalcedonia. This region stretched along the Anatolian shore, encompassing villages like Chrysopolis and Panteicheion. The town's strategic importance was underscored by Darius the Great, who constructed a bridge of boats from Chalcedonia to Thrace in 512 BC for his Scythian campaign. Over centuries, it navigated complex political shifts, moving between Athenian and Lacedaemonian interests before eventually becoming part of the kingdom of Bithynia.

The city's legacy extended well beyond its geography. In 451 AD, it hosted the Fourth Ecumenical Council, which defined the divine and human natures of Jesus, triggering a major schism in Christianity. By the late antique and medieval periods, the town suffered from its proximity to Constantinople, serving as a quarry for the capital's monumental structures and falling repeatedly to invading armies. Today, the ancient site is preserved within the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, where excavations continue to reveal remnants of its long, continuous history dating back to the Chalcolithic period.

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