Sestos

 

(sĕs'tŏs) , ancient town on the Thracian shore of the Hellespont (now Dardanelles) opposite Abydos (in present-day Turkey). It was the scene of the story of Hero and Leander. It was there that Xerxes entered Thrace on his invasion of Greece, crossing the Hellespont on a bridge of boats. The city was later controlled by Athens and remained important in Roman times, but declined after the founding of Byzantium (now Istanbul).

Sestos was an ancient town of the Thracian Chersonese, the modern Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey. Situated on the Hellespont opposite Abydos, it was the home of Hero in the legend of Hero and Leander.

Xerxes' army crossed at this point on a bridge in 480 BC, and most of Alexander the Great's forces went the other way here by boat in 334 BC.

In 1810 Lord Byron swam from Sestos to Abydos in four hours, recreating Leander's feat.

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