Tyras

an ancient Greek city, founded in the sixth century B.C. on the western bank of the liman of the Tyras River (now the Dnestr) by settlers from Miletus. An autonomous, slave-owning city-state, Tyras attained considerable prosperity through its development of agriculture, handicrafts, and other industries, especially fishing, and by trade with other inhabitants near the river. Circa 360 B.C. the city began to coin its own money.

During the reign of the emperor Augustus, Tyras came under the authority of Rome and served as an important outpost on the empire’s northern frontier. It had trade relations with many cities of the Prichernomor’e, including Olbia, Tomis, Istria, Heraclea Pontica, and Sinope. In the late classical period and during the early Middle Ages, Tyras was settled by members of neighboring tribes, including the Slavs, who renamed the city Belgorod. The city’s name was later changed again to Akkerman in 1484 and Belgorod-Dnestrovskii in 1944. Archaeological excavations have been conducted on the site of Tyras since the beginning of the 20th century.

the ancient Greek name for the Dnestr River. The same name was given to the Greek city at the mouth of the Dnestr, on the western bank of its estuary.