Gallipoli Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; ; , "Chersónisos tis Kallípolis") is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name "Καλλίπολις" ("Kallípolis"), meaning "Beautiful City", the original name of the modern town of Gelibolu. In antiquity, the peninsula was known as the Thracian Chersonese (, "Thrakiké Chersónesos"; ). The peninsula runs in a south-westerly direction into the Aegean Sea, between the Dardanelles (formally known as the Hellespont), and the Gulf of Saros (formally
Gallipoli property. The Thracian Chersonese was part of the Eastern Roman Empire from its foundation in 330 AD. In 443 AD, Attila the Hun invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula during one of the last stages of his grand campaign that year. He captured both Callipolis and Sestus. Aside from a brief period from 1204 to 1235, when it was controlled by the Republic of Venice, the Byzantine Empire ruled the territory until 1356. During the night between 1 and 2 March 1354, a strong earthquake destroyed the city of Gallipoli and its city walls, weakening its defenses. After the devastating 1354 earthquake,