Pylai derived its name, “the Gates (of Asia)”, from its position as the terminus of the main military road leading to Nicaea and across Asia Minor to the eastern frontier.
Yalova comes from “Yalıova”; “Yalı” which means “house at the coast” while “ova” means plain in Turkish.
Yalova is located in northwestern Turkey, near the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara.
Pylae disappeared in the Late Middle Ages and its locations has been identified with the Byzantine site of Çiftlik köy, 4.5 km east of Yalova.
Yalova Termal, ancient Pythia, is 12km south-west of Yalova.
Pylae is first mentioned in the Peutinger Table, compiled in the fourth century, as the coastal terminus of a road which led inland 27 miles to Cius and thence to Cyzicus. The development of the city was the consequence of the foundation of Constantinople which brought great activity to the whole region.
Water springs of Pythia, very rich in minerals, seem to have been discovered by the Ancient Greeks who had constructed there a temple dedicated to Apollo in the sixth century BC.
The situation of Pylae has long been in dispute. It is frequently identified with the Byzantine site at Çiftlik köy, 4.5 km east of Yalova, rather than with Yalova itself, which is a modern settlement that became a city on June 5 1994.
Ancient Pythia is today a developed spa town of Termal, known for its hot spring resorts, Ottoman hamams and the Yürüyen Köşk, an Ottoman-Turkish style mansion that was used by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.