Zonara

The City of Zonara (Gastrinian: Urbs Zonarae) is the capital city and a special municipality of the Empire of Gestrin, as well as the administrative capital of the Zonara Province. With over 750,000 residents, it is the most populous Gastrinian urban center, and most likely the most populous city in western Ovaicaea. The city has been a major human settlement for over several thousand years, and was the center of the ancient Zonaran Kingdom, which unified Gestrin Isle.

Originally a small, fortified city nestled between several hills, ancient Zonara expanded gradually to incorporate several previously-independent cities into its city-state, roughly formalized by the 9th century BE. By the 500s BE, it was a bustling urban metropolis and a center of commerce and regional politics. After incorporating a nearby port town, it grew rapidly in population as it secured access to sea trade and food imports. Zonara became the heart of a powerful kingdom. Post-unification, Zonara continued to expand for centuries, reaching a peak population of one million. However, it contracted sharply during the 6th century, after it was struck with waves of plague, earthquakes, and civil unrest in the wake of Orcish invasions of the northwest, and revolts in provinces. Much of this happened under the reign of the last king of the Tercine dynasty, Teodoros IV, who was much maligned in chronicles despite his long reign. The population rebounded over time, stabilizing around the late 8th century.

Zonara's cultural legacy has been imprinted across the entirety of southern Ovaivaea, as it has served as the model for governance of Gastrinian municipalities. Zonaran hegemony within the empire of Gestrin has enabled its cultural, legal, social, military, and religious customs to spread far and wide.Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Zonara the center of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. It is the administrative, political, commercial, and financial center of southern Ovaicaea. Zonara has remained the capital of Gestrin for the entirety of the empire's existence. For this reason, many Gastrinian poets refer to it as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (capital of the world).