CHARCHA a fortress of Mygdonia, which the Romans, in the retreat under Jovian, passed, after leaving Meiacarire. (Ammian. 25.6.8; comp. 18.10.1.) The name which in Syria signifies a town, was probably applied to several localities (Le Beau, Bas Empire, vol. 3. p. 155; D'Anville, L'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 95). This fortress (Χαρχάς, Evagr. H. E. 6.21) was situated in a fertile and populous district (Theophylact. Simocat. 5.1), and was the scene of the death of Zadesprates, the general of Baram, A.D. 591. (Le Beau, vol. 10. p. 317.) The ruin, now called Kásr Serján, of which only the foundations, and parts of two octagonal towers remain, may possibly represent Charcha. ( Journ. Geog. Soc. vol. 10. p. 526; Niebuhr, Reise, vol. 2. p. 3888; Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. xi. pp. 150, 380, 389.)
[E.B.J]