Cothon (Civ6)

Cothon
District of the Classical Era
Introduced in Gathering Storm
Unique to	Phoenician
Unique to	Phoenician
Replaces	Harbor
Replaces	Harbor
Unlocked by	Celestial Navigation
Plunder	Gold
Cost
Production	27
Production	27
Yields
Great Person Points	+1 Great Admiral points per turn.
Adjacency Bonus	+1 Gold from each adjacent sea resource. +1 Gold from every 2 adjacent district tiles. +2 Gold if adjacent to the City Center.
Citizen Yields (per citizen)	+2 Gold +1 Food
Trade Yields	Domestic Destination: +1 Production International Destination: +3 Gold
Unlocks
Buildings	Lighthouse  Shipyard  Seaport
Projects	Harbor Shipping  Move Capital
Notes
Must be built on Coast or Lake Terrain adjacent to land. +50% Production towards naval units and Settlers in this city All wounded naval units in the city heal +100 HP per turn.

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The Cothon is a unique District of the Phoenician civilization in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. It replaces the Harbor and must be built on a Coast or Lake tile adjacent to land.

• Effects:
  • Lower Production cost (27 vs. 54)
  • +50% Production towards naval units and Settlers in this city
  • All wounded naval units in the city's borders heal +100 HP each turn
  • Allows for sea lane Trade Routes (even if the district is still under construction)
  • Major bonus (+2 Gold) for being adjacent to the City Center
  • Standard bonus (+1 Gold) for each adjacent sea resource (except Shipwrecks)
  • Minor bonus (+½ Gold) for each adjacent district
  • +1 Great Admiral point per turn
  • Allows its parent city to build ships, even if the City Center is inland
  • Newly produced or purchased ships will spawn at the Cothon tile (as long as the Cothon tile is unoccupied)
  • Removes Movement penalties for units Embarking to and from its tile (even if the district is still under construction)
  • Specialists add +2 Gold and +1 Food each

Buildings

The following buildings can be constructed in a Cothon:

• Lighthouse
• Shipyard
• Seaport

Projects

• Harbor Shipping: Earns Gold and Great Admiral points equal to 15% of Production used
• Move Capital: When completed, the Phoenician Capital moves to this city. Available only when led by Dido.

Strategy

The Cothon is an extremely powerful unique district, and nearly all of the game as Phoenicia revolves around this district. It should be the first district to be built whenever a new city is founded (maybe except for your original Capital, where you can go Government Plaza and then Cothon, in order to build the Cothon much faster). This means Celestial Navigation must be rushed, so try to scout for a natural wonder, settle a city on the coast and improve 2 sea resources in order to trigger the Eureka that lead to this technology, all of which are very simple for Phoenicians, considering their coastal starting bias.

The Loyalty bonus of the Phoenician civilization ability encourages coastal settlements, meaning every Cothon built most likely would benefit from the major adjacency bonus to its City Center. Taking into account the cheap price of unique Districts, the high adjacency bonuses of these Cothons and the number of Settlers Phoenicia can churn out in the first few eras, Phoenicia is the best civilization to benefit from a Free Inquiry Golden Age Dedication, when every other civilizations either cannot have enough infrastructure to make it impactful or do not have Districts with good adjacency.

The highlight of this District is that it provides 50% bonus Production towards Settlers. With the Ancestral Hall and the Colonization policy card, the Production bonus towards Settlers can reach 150%; however, this is only for the city with the Government Plaza, since the bonus of the Ancestral Hall is not empire-wide. Magnus should be promoted to reach Provision and assigned to the city with the Government Plaza, to turn this city to your main Settler factory. Other cities with good growth and Production can participate in training Settlers as well, 100% Production bonus from the Cothon and Colonization card should be impactful enough. These cities (without Magnus) should have decent growth to make up for constant the Population loss resulting from training Settlers en masse, but on the other hand, this is also a decent method to keep your Population in check and make the most out of your Food yields, since Phoenicia does not have any Housing to let their cities grow forever.

Besides the bonus towards building Settlers, any Phoenician cities with the Cothon can churn out a massive armada of ships. With the appropriate cards, Phoenician cities can have a permanent 150% Production bonus towards naval units of all classes, at any moment in the game. Their fleet, although cannot be as vexatious as Norwegian fleet early on, will have a much more lasting impact than any other naval civilization in the game, just from the fact that no one can compete with the speed Phoenicia can crank out these units. Not to mention, naval units can heal in one turn in a city with a Cothon, rendering any attempt at naval domination against Phoenicia fruitless and generally, foolish. This district also poses a threat to the Phoenician neighbors as their ships can be built in quick order and can be sent home to heal extremely quickly. These newly conquered cities may come with their own Harbors on water-dominated maps, which will then turn into new Cothons, making them new bases for shipbuilding and quick healing. Therefore, as long as map generation is in Phoenician favor, their ships can all heal in just one turn in a conquered city with a Cothon, allowing them to roll from conquest to conquest in a hurry.

Civilopedia entry

The word “cothon” is Greek for “drinking vessel,” and describes the circular shape of the artificial harbors created by the Phoenicians. There are surviving examples of these today in Sicily, Tunisia, and Cyprus. The best-known example may have been the one at Carthage.

The cothon consisted of two sections: A long, rectangular outer harbor for merchant traffic, which led to a circular inner harbor for warships. The outer harbor's quays would have been busy places, and the cothon at Carthage was reputedly capable of supporting hundreds of ships at a time. Each night, the mouth of the harbor would have been secured with an iron chain for security.

The inner, military harbor, was a protected and secure facility to build, repair, and outfit the Phoenician naval vessels for war. The inner harbor had an artificial island at the center for the commanding admiral. The outer ring of the military harbor would have contained slipways for ships, as well as naval stores and material for the repair and construction of new ships. The ancient writer Appian describes the Carthaginian military harbor as ringed by Ionic columns, “giving it the appearance of a continuous portico to both the harbor and the island.”

The cothon was an integral part of the Phoenician dominance of the Mediterranean. Ships are expensive to build and maintain, and the construction of these specialized, sophisticated facilities demonstrate the Phoenician's commitment to ruling the seas.

Gallery

Cothon in game

Close up view of the Cothon

Historic Moment for building the Cothon

See also

• Cothon in other games