Listed 19 sub titles with search on: Information about the place The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites for wider area of: "EVIA Island GREECE" .
ANTHIDON (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
A Boiotian harbor on the Gulf of Euboia, 13 km W of Chalkis and 2
km N of the village of Loukisia, at the foot of Mt. Messapios.
Included in the catalogue of ships of the Iliad (2.508), it belonged
to the Theban districts until 387 B.C. when it became independent in the Boiotian
Confederacy. Destroyed by Sulla at the same time as Larymna and Halai in 86 B.C.,
it was restored and its harbor rebuilt in the 4th c. A.D.
The site of Anthedon was occupied from Mycenaean times and was still
inhabited in the 6th c. A.D. According to ancient testimony, the city was fortified;
its agora was planted with trees and flanked with a double portico. Inside the
city was a Kabeirian temple and, close by, another dedicated to Demeter and Kore,
while outside the city walls to the SE, was a Temple of Dionysos. The gymnasium
was consecrated to Zeus Karaios and to Anthas, the eponym of the city. Partial
excavations have been conducted.
The rampart, which no doubt is Hellenistic, started from the N mole
then ran along the coast for 225 m going W, circled the city to the W and 5, reached
the coastline NE of the acropolis and followed the slope of the acropolis N down
to the mole E of the port. The city covered an area ca. 550-650 m from N to S
and 600 m from E to W. To the NE the acropolis overlooks the sea and the harbor
from a height of some 20 m. Excavations there have yielded only two small crude
walls and some bronze objects of the 12th-11th c. The port, which doubtless is
very old, was rebuilt under the Late Empire. Its nearly circular basin (130 x
120 m) is protected to the N and E by two moles built of large blocks, and surrounded
to the N, W, and S by quays along a 370 m length. The S quay is porticocd. To
the S of the portico the remains of an Early Christian basilica have been excavated;
it is apsed and paved with polychinome marble. The little temple (ca. 10 x 6 m)
discovered SE of the city in 1889 may be that of Dionysos.
P. Roesch, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ARTEMISSION (Ancient city) ISTIEA
A promontory on the NW coast, named for the Sanctuary of Artemis Proseoia.
The first encounter between the Greek and Persian fleets took place offshore in
July 480 B.C. Although Pliny lists it among the cities of Euboia, Herodotos and
Plutarch mention only the temple; it seems probable that the region took on the
name because of the importance of the sanctuary. The site was identified by Lolling
at Haghios Georgios near Potaki on the Bay of Pevki. It lies to the W of Gouves
on an isolated spur of the hills which limit the small coastal plain of Kurbatsi,
and is now marked by the ruins of a 6th c. Byzantine complex. These were cleared
by excavators, digging several trenches. They reported numerous ancient blocks,
column drums, stele bases, and terracottas ranging from an early painted sima
to a Roman acanthus leaf fragment, but failed to find the location of the temple
itself. Lolling concluded that the Byzantine building, of which he excavated only
one room, must have followed the foundations of the Classical period. Other building
blocks indicated the site of a settlement on the higher slope to the S.
The well-known bronze statue of Poseidon, now in the National Museum
at Athens, was found off Cape Artemision itself, an arm in 1926, the rest in 1928.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
Situated on the Boiotian shore of the Euripos, between the bay of
Mikro Vathy to the N and the bay and village of Vathy to the S. According to legend
it was here that the Greek fleet gathered before setting sail for Troy and awaited
the favorable winds that Againeinnon obtained by sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia
to Arteinis (Eur., Iphigeneia at Aulis). Remains of a Mycenaean settlement have
been located on the rocky Yeladhovouni promontory separating the two bays. Never
a city, Aulis was part of the Theban districts up to 387 B.C., then of the territory
of Tanagra. Agelisaus, king of Sparta, the new Agamemnon, sacrificed here before
setting off for Asia in 397 B.C. Aulis depended for its livelihood on the sanctuary,
its potters' workshops, and fishing.
The Sanctuary of Artemis Aulideia was excavated from 1955 to 1961
by I. Threpsiadis. Open to the SE, the temple is built on the oblong archaic plan
(31 x 9.70 m). In front of the two columns in antis of the 5th c. temple a prostoon
of four Doric columns was added in the Hellenistic period. Inside the sekos were
two rows of four columns; in the rear a double door, whose marble threshold has
been preserved, led to the adyton; two statues of Arteinis and Apollo flanked
the doorway, and in front of the N statue was a round altar for libations, with
a drain. A large base found in the sekos may have been used to support the 1000-year-old
plane tree mentioned by Pausanias (9.19.7). Inside the adyton, which measured
3.70 x 7.55 m, was the offering table, part of which has been recovered, along
with a triangular tripod base and two round altars. Underneath the pronaos were
found the remains of a circular building assumed to date from the 8th c. B.C.
In Roman times all the columns were replaced; later the prostoon was incorporated
into some small therinae covering part of the sekos.
In front of the temple a square fountain was excavated which measured
1.8 m square inside; six steps led down inside it. Close by are the remains of
an altar. SW of the temple were found two or three potters' establishments, with
a store of clay and a kiln. A large hostelry for pilgrims was immediately to the
S.
P. Roesch, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
The chief city of the region, situated at the narrowest part of the
Euripos, where the island lies closest to Boiotia. It was a flourishing trade
center throughout antiquity, known especially for pottery and metalwork. Its citizens
founded colonies in Sicily in the 8th c. B.C. and along the N Aegean coasts in
the 7th. Eretria to the E was a long-standing rival for control of the rich Lelantine
Plain which lay between them. Chalkis supported the Greek cities against Xerxes,
but turned against Athens in 446, only to be defeated and remain a tributary until
411 B.C. It was then that the Euboians and Boiotians combined to block the Euripos
with moles, leaving only a narrow channel spanned by a wooden bridge, the first
of many built at various times in later history. Philip II of Macedon garrisoned
the city in 338 B.C. as one of his chief control points; it remained an important
center until it was partly destroyed for siding with the Achaian League against
Rome in 146 B.C. Few remains of the ancient city have been uncovered, but quarrying
activities N of the acropolis have revealed the walls of some Late Classical structures.
Dikaiarchos (26f) described Chalkis as enclosed by a wall 70 stades in length;
the trace is still clear on air photographs. Among many brackish springs, that
of Arethusa alone provided sufficient healthful water for all the people. There
were gymnasia, theaters, sanctuaries, including that of Apollo Delphinios, squares,
and stoas; an inscription mentions the Temple of Zeus Olympios. The port on the
Euripos was connected by a gate to the commercial agora, which had stoas on three
sides. A mile S of the town, Leake saw the ruined arches of a Roman aqueduct.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
DYSTOS (Ancient city) KARYSTIA
The ancient site is to be associated with a rocky outcrop of conical
shape, some 300 m high, along the main road from Chalkis to Karystos (ca. 20 km
SE of Aliveri). It is prominently located in the middle of a marshy basin which
is partially transformed into a lake during the rainy season. (There is some evidence
to indicate that efforts were made to drain the basin in antiquity.)
Dystos is thought to have been founded by the Dryopians, early inhabitants
of S Euboia, but little is known of its subsequent history. Surface reconnaissance
has shown that the site was occupied in prehistoric and Classical times, and there
is epigraphical evidence to indicate that it had become a deme of Eretria at least
by the mid 4th c. B.C. It continued to be occupied in the Hellenistic and Roman
periods, and substantial remains of a Venetian castle are to be found at the crest
of the hill.
Impressive remains of the Classical town can still be seen on the
lower slopes of the hill. These remains were partially surveyed and subjected
to brief excavation by a German expedition in 1895. A fortification wall of large
stone masonry, about two-thirds of whose circuit is preserved, enclosed the town.
One of the best preserved stretches is that at the E where, in the neighborhood
of the main city gate, the wall stands to a height of about 3 m. Numerous buildings
thought to be largely residential in character still can be seen at several points
within the fortifications. The largest of these is House J, near the wall in the
SE part of the town. Its plan is complete, and its well-dressed stone walls are
exposed to a level above that of the ground floor. This and other houses here
have been dated to the 5th c. B.C. and, therefore, are among the earliest known
examples of domestic architecture of the Classical period in Greece. The extent
and preservation of the walls and other buildings render this site worthy of further
archaeological investigation.
T. W. Jacobsen, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 13 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
EDIPSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
Remains of the ancient site are to be found in the neighborhood of
the modern resort community of Loutra Aidepsou, about 5 km to the S of the town
of Aidepsos in the NW part of the region.
Aidepsos was best known in antiquity for its health-giving thermal
springs, which still flow today. Although legend connected these springs with
Herakles (Strab. 9.4.2), the earliest reference to them in literature belongs
to the 4th c. B.C. (Arist. Meteor. 2.8). Yet it was not until the late Hellenistic
period or early Roman Imperial times that the site came to be widely known as
a health resort. Sulla, seeking relief from gout, is said to have spent a holiday
there (Plut. Sulla 26; cf. also Strab. 10.1.9, where the springs visited by Sulla
are erroneously placed in the Lelantine Plain near Chalkis). By the 2d c. A.D.
it had become an elegant spa frequented by artists, statesmen, and the idle rich--some
in search of a quick cure, but many apparently interested only in a good time
(Plut. Quaest. conv. 4.1 and De frat. amor. 487).
Owing partly to the proximity of the modern resort and partly to the
lack of excavation, little is known of the grand public and private buildings
referred to in our sources. Yet small-scale investigations in the early years
of this century produced remains of a bathing establishment possibly belonging
to the 2d and 3d c. A.D. The finds from this complex, which seems to have drawn
its water from the nearby thermal springs, indicate that it continued to be used
into the Christian period. There is some slight evidence to indicate that the
town was also the source of both copper and iron and the home of a metal-working
industry (Steph. Byz. s.v. Aidepsos). At the site of Khironisi--a headland not
far from modern Aidepsos--crucible fragments, slag, and pieces of malachite and
azurite in quartz (of which one sample contained ca. 15 percent copper and over
5 percent iron) have been found on the surface. Other surface finds indicate that
this site was occupied in Classical and earlier times, thus suggesting an explanation
for the tradition related by Stephanos.
T. W. Jacobsen, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
The ancient city is partially covered by the modern village of the
same name, some 18 km SE of Chalkis on the S-central coast of the island. The
site is dominated by a prominent acropolis at the N and extends over an area of
more than 80 ha, roughly delimited by the course of the ancient city walls. The
archaeological remains are the most extensive in Euboia.
First mentioned in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships (Il. 2.537: Eretria),
there is a growing body of evidence to indicate that the site was occupied throughout
most of the Bronze Age. Problems related to the location of Strabo's Old Eretria
(9.2.6)--now thought by some to be at the nearby site of Lefkandi--still remain
unsettled. With the dawn of the historical period, Eretria--along with its neighbor,
Chalkis--appears among the leading cities of Greece in establishing colonies abroad.
This contributed to a bitter rivalry between Chalkis and Eretria, manifested at
home in a war over the control of the fertile coastal strip centering upon the
Lelantine plain. The Lelantine War, which seems to have taken place at or near
the end of the 8th c. B.C., may have resulted in a certain decline in the status
of Eretria. But recent excavations have brought to light considerable evidence
of occupation on the site in the 7th and 6th c. Near the end of the 6th c., Eretria
supported the revolt of the Ionian Greek cities from Persian subjugation. This
resulted in the destruction of the city at the hands of the vengeful Persians
in 490 (Hdt. 6.43-44). Herodotos (6.99-101, 119) tells us that the temples were
plundered and burned and many of the inhabitants taken captive and carried off
to Persia. The city seems to have recovered somewhat for it managed to contribute
both ships and men to the Greek forces in 480-479. After the Persian Wars, Eretria
became a member of the Delian Confederacy and generally remained loyal to Athens
until 411. At that time the Euboian cities revolted, and there is some evidence
to indicate that they formed a league with Eretria at its head. Eretria supported
Sparta through the balance of the Peloponnesian War but was back on good terms
with Athens by the early 4th c. Thereafter its allegiance vacillated between Athens
and Thebes until--by the end of the 4th c.--it had come under the thumb of the
Macedonians and was to remain so for the next 100 years or more. Eretria came
to be the most important city in Euboia in the late 4th and early 3d c., by which
time its influence extended over most of S Euboia. The city flourished in the
3d c. and was the home of a well-known school of philosophy under the direction
of Menedemos. But the great days of Eretria came to an end with a major destruction
at the hands of a Roman-Pergamene coalition in 198 B.C. (Livy 32.16). Although
the city was rebuilt and the site continued to be occupied for some time thereafter,
no major monuments can be assigned to this period and it does not seem to have
regained its old importance.
Sporadic excavation has been carried out since the later 19th c. These
investigations have uncovered the remains of numerous graves (including a well-built
tomb of the Macedonian period a short distance to the W of the ancient town),
large stretches of the city wall, a theater, a gymnasium, a Thesmophorion, a bathing
establishment, a fountain-house, a tholos, a number of houses, and several temples
or shrines (dedicated to Apollo Daphnephoros, Dionysos, and Isis), as well as
lesser monuments. No clear-cut remains of the agora have yet been reported.
The current excavations have been largely confined to the areas of
the temple of Apollo Daphnephoros near the center of the ancient town and a major
gate in the NW sector of the city. The Temple of Apollo--now visible only in its
foundations--was first exposed around the turn of the century, but recent investigations
have clarified its chronology and many details of construction. A peripteral temple
of the Doric order, it seems to have been erected in the late archaic period (530-520
B.C.) but was razed shortly thereafter in the Persian destruction of 490. It is
to this structure that the well-known pedimental group of Theseus and Antiope
in the Chalkis Museum belongs. Recent excavation has shown that the 6th c. temple
had several precursors including an early archaic hecatompedon of the Ionic order
(670-650 B.C.), and a small apsidal shrine of the 8th c. The latter is the earliest
building yet found at Eretria. All of the structures in this sequence are thought
to have served in the worship of Apollo Daphnephoros.
One of the most striking monuments at Eretria is the ancient theater,
lying at the SW foot of the acropolis. A noteworthy feature of the complex is
a subterranean vaulted passage which led by means of a stairway from the center
of the orchestra to the stage building. It is thought that such an arrangement
facilitated the sudden appearance of actors from the underworld. This structure
seems to have been erected in the late 4th c. and serves as one of the best examples
of the Greek theater during the Hellenistic period. The remains of a small temple
and altar of Dionysos lie a short distance to the S of the theater.
The site is dominated by the acropolis, from which the visitor gains
a magnificent view of the S Euboian Gulf and the mainland beyond. Of particular
interest here are the walls and towers which represent some of the best preserved
examples of Classical Greek masonry. Although there is some evidence of the use
of the acropolis during the Mycenaean period, the fortifications probably range
in date from no earlier than the archaic period through Hellenistic times.
A line of fortification can be traced intermittently from the acropolis
along the W side of the city to a point just SW of the theater. Here lies a major
gateway (W Gate) through which the ancient road to Chalkis and the Lelantine plain
must have passed. The most recent excavators have concentrated much of their efforts
upon the investigation of the W Gate and its environs. These investigations have
shown that the major gate of the early Classical period (ca. 480 B.C.) overlay
a gate and fortifications of the 7th c., which are among the earliest known fortifications
of post-Bronze Age Greece. To the S of the W Gate, a complex of burials (both
inhumation and cremation) within a modest architectural setting has been identified
as a heroon. The rich finds from this area, whose foundation goes back to the
8th c., testify to the far-flung commercial activities of Eretria at that time.
The heroon seems to have been incorporated into a Hellenistic structure of palatial
proportions (Palace I), which may have belonged to the descendants of those who
were buried in the heroon. An even larger and more impressive complex (Palace
II), probably of the 4th c. B.C., has been exposed farther to the S.
Apart from the pedimental sculpture from the Temple of Apollo Daphnephoros
in the Chalkis Museum, all of the finds from the excavations at Eretria are now
housed in a small museum on the site.
T. W. Jacobsen, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 32 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
GERESTOS (Ancient port) KARYSTOS
The site of a Sanctuary of Poseidon, near Platanistos in the S part
of the region. The name was also used for the cape, now called Mandeli, and a
harbor 3 km to its N at Porte Kastri. As the only good harbor on the S coast,
the town was visited by merchant ships throughout antiquity. The sanctuary, of
pre-Hellenic origin, is mentioned by Homer and Strabo. Bursian and others have
located it at Helleniko 5 km N of the harbor, as no remains have been found at
Porto Kastri, though Geyer thought the cape itself would be a more appropriate
location. Bursian found a terrace with traces of walls around the remains of a
white marble temple, and cited an inscription mentioning Artemis Bolosia.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
GRYCHE (Ancient city) EVIA
Southwest of this modern village in E central Euboia is a naturally
fortified site with the most extensive visible remains in the region. The acropolis
can be approached only on the E, where there are rock-cut steps for pack animals.
The circuit wall of irregular masonry has some ashlar blocks, especially at the
corners, and some Venetian repairs. Within the walls Ulrichs found many foundations
for houses and large buildings. In a grotto with a spring-fed pool, he saw a rock-cut
altar; fragments of marble columns and Ionic capitals were in the debris of two
ruined chapels. The ancient name of the city is unknown; Grynchai, known from
the Athenian tribute lists, has been proposed, but has also been located at Episkopi,
now marked with a mediaeval fortress.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ISTIEA (Ancient city) EVIA
The ancient site can be associated quite confidently with the prominent
terraced hill (Kastro) situated at the very E limits of the modern village of
Orei on the N coast of the island. In later antiquity the town came to be known
more commonly as Oreos (e.g., Strab. 10.1.3), the name of an old deme in the neighborhood
(probably Molos, a small headland located a few km to the W of Orei).
Histiaia was the most important Classical town in the region. Its
importance was based not only on its strategic position overlooking the narrows
leading to the North Euboian Gulf but on its control of the large and fertile
coastal plain on which the city lay. Trial excavation and surface reconnaissance
have demonstrated that the site was already flourishing in the Bronze Age, and
Homer (Il. 2.537) testifies to the fertility of the surrounding plain by describing
it as rich in vines. Surface finds suggest that it continued to be occupied during
the Early Iron Age, probably by the Aiolic-speaking Ellopians or Perrhaibians
who seem to have replaced the Homeric Abantes. In 480 B.C. the city and its environs
were overrun by the Persians (Hdt. 8.23). After the Persian Wars it became a member
of the Delian Confederacy, contributing the rather modest sum of 1/6 talent. In
446 the Euboians revolted and were promptly reduced by Athens (Thuc. 1.114.3);
but Histiaia was treated more severely than the other Euboian cities. (Plut. Per.
23 attributes the severity of the puhishment to the Histiaian seizure of an Athenian
ship and the murder of its crew.) Perikles sent off the existing population of
the city to Macedonia and replaced them with a cleruchy of 1000 (Diod. 12.22)
or 2000 (Theopompos in Strab. 10.1.3) Athenians who may have temporarily settled
at the old site of Oreos. In any event, the city was commonly referred to by that
name thereafter. The exiled population probably returned home at the end of the
Peloponnesian War in 404; thereafter they seem to have been largely under the
control of Sparta until they joined the Second Athenian Confederacy in 376-375.
Although the city appears to have become a member (for the first time) of the
reconstituted league of Euboian cities in 340, its allegiance during most of the
4th c. seems to have vacillated between Athens and Macedonia. It was almost exclusively
pro-Macedonian during the 3d c., as a result of which it was attacked in 208 and
captured in 199 by a Roman-Pergamene force (Livy 28.6, 31.46). The Roman garrison
was removed in 194, and--to judge from the wide distribution of its coinage--Histiaia-Oreos
prospered during the first half of the 3d c. Thereafter little is known of its
history, yet surface finds indicate that the site continued to be inhabited in
Roman, Byzantine, and later times. Considerable remains of the later fortifications
incorporating a number of Classical blocks can still be seen at Orei, while evidence
of ancient harbor installations have been observed at Mobs.
There has been little excavation at Orei. A small trial excavation
produced Early Helladic pottery; a segment of a house wall, a small cist-grave
and pottery, all probably of Middle Helladic date; and Late Helladic pottery.
The foundations of a Late Byzantine church were also exposed at the S foot of
the mound in 1954.
T. W. Jacobsen, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KARYSTOS (Ancient city) EVIA
At modern Palaiochora under Castel Rosso hill, over a km inland from
the N shore of the great bay. Sparse Neolithic and Early Helladic finds occur
at half a dozen nearby spots. The Dryopian town probably dates from the Dark Ages.
It stood Persian siege in 490 B.C. (the alleged traces of city walls are uncertain),
but in 480 contributed to Xerxes' fleet, and so was ravaged by the Greeks. Karystos
entered the Delian League after war with Athens, and revolted with the other Euboians
in 411. The only Classical remains are the walls at Platanisto. In 411 or after
the Lamian War the town probably lost territory to Eretria and by ca. 290 joined
the Euboian League. Later 3d c. coins show a pro-Macedonian tyrant and in 196
B.C. Karystos shared Eretria's fall to Rome.
The vogue at Rome for greenish Karystian marble, begun possibly by
Mamurra, revivified the area, its prosperity rising to a peak under Hadrian. Dozens
of quarries are known, though mostly for local stone, especially NW of Marmari
(Strabo's Marmarion) and above Karystos where unfinished columns 13 m long may
still be seen near Myloi. Monumental buildings spread now if not before to the
coast. A four-stepped heptastyle peripteral Ionic temple of the 2d c. has been
excavated there. Many marble and poros blocks, including a battered Roman pedimental
relief, were built into the 14th c. Venetian coastal fort, the Bourtzi.
The port of Geraistos to the E, with its Sanctuary of Poseidon, was
on the main route from the Euripos SE and from Athens NE, and probably had an
Athenian clerouchy. It is referred to from Homer to Procopios, and finds continue
to be made.
The region's most dramatic monument is the megalithic place of worship
atop Mount Ocha, the Dragon House, where the excavators found sherds inscribed
in archaic Chalkidian script outside, and Classical and Hellenistic pottery inside.
The building is a rectangle ca. 10 x 5 m, interior dimensions, with a door and
two windows in the S side. The roughly isodomic walls are ca. one m thick. In
the interior the blocks are smoothed; on the exterior many show a curious rustication.
The roof consists of four superimposed layers of great blocks corbeled inward,
but not meeting, at least today, in the center. (Cf. Styra.)
Other, comparatively undatable, remains have been found at Philagra
and at Archampolis (perhaps associated with iron mining), and on promontories
in the Karystos and Geraistos bays. Late Roman columnar members are found in churches
near Marmari, Metochi, and Zacharia.
M. B. Wallace, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KIRYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Listed in Homer's catalogue of ships, the city was known to Ptolemy
and Strabo, though it was no longer of any importance, having early lost its independence
to Histiaia. The site has been identified with a hill N of modern Mantudi, near
the Bay of Peleki, at the mouth of the Boudoros river. The acropolis drops abruptly
to the sea in a 30 m cliff. The fortification wall on the N side is of irregular
polygonal blocks roughly dressed, and probably belongs to the 6th c. city, the
destruction of which Theognis attributed to the Kypselids. The wall on the S side
is double-faced, of trapezoidal blocks in courses, with a square tower of regular
isodomic masonry: these sections are probably Hellenistic. Pernier reported the
remains of a large rectangular building on the highest ground, with other buildings
of rough limestone blocks, along streets laid out according to the cardinal points
of the compass. No finds have been reported from the Roman period.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KYMI (Ancient city) EVIA
One of the chief towns of the region in the archaic period, joining
with Chalkis in the 8th c. B.C. to found Cumae in Italy. There was a tendency
in later times, when the Euboian city was overshadowed by Chalkis, to confuse
it with the far more important Aeolian Kyme in Asia Minor. The location of the
archaic city is not certain, but it is presumably to be found on the E slope of
Mt. Dirphys near the E coast town of Koumi. No ancient remains other than inscriptions
have been found at the modern town; the ancient acropolis was probably on the
height of Palaiokastri at Potamia, now marked by a mediaeval fortress. Bursian
reported 4th and 3d c. B.C. graves NE of Koumi; a small temple has been excavated
at Oxylithos not far to the S.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MANDILI (Cape) EVIA
The site of a Sanctuary of Poseidon, near Platanistos in the S part
of the region. The name was also used for the cape, now called Mandeli, and a
harbor 3 km to its N at Porte Kastri. As the only good harbor on the S coast,
the town was visited by merchant ships throughout antiquity. The sanctuary, of
pre-Hellenic origin, is mentioned by Homer and Strabo. Bursian and others have
located it at Helleniko 5 km N of the harbor, as no remains have been found at
Porto Kastri, though Geyer thought the cape itself would be a more appropriate
location. Bursian found a terrace with traces of walls around the remains of a
white marble temple, and cited an inscription mentioning Artemis Bolosia.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MYKALISSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
A town belonging to the earliest Boiotian League, flourishing from
the 6th c. until its destruction and the massacre of its inhabitants by the Athenians
in 413 B.C. Strabo classed it as a village belonging to Tanagra. There are a few
remains of undated walls at Rhitsona, which is generally accepted as the site
of Mykalessos. Excavations have concentrated on graves, largely of the 6th c.,
but also 5th c. and Hellenistic, which produced material of considerable importance
for the history of Greek ceramics. Pausanias mentions a Sanctuary of Mykalessian
Demeter on the shore of the Euripos, which was probably near the modern village
of Megalovouno above Aulis. The ancient wall which appears on both sides of the
road through the Anaghoritis pass marks the Chalkis-Thebes boundary. Frazer suggested
a nearby location for the Hermaion mentioned in Thucydides' account of the Athenian
attack, while locating Livy's Hermaion on the Euripos at a ferry terminus.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
OCHI (Mountain) KARYSTIA
This is the site of perhaps the best known of a series of stone-built
structures first recognized in the rugged country of S Euboia, where peasants
call them Drakospitia (Spitia or Sentia tou Drakou). Frequently mentioned in the
reports of 19th c. travelers, these structures have certain architectural characteristics
in common. All are built of a local gray-green schist which readily splits into
flattish slabs that were laid (without mortar) in basically horizontal courses,
sometimes with indications of polygonal masonry and stacking. There is very little
evidence of the use of wood in the construction; even the floors and roofs were
of stone. The latter are particularly interesting since, when sufficiently preserved,
they reflect the use of corbeling.
Although some 40 Dragon Houses have been reported, the best known
examples are three in the neighborhood of Styra and one on Mt. Ocha. The latter
is located near the crest of the mountain, some 1,400 m above sea level, and can
be reached only after a difficult climb from Karystos (preferably in the company
of a guide). It is a simple one-roomed structure (interior dimensions: ca. 5 x
10 m), entered by means of a single door in one (S) of the long sides. Two small
windows flank the door. Although some of the earliest visitors mention an altar
or offering table, there are no extant indications of special features inside
the building. It is not certain whether the roof was entirely corbeled or only
partially so, thus leaving a small opening through which smoke could escape.
No excavation had been carried out at any of these sites until 1959,
when a small investigation was conducted in the Dragon House on Mt. Ocha. The
results indicate that the building itself had been used at least in Classical
and Hellenistic times and the site had been frequented at least since the archaic
period. There is no evidence of prehistoric occupation. The finds tend to support
the early theories attaching a religious significance to this building, but no
concrete evidence of the deity (or deities) worshiped here has yet been reported.
In spite of the new information about the date and function of the
Dragon House on Mt. Ocha, there is no reason to assume that all structures of
this type in S Euboia ought to be regarded similarly. It is quite possible that
some served no religious purpose at all and were nothing more than dwellings.
(Those near the marble quarries of Styra, for example, may have been merely quarters
for the officials or laborers in the quarries.) Nor is it necessary to regard
all of them as of similar date, for village houses in the neighborhood are still
being made of the same materials today. Although their architectural style has
been termed Dryopian after the name of the early inhabitants of the region, it
should perhaps be noted that structures of comparable style can be found in geologically
related areas elsewhere, e.g., Andros, Tenos, Keos, and Mt. Hymettos in Attica.
This suggests that local building materials played a more important role in the
resulting architecture than has usually been recognized.
T. W. Jacobsen, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
SKYROS (Island) STEREA HELLAS
Famous for the legends of Theseus and of Achilles.
In 470 B.C. Kimon seized the island, enslaving the inhabitants and
replacing them with Athenian colonists. In 332 B.C. the Macedonians freed it from
Athenian domination. To the S of the village of Skyros, on the hill that dominates
the present village a Venetian fort has taken full advantage of the Greek substructures.
In the walls of the acropolis, trapezoidal masonry alternates with irregular courses
(attributable to the 5th c. B.C.) and with isodomic blocks having squared faces.
Very scarce remains of the enclosing wall are datable to ca. 450 B.C. Traces of
stratification indicating habitation during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages have
recently been found by D. R. Theocharis. During the Empire, breccia, which was
much in demand for its decorative quality, was quarried.
N. Bonacasa, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
STYRA (Ancient city) EVIA
At modern Nea Styra on the W coast. Styra was the most substantial
prehistoric settlement in the region. Two Cycladic figurines have been reported,
and Neolithic, Early Helladic, and Middle Helladic sherds, as well as some obsidian,
continue to be found at at least five sites.
Otherwise the only certain remains are Classical. The Dryopian inhabitants
were no doubt in some sense subject to Eretria during the archaic period (cf.
Strab. 446), but their formal independence dates at least from the Persian sack
of Eretria in 490 B.C. Styrans served at Artemision, Salamis, and Plataia; joined
the Delian League (normally paying one talent); and fought for Athens in the Peloponnesian
War until 411, when they revolted with the other Euboians. At an unknown date
before the 340s they had fallen back under Eretria, and shares its later history.
Quarries are frequent in the area. Three small dragon houses reminiscent
of the great building on the summit of Mt. Ocha (see Karystos) are the principal
remains. A further puzzle is provided by some 450 lead tablets with unusual names,
dating from the early 5th c. The acropolis, now surmounted by the Frankish castle
Larmena, still shows old fortifications.
Near the landing Nimporio are ancient quarries, and two tombs with
monolithic sarcophagi; half an hour inland at Pyrgos there is a tower with reused
Classical blocks.
M. B. Wallace, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ZARAX (Ancient demos) KARYSTIA
The remains of an ancient fort, probably Dryopian, near Zarka have
been identified with the deme of Zarex and the Eretrian fort of Zaretra; Plutarch
describes the location as the narrowest part of the island of Euboia.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
