Εμφανίζονται 40 τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΛΑΡΙΣΑ Επαρχία ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ" .
ΑΡΓΙΣΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
Argura (Argoupa: Eth. Argoupaios). Called Argissa (Argissa)
in Homer (Il. ii. 738), a town in Pelasgiotis in Thessaly, on the Peneus, and
near Larissa. The distance between this place and Larissa is so small as to
explain the remark of the Scholiast on Apollonius, that the Argissa of Homer
was the same as Larissa. Leake supposes the site of Argura to be indicated by
the tumuli at a little distance from Larissa, extending three quarters of a
mile from east to west. (Strab. ix. p. 440; Schol. in Apoll. Rhod. i. 40; Steph.
B. s. v.; Eustath. ad II. l. c.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 367, vol.
iv. p. 534.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΤΡΑΞ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
Atrax (Atrax, also Atrakia, Steph. B.; Ptol. iii. 13. § 42: Eth. Atrakios),
a Perrhaebian town in Thessaly, described by Livy as situated above the river
Peneius, at the distance of about 10 miles from Larissa. (Liv. xxxii. 15, comp.
xxxvi. 13.) Strabo says that the Peneius passed by the cities of Tricca, Pelinnaeum
and Parcadon, on its left, on its course to Atrax and Larissa. (Strab. ix. p.
438.) Leake places Atrax on a height upon the left bank of the Peneius, opposite
the village of Gunitza. On this height, which is now called Sidhiro-peliko (Sidepopelikos),
a place where chippings of iron are found, Leake found stones and fragments of
ancient pottery, and in one place foundations of an Hellenic wall. (Leake, Northern
Greece, vol. iii. p. 368, vol. iv. p. 292.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΓΥΡΤΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
Gurtona, Gurtone, Eth. Gurtonios. A town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly,
situated in a fertile plain between the rivers Titaresius and Peneius. Its site
is represented by the modern village of Tatari. Strabo, indeed, connects Gyrton
with the mouth of the Peneius, and the Epitomiser of the seventh book places it
near the foot of Mt. Olympus; but it is evident from the description of Livy,
whose account has been derived from Polybius, that it stood in some part of those
plains in which Phalanna, Atrax, and Larissa were situated. (Liv. xxxvi. 10, xlii.
54.) It was only one day's march from Phalanna to Gyrton (Liv. xlii. 54); and
the Scholiast on Apollonius (i. 40) says that Gyrton was near Larissa. It was
an ancient town, mentioned by Homer Il. ii. 738), and continued to be a place
of importance till later times, when it is called opulent by Apollonius Rhodius
(i. 57). It was said to have been the original abode of the Phlegyae, and to have
been founded by Gyrton, the brother of Phlegyas.(Strabo; Steph. B. s. v. Gurton.)
The Gyrtonians are mentioned among the Thessalians who sent aid to
the Athenians at the commencement of the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii. 22.) The
name of the city frequently occurs at a later period.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΚΡΑΝΝΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
Kranon, Krannon; the name is written indifferently with the single
and double n in inscriptions and coins, as well as in ancient authors: Eth. Kranonios).
A town of Pelasgiotis, in Thessaly, situated S.W. of Larissa, and at the distance
of 100 stadia from Gyrton, according to Strabo (vii. p. 330, frag. 14). Its most
ancient name is said to have been Ephyra; and Homer, in his account of the wars
of the Ephyri and Phlegyae, is supposed by the ancient commentators to have meant
the people afterwards called Crannonians and Gyrtonians respectively. (Il. xiii.
301; Strab. l. c. ix. p. 442; Steph. B. s. v. Krannon). Pindar likewise speaks
of the Crannonii under the name of Ephyraei (Pyth. x. 85). Crannon was the residence
of the wealthy and powerful family of the Scopadae, whose numerous flocks and
herds grazed in the fertile plain surrounding the city. (Theocr. xvi. 36.) Diactorides,
one of the Scopadae of Crannon, was a suitor for the hand of the daughter of Cleisthenes
of Sicyon. (Herod. vi. 127.) Simonides resided some time at Crannon, under the
patronage of the Scopadae; and there was a celebrated story current in antiquity
respecting the mode in which the Dioscuri preserved the poet's life when the Scopadae
were crushed by the falling in of the roof of a building. (Cic. de Orat. ii. 86)
In the first year of the Peloponnesian War (B.C. 431) the Crannonians,
together with some of the other Thessalians, sent troops to the assistance of
the Athenians. (Thuc. ii. 22.) In B.C. 394 they are mentioned as allies of the
Boeotians, who molested Agesilaus in his march through Thessaly on his return
from Asia. (Xen. Hell. iv. 3. 3) In B.C. 191 Crannon was taken by Antiochus. (Liv.
xxxvi. 10.) It is mentioned again in the war with Perseus. (Liv. xlii. 65.) Catullus
(lxiv. 35) speaks of it as a declining place in his time: - Deseritur Scyros:
linquunt Phthiotica Tempe, Cranonisque domos, ac moenia Larissaea.
Its name occurs in Pliny (iv. 8. § 15). Its site has: been fixed by
Leake at some ruins called Palea Larissa, situated half an hour from Hadjilar,
which is distant 2 hours and 27 minutes from Larissa. At Palea Larissa Leake found
an ancient inscription containing the name of Crannon. The name of the ruins shows
that they were once more considerable than they are at present; but even now some
foundations of the walls of the town, or more probably of the citadel, may be
traced along the edge of a quadrangular height called Paleokastro, which is nearly
a mile in circumference, and towards the upper part of which are some vestiges
of a transverse wall, forming a double inclosure. This height, and all the fields
around, are covered with pottery; and on the side of the height, or on the rise
of the hills behind it, are eight or nine small tumuli.
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ΛΑΡΙΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
On coins and inscriptions Larisa or Lareisa: Eth. Larissaios, Larisaios.
A name common to many Pelasgic towns, and probably a Pelasgic word signifying
city. Hence in mythology Larissa is represented as the daughter of Pelasgus (Paus.
ii. 24. § 1), or of Piasus, a Pelasgian prince. (Strab. xiv.)
An important town of Thessaly, the capital of the district Pelasgiotis,
was situated in a fertile plain upon a. gently rising ground, on the right or
south bank of the Peneius. It had a strongly fortified citadel. (Diod. xv. 61.)
Larissa is not mentioned by Homer. Some commentators, however, suppose it to be
the same as the Pelasgic Argos of Homer (Il. ii. 681), but the latter was the
name of a district rather than of a town. Others, with more probability, identify
it with the Argissa of the poet. (Il. ii. 738.) Its foundation was ascribed to
Acrisius. (Steph. B. s. v.) The plain of Larissa was formerly inhabited by the
Perrhaebi, who were partly expelled by the Larissaeans, and partly reduced to
subjection. They continued subject to Larissa, till Philip made himself master
of Thessaly. (Strab. ix.) The constitution of Larissa was democratical (Aristot.
Pol. v. 6), and this was probably one reason why the Larissaeans were allies of
the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii. 22.) During the Roman wars
in Greece, Larissa is frequently mentioned as a place of importance. It was here
that Philip, the son of Demetrius, kept all his royal papers during his campaign
against Flamininus in Greece; but after the battle of Cynoscephalae, in B.C. 197,
he was obliged to abandon Larissa to the Romans, having previously destroyed these
documents. (Polyb. xviii. 16.) It was still in the hands of the Romans when Antiochus
crossed over into Greece, B.C. 191, and this king made an ineffectual attempt
upon the town. (Liv. xxxvi. 10.) In the time of Strabo Larissa continued to be
a flourishing town. It is mentioned by Hierocles in the sixth century as the first
town in Thessaly. It is still a considerable place, the residence of an archbishop
and a pasha, and containing 30,000 inhabitants. It continues to bear its ancient
name, though the Turks call it Yenisheher, which is its official appellation.
Its circumference is less than three miles. Like other towns in Greece, which
have been continually inhabited, it presents few remains of Hellenic times. They
are chiefly found in the Turkish cemeteries, consisting of plain quadrangular
stones, fragments of columns, mostly fluted, and a great number of ancient cippi
and sepulchral stelae, which now serve for Turkish tombstones.
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ΟΣΣΑ (Βουνό) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
Ossa, a lofty mountain in Thessaly on the coast of Magnesia, separated from Olympus
only by the narrow vale of Tempe. Hence it was supposed by the ancients that these
mountains were once united, and had been separated by an earthquake. (Herod. vii.
129; Strab. ix. pp. 430, 442; Lucan, vi. 347; Claudian, Rapt. Proserp. ii. 183.)
Ossa is conical in form and has only one summit. Polybius mentions it as one of
the highest mountains in Greece (xxxiv. 10); but it is considerably lower than
Olympus, and according to Ovid even lower than Pelion. (Ov. Fast. iii. 441.) According
to Dodwell, who speaks, however, only from conjecture, Ossa is about 5000 feet
high. To the south of Ossa rises Mt. Pelion, and the last falls of the two mountains
are united by a low ridge. (Herod. vii. 129.) Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion differ
greatly in character; and the conical peak, standing between the other two, is
well contrasted with the broad majesty of Olympus, and the extended outline of
Pelion. The length of Ossa along the coast is said by Strabo to be 80 stadia (ix.
p. 443). It is hardly necessary to allude to the passages in the poets, in which
Ossa is mentioned, along with Olympus and Pelion, in the war of the giants and
the gods. (Hom. Od. xi. 312; Virg. Georg. i. 282, &c.) The modern name of Ossa
is Kissavo.
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ΤΕΜΠΗ (Κοιλάδα) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
Tempe (ta Tempe, contr. of Tempea), a celebrated valley in the NE. of Thessaly,
is a gorge between Mounts Olympus and Ossa, through which the waters of the Peneius
force their way into the sea. The beauties of Tempe were a favourite subject with
the ancient poets, and have been described at great length in a well-known passage
of Aelian, and more briefly by Pliny: but none of these writers appear to have
drawn their pictures from actual observation; and the scenery is distinguished
rather by savage grandeur than by the sylvan beauty which Aelian and others attribute
to it. (Catull. lxiv. 285; Ov. Met. i. 568; Virg. Georg. ii. 469; Aelian, V. H.
iii. 1; Plin. iv. 8. s. 15.) The account of Livy, who copies from Polybius, an
eye-witness, is more in accordance with reality. This writer says, Tempe is a
defile, difficult of access, even though not guarded by an enemy; for besides
the narrowness of the pass for 5 miles, where there is scarcely room for a beast
of burden, the rocks on both sides are so perpendicular as to cause giddiness
both in the mind and eyes of those who look down from the precipice. Their terror
is also increased by the depth and roar of the Peneus rushing through the midst
of the valley. (Liv. xliv. 6.) He adds that this pass, so inaccessible by nature,
was defended by four fortresses, one at the western entrance at Gonnus, a second
at Condylon, a third at Charax, and a fourth in the road itself, in the middle
and narrowest part of the valley, which could be easily defended by ten men. The
pass is now called Lykostomo, or the Wolf's Mouth. Col. Leake gives about four
miles and a half as the distance of the road through the valley. In this space
the width of the gorge is in some parts less than 100 yards, comprehending in
fact no more than the breadth of the road in addition to that of the river. The
modern road follows in the track of the ancient military road made by the Romans,
which ran along the right bank of the river. Leake remarks that even Livy in his
description of Tempe seems to have added embellishments to the authority from
which he borrowed; for, instead of the Peneius flowing rapidly and with a loud
noise, nothing can be more tranquil and steady than its ordinary course. The remains
of the fourth castle mentioned by Livy are noticed by Leake as standing on one
side of an immense fissure in the precipices of Ossa, which afford an extremely
rocky, though not impracticable descent from the heights into the vale; while
between the castle and the river space only was left for the road. About half
a mile beyond this fort there still remains an inscription engraved upon the rock,
on the right-hand side of the road, where it ascends the hill: L. Cassius Longinus
Pro Cos. Tempe munivit. It is probable from the position of this inscription that
it relates to the making of the road, though some refer it to defensive works
erected by Longinus in Tempe. This Longinus appears to have been the L. Cassius
Longinus who was sent by Caesar from Illyria into Thessaly. (Caes. B.C. iii. 34.)
When Xerxes invaded Greece, B.C. 480, the Greeks sent a force of 10,000 men to
Tempe, with the intention of defending the pass against the Persians; but having
learnt from Alexander, the king of Macedonia, that there was another pass across
Mt. Olympus, which entered Thessaly near Gonnus, where the gorge of Tempe commenced,
the Greeks withdrew to Thermopylae. (Herod. vii. 173.)
It was believed by the ancient historians and geographers that the
gorge of Tempe had been produced by an earthquake, which rent asunder the mountains,
and afforded the waters of the Peneius an egress to the sea. (Herod. vii. 129;
Strab. ix. p. 430.) But the Thessalians maintained that it was the god Poseidon
who had split the mountains (Herod. l. c.); while others supposed that this had
been the work of Hercules. (Diod. iv. 58; Lucan, vi. 345.)
The pass of Tempe was connected with the worship of Apollo. This god
was believed to have gone thither to receive expiation after the slaughter of
the serpent Pytho, and afterwards to have returned to Delphi, bearing in his hand
a branch of laurel plucked in the valley. Every ninth year the Delphians sent
a procession to Tempe consisting of wellborn youths, of which the chief youth
plucked a branch of laurel and brought it back to Delphi. On this occasion a solemn
festival, in which the inhabitants of the neighbouring regions took part, was
celebrated at Tempe in honour of Apollo Tempeites. The procession was accompanied
by a flute-player. (Aelian, V. H. iii. 1; Plut. Quaest. Graec. c. 11. p. 292,
de Musica, c. 14. p. 1136; Bockh, Inscr. No. 17 67, quoted by Grote, Hist. of
Greece, vol. ii. p. 365.)
The name of Tempe was applied to other beautiful valleys. Thus the
valley, through which the Helorus flows in Sicily, is called Heloria Tempe (Ov.
Fast. iv. 477); and Cicero gives the name of Tempe to the valley of the Velinus,
near Reate (ad Att. iv. 15). In the same way Ovid speaks of the Heliconia Tempe
(Am. i. 1. 15).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΤΡΑΞ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
A town in Pelasgiotis in Thessaly, inhabited by the Perrhaebi, so called from the mythical Atrax, son of Peneus and Bura, and father of Caeneus and Hippodamia. Hence Caeneus is called Atracides, and Hippodamia, Atracis.
ΓΥΡΤΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
or Gyrtona (Gurton, Gurtone). An ancient town in Pelasgiotis in Thessaly, on the Peneus.
ΚΡΑΝΝΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
(Kranon) or Crannon (Krannon). A city of Thessaly on the river
Onchestus, southeast of Pharsalus. Near it was a fountain, the water of which
was fabled to warm wine when mixed with it, so that the heat remained for two
or three days.
ΛΑΡΙΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
An important town of Thessaly in Pelasgiotis, situated on the Peneus, in an extensive plain, and once the capital of the Pelasgi.
ΟΣΣΑ (Βουνό) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
A celebrated mountain in the north of Thessaly, connected with Pelion on the southeast, and divided from Olympus on the northwest by the vale of Tempe. It is mentioned in the legend of the war of the Giants.
ΤΕΜΠΗ (Κοιλάδα) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
A beautiful and romantic valley in the north of Thessaly, between
Mounts Olympus and Ossa, through which the Peneus escapes into the sea. The scenery
of this glen is frequently praised by poets; and it was also celebrated as one
of the favourite haunts of Apollo, who had transplanted his laurel from this spot
to Delphi. The whole valley is rather less than five miles in length, and opens
gradually to the east into a wide plain. Tempe is also of great importance in
history, as it is the only pass through which an army can invade Thessaly from
the north. In some parts the rocks on each side of the Peneus approach so close
to each other as only to leave room between them for the stream, and the road
is cut out of the rock in the narrowest point. Tempe is the only channel through
which the waters of the Thessalian plain descend into the sea; and it was the
common opinion in antiquity that these waters had once covered the country with
a vast lake, till an outlet was formed for them by some great convulsion in nature
which rent the rocks of Tempe asunder. So celebrated was the scenery of Tempe
that its name was given to any beautiful valley. Cicero so calls a valley in the
land of the Sabines near Reate, through which the river Velinus flowed; and there
was a Tempe in Sicily, through which the river Helorus flowed, hence called by
Ovid Tempe Heloria.
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ΚΡΑΝΝΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
City of Thessalia.
Crannon was one of the leading cities of Thessalia
in the Vth and IVth centuries B. C. It is mentioned by Thucydides in his Histories,
II, 22, 3 among the Thessalian cities that sent troops to help Athens
against Sparta in 431, at
the beginning of the Peloponnesian war.
Crannon was said to owe its name to the mythological hero Cranon,
a son of Pelasgus, the eponym of the Pelasgians. The name of the city was formerly
Ephyra, but it was changed to Crannon by its citizens after their king, Cranon,
had been killed by Oenomaus in Pisa,
during his failed attempt to win the hand of his daughter Hippodamia.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1999), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΡΓΙΣΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
A city of Pelasgiotis, in antiquity identified with Homeric Argissa
(Il. 2.738; Strab. 9.440; Steph. Byz. s.v.). It was on the left bank of the Peneios
river, supposed to be 40 stades (ca. 7 km) from Atrax (Strab. 9.438). This has
long been considered an ancient site at a prehistoric mound (Gremnos or Gremnos
Magoula) about 7 km W of Larissa, just on the left bank of the Peneios. This identification
was denied by Stahlin, who placed Argura at an ancient site at Gunitza, ca. 8
km W of Gremnos Magoula, but the Gremnos-Argura identification has recently been
reasserted by Franke and Milojcic. The history of the city is virtually unknown.
The prehistoric mound has been half carried away by the river. It
served as the acropolis of the ancient city, which is otherwise in a flat plain.
Excavations on the mound in 1955-58 turned up sherds from the Geometric through
Roman periods as well as prehistoric. One well found in 1956 contained Classical,
another early Hellenistic, pottery. A fragment of an early Classical terracotta
revetment found on the mound may indicate the presence of a temple, perhaps to
Artemis, to whom an inscription was found in the excavations. A test trench on
the N side of the mound produced parts of two archaic-Classical buildings. Right
at the river's edge below and a little to the E of the mound are a few courses
remaining of a tower constructed of large rectangular blocks, which was built
over the remains of an earlier one of polygonal masonry, and seems itself to have
been rebuilt. It is conjectured that this was a late archaic tower rebuilt in
the 4th c. B.C. From the mound the course of two concentric city walls can be
seen to the NE and W, about 350-450 m away from the mound. The inner one is possibly
archaic or Classical; the outer, Hellenistic. Investigations within the lower
city area in 1958 turned up sherds of the 6th c. B.C. through the Hellenistic
period, and some scanty remains of a public building and houses. The agora of
the ancient city may have been in the flat area immediately to the E of the mound.
Objects from the excavations and some found by chance are in the Larissa Museum.
A tumulus (Skismeni Magoula) ca. 2 km NW of Gremnos Magoula and 1
km N of the river was partially excavated in 1958-59. Under the edge of the mound
were three stone sarcophagi, close to each other and radiating from the center
of the mound. These were plain, and had each been lined with a wooden coffin,
one of which was well preserved and contained fragments of clothing and a pillow
along with the skeleton. One of the others contained a lekythos of the 4th c.
B.C. No trace of a built tomb or other grave was found in the center of the mound.
Between Gremnos Magoula and Skismeni Magoula was a Hellenistic necropolis on the
road leading towards Gunitza. This was investigated in 1955 and 1958 and yielded
a few objects. Some 70 m W-SW of the Hellenistic necropolis one of the Classical
period was discovered in 1958. To the N of the road to Larissa from Gremnos Magoula,
2 km E of the mound, is a group of eight tumuli (Pente Magoules), perhaps Hellenistic
grave mounds, but so far uninvestigated. By the road at this point Leake noted
some ancient foundations and blocks, and a piece of a Doric column (chord of flute
6 inches).
T. S. Mackay, 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.
ΑΤΡΑΞ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
A city of Pelasgiotis (Strab. 9.441), 10 Roman miles from Larissa
(Livy 32.15.8) by the Peneios (Strab. 9.438), evidently prosperous from at least
the 5th c. It issued coinage en. 400 B.C. It had a Macedonian garrison and was
besieged by T. Quinctius Flamininus in 198 B.C. but he failed to take it, as did
Antiochus III in 191 B.C. when it was a Roman stronghold (Livy 32.15.8, 17.4-18;
33.10.2, 13.4).
Atrax is commonly now identified with a site (Palaiokastro) on the
right bank of the Peneios near modern Alifaka, ca. 23 km W of Larissa. The walls
of the site have a circuit of about 3 km, surrounding an acropolis peak (265 m)
which is a N spur of modern Mt. Dhovroutsi, and coming down the hill to the river
plain, where the wall is poorly preserved. A cross wall divided the circuit into
an upper and lower city. The original wall was built of rough stones and was about
3 to 4 m thick; it may have been Mycenaean. In Hellenistic times (?) this wall
was repaired with rectangular blocks and the wall between the acropolis and city,
immediately below the acropolis, was provided with five towers. The wall was again
improved in Byzantine times. In the lower city architectural fragments are frequent.
By the river are a number of sarcophagi. Some ancient objects have come from this
site, including a 6th c. B.C. marble head.
Six km W of the site by Koutsochiro, a Chapel of Haghias Nikolaus
stands on a mound. Inscriptions of Atrax were found here. This site may have been
a Temple of Poseidon, and the area seems to belong naturally to the Alifaka site,
so supporting the Atrax-Alifaka site identification.
Leake and later Edmonds favored placing Atrax at Gunitza, where a
large wall circuit of rough stones climbs the steep hill on the left bank of the
Peneios just as it enters the E Thessalian plain. Stahlin placed Argura here.
Lack of Classical and Hellenistic sherds, however, have led to the belief this
was not a city in Greek times. For the Alifaka site Edmonds suggested Phakion.
T. S. Mackay, 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.
ΚΡΑΝΝΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
The ancient city lay on a plateau in the hills of the central part
of the region. Successor to pre-Thessalian Ephyra, it was important only in the
6th and 5th c. B.C., after which time it was absorbed by Larissa to the E. As
one of the eight principal Thessalian cities, it was already issuing coins in
480 B.C. Literary references mention cults of Helios, and Sarapis and Isis, while
the state archives were said to be kept in the Temples of Athena and Asklepios.
Present-day remains are limited to the foundations of the upper city wall on a
height called Paleokastro, and a number of grave mounds and built tombs.
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.
ΛΑΡΙΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ
A city of Pelasgiotis on the right bank of the Peneios river, approximately
in the center of the E Thessalian plain. Through it ran the major routes from
S Greece to Macedonia, and routes across Thessaly and to the Gulf of Pagasai.
The city and the plain around it were settled in prehistoric times, and its name
must be early, but it is first mentioned in connection with the aristocratic Aleuadai,
whose home it was. It flourished during the 5th c. and was a considerable artistic
center, but was weakened by party dissensions by the end of the century. It was
the leader of the resistance against the tyrants of Pherai, but felt it necessary
to call in first Thebes and then Macedon to help. In 344 B.C. Philip II of Macedon
directly annexed Thessaly, and from then to 196 B.C. Larissa was under Macedonian
control. It was the capital of the post-196 B.C. Roman-organized Thessalian League
and flourished during the Republic and Empire. Justinian refortified the city.
Very few visible remains of the ancient city are left in place. The
Peneios bends in a rough arc around the N side of the city. A Turkish earth embankment
(still visible in places) makes a wide arc around the S side. It is supposed the
Turkish wall may lie on the line of the ancient one; if so, the circuit of Larissa
(counting the river) would be approximately 7 km. There are no visible remains
of the city wall, however. In the NW part of the city, close to the river, is
a hill (96 m) which was the ancient acropolis. It was fortified in Byzantine times.
No ancient wall is to be seen. The ancient theater, which dates to the later Hellenistic
period, was dug into the S side of this hill. The seats are marble, and some have
the names of notables of the city carved on them.
East of the acropolis hill, in modern Demeter St., a large, 4th c.
B.C. votive stele, dedicated to Poseidon, was discovered in situ in 1955.
The agora of the ancient city was probably located near the center
of the modern city, S of the citadel. Here, at the crossing of Roosevelt and Papakyriazis
Sts., three large Doric poros column drums, two pieces of triglyph, and other
architectural fragments were discovered recently. In the area were a row of statue
bases and immediately W of them a massive 4th-3d c. B.C. foundation, which has
been identified as some building of the agora, or possibly the Temple of Apollo
Kerdoios, which is known to have been in the lower city. Near this were some Late
Roman or Early Christian foundations. In this general area, in 1910, Arvanitopoullos
discovered a few curved seats and a foundation which he ascribed to an odeion
and dated to the 4th c. B.C. Stahlin suggested it might have been a bouleuterion.
What appear to be remains of a Classical temple lie just N of the Metropolis cathedral,
N of the E end of the bridge which leads across the river to the W. Part of an
Athena head and other statues of the Roman period have been found here.
Ca. 5 km S of the city at Palaiochori Larissis or Siiti, a Hellenistic
underground vaulted chamber tomb has been excavated. At Kioski, across the river,
a short way along the road leading to ancient Argura, a tomb containing two silver
skyphoi was discovered. Hellenistic graves (terracotta comic masks) and a head
of Dionysos were discovered at the airport SE of the city.
Numerous small finds, sculptures (6th c. B.C. through Roman), inscriptions
giving a good deal of information about the ancient city, etc., have been found
in Larissa and its vicinity. These, and objects from the Nome of Larissa are mainly
housed in the local museum, a restored mosque E of the city center. Some are in
the Volo Museum.
T. S. Mackay, 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 2 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
The seat of a titular archbishopric of Thessaly.
The city, one of the oldest and richest in Greece,
is said to have been founded by Acrisius, who was killed accidentally by his son,
Perseus. There lived Peleus, the hero beloved by the gods, and his son Achilles;
however, the city is not mentioned by Homer, unless it be identified with Argissa
of the Iliad.
The constitution of the town was democratic, which explains why it
sided with Athens in the Peloponnesian War. It was taken by the Thebans and afterwards
by the Macedonian kings, and Demetrius Poliorcestes gained possession of it for
a time, 302 B.C. It was there that Philip V, King of Macedonia,
signed in 197 B.C. a shameful treaty with the Romans after his defeat at Cynoscephalae,
and it was there also that Antiochus III, the Great, won a great victory, 192
B.C.
Larissa is frequently mentioned in connection with the Roman civil
wars which preceded the establishment of the empire and Pompey sought refuge there
after the defeat of Pharsalus.
First Roman, then Greek until the thirteenth century, and afterwards Frankish
until 1400, the city fell into the hands of the Turks, who kept it until 1882,
when it was ceded to Greece;
it suffered greatly from the conflicts between the Greeks and the Turks between
1820 and 1830, and quite recently from the Turkish occupation in 1897. On 6 March,
1770, Aya Pasha massacred there 3000 Christians from Trikala,
who had been treacherously brought there.
Christianity penetrated early to Larissa, though its first bishop
is recorded only in 325 at the Council of Nicaea.
In the first years of the tenth century it had ten suffragen sees; subsequently
the number increased and about the year 1175 under the Emperor Manuel Commenus,
it reached twenty-eight. At the close of the fifteenth century, under the Turkish,
domination, there were only ten suffragan sees, which gradually grew less and
finally disappeared. Since 1882, when Thessaly was ceded to Greece,
the Orthodox Diocese of Larissa has been dependent on the Holy Synod of Athens,
not Constantinople. Owing
to the law of 1900 which suppressed all the metropolitan sees excepting Athens,
Larissa was reduced to the rank of a simple bishopric; its title is united with
that of Pharsalus and Platamon,
two adjoining bishoprics now suppressed.
S. Vailhe, ed.
Transcribed by: Beth Ste-Marie
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
ΚΟΙΛΑΔΑ (Δήμος) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
Ο Δήμος Κοιλάδας είναι ένας από τους είκοσι οκτώ δήμους του Νομού
Λαρίσης. Ο Δήμος Κοιλάδας περιλαμβάνει επτά κοινοτικά διαμερίσματα (Κοιλάδα, Ελευθερές,
Μάνδρα, Κουτσόχερο, Αμυγδαλέα, Ραχούλα και Λουτρό), με έδρα το κοινοτικό διαμέρισμα
Κοιλάδα. Έχει έκταση 162 τετραγωνικά χιλιόμετρα και πληθυσμό 3355 κατοίκους. Συνορεύει
βόρεια με το Δήμο Τυρνάβου,
ανατολικά με το Δήμο Λαρίσης,
νότια με το Δήμο Κραννώνος
και δυτικά με το Νομό Καρδίτσης.
Ο Πηνειός ποταμός που περνά
από τα βόρεια δημοτικά διαμερίσματα αποτελεί φυσικό σύνορο του Δήμου Κοιλάδας.
Οι απέραντες γόνιμες εκτάσεις του Δήμου Κοιλάδας ευνοούν την ανάπτυξη
της γεωργίας. Οι κάτοικοι ασχολούνται με την καλλιέργεια κυρίως σιτηρών και βαμβακιού,
ενώ μικρό ποσοστό του πληθυσμού ασκεί ελεύθερα επαγγέλματα ή συμμετέχει στον τομέα
των επιστημών. Αξιοσημείωτο είναι και το γεγονός ότι μεγάλο μέρος του πληθυσμού
ασχολείται με χειρωνακτικά επαγγέλματα (τεχνίτες, εργάτες και χειριστές μεταφορικών
μέσων).
Οι φυσικές ομορφιές και η τεράστια έκτασή του αποτελούν πρόσφορο έδαφος
για επενδύσεις στην περιοχή. Ο Δήμος Κοιλάδας διαθέτει αγροτικά ιατρεία, ταχυδρομικές
υπηρεσίες, αστυνομικά καταστήματα, πολιτιστικούς συλλόγους, αθλητικούς συλλόγους
και αθλητικές υποδομές. Το κύριο οδικό του δίκτυο είναι στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος ασφαλτοστρωμένο,
ενώ είναι προγραμματισμένη η βελτίωση και η κατασκευή και άλλων υποδομών συγκοινωνιών.
Η ύδρευση και άρδευση της περιοχής εξασφαλίζεται από το Σύνδεσμο Ύδρευσης Ελευθερών
και γεωτρήσεις, ενώ υπάρχει προοπτική για ενιαία διαχείριση του υδρο-αρδευτικού
συστήματος.
Ιστορικά στοιχεία: Η εύφορη γη και η φυσική της οχύρωση ευνόησαν
την ανθρώπινη εγκατάσταση από τους προϊστορικούς χρόνους. Στην περιοχή ιδρύθηκαν
αρχαίες θεσσαλικές πόλεις, η Αγουρα, ο Ατραξ,
το Φάκιον και η Φαιστός. Η Αγουρα τοποθετείται κατά μία εκδοχή στην Αμυγδαλέα,
ο δε Ατραγας στη θέση Παλαιόκαστρο του παλαιού οικισμού Κάστρο (Αλήφακα). Δεν
υπάρχουν πληροφορίες για τις άλλες πόλεις εκτός του Ατραγα που αναφέρεται ότι
ιδρύθηκε από τον ομώνυμο Λαπίθη ήρωα, γιο του Πηνειού. Είχε δικό της νόμισμα και
υπήρχαν σ' αυτή ιερά του Ποσειδώνα και της Γης Πανταρέτης. Η θαυμάσια οχύρωσή
της εμπόδισε την κατάκτηση της, ενώ σε επιγραφές εμφανίζεται ως πόλη απελευθερωτική.
Και στους βυζαντινούς χρόνους η θέση της ως οχυρού απέκλειε τη δίοδο του Πηνειού,
γι' αυτό τα τείχη της ενισχύθηκαν, ώστε να εξασφαλίζουν την παροχή νερού από τον
Πηνειό σε περίπτωση πολιορκίας.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Μάιο 2005 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα του Δήμου Κοιλάδας
ΑΡΓΙΣΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΡΙΣΑ
Βρίσκεται στην αριστερή όχθη του Πηνειού, με ύψος 350 μέτρα και πλάτος 120 μέτρα. Το ύψωμα είναι τεχνητό και έχει δημιουργηθεί από τις συνεχείς ανοικοδομήσεις και καταστροφές των οικισμών. Τμήμα του Υψώματος έχει διαβρωθεί από τον Πηνειό.
Ephure. Probably an Aeolic form of Ephora (ephorao, ephoroi), and equivalent to
Epope, 'a watchtower.' This descriptive name was naturally applicable to many
places; and we find no less than eleven of the name enumerated (Pape, Dict.s.v.).
But of these there are but three, or at most four, that come into the Homeric
poems.
(1) The city afterwards called Corinth, Il.2. 570; 6. 152, which of course is
not intended in the present passage:
(2) A town in Thessaly, known in later times as Crannon, cp. Il.13. 301, with
the interpretation of Strabo (9. 442). But for the Ephyra in the Odyssey the question
lies only between
(3) a town in Thesprotia, called later Kichuros ( Il.2. 659), and
(4) an old Pelasgic town in Elis on the river Selleis (Strabo 7. 328; 8. 338).
Nitzsch declares in favour of (3), because in this passage Athena,
in the character of Mentes king of the Taphians, represents Odysseus as having
touched at Taphos on his return (anionta) from Ephyra to Ithaca; and in a direct
line Taphos lies between Thesprotia and Ithaca; but a ship sailing round the Leucadian
promontory to Ithaca would avoid Taphos altogether, and Leucas had not yet been
made into an island by the channel dug across the neck, for Homer calls it akte
epeiroio Od.24. 378.But if, following the Schol. on Ap. Rhod.1. 747, we place
the Taphian isles among the Echinades and so much further S. , we shall get an
equally good argument in favour of the Eleian Ephyra, as Taphos would then lie
between Ephyra and Ithaca. Another argument in favour of the Eleian town is the
mention ( Il.11. 741) of Agamede, daughter of Augeias king of Elis, as a sorceress,
he tosa pharmaka eide hosa trephei eureia chthon, which suits well with the description
here of the androphonon pharmakon and thumophthora pharmaka in Od.2. 329.In the
latter passage, Ephyra is named along with Pylos and Sparta, as if all three places
were in the Peloponnese.
Again, in Il.3. 627, Meges son of Phyleus is said to have been the
leader of the contingent from Dulichium and the Echinades, hai naiousi peren halos
Elidos anta, and in Il.15. 530, Phyleus is described as having bought a corslet,
ex Ephures potamou apo Selleentos. The statement of the Scholiast that Ilus son
of Mermerus was great grandson of Jason and Medea, and was king of Thesprotia,
is given on the authority of Apollodorus. Eustath. also mentions a story which
makes Medea to have lived for a while in Elis; either story doubtless being invented
or acknowledged by those who maintained the claims of the Thesprotian or Eleian
Ephyra respectively. See Buchholz, Hom. Real. 1. 1. p. 90.
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