Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "SAMIKON Ancient city ILIA".
A few km from Olympia. The ruins of the city have been identified on a broad upland to the S of Mt. Makistos (or Lapithos). Inhabited by the Epeans who named it Samos, and then by the Pylians, from whom it took the name Arene, the city later passed to the Minii who called it Makistos; only under the Eleans did it retake the original name of Samia or Samikon (cf. Paus. 5.6.1; Ptol. 4.80.12; Strab. 8.148; Herod. 4.148). It was the seat of the religious confederation of the six cities of Triphylia, and there was erected a Temple to Poseidon, whose cult was greatly renowned. A vast wall enclosed the S, where two types of masonry are found: polygonal blocks already in the 5th c. B.C., which were also used in several towers; and a trapezoidal technique with squared face, perhaps dating prior to the 3d c. B.C. In 1825, Fort Klidi (The Key), taking advantage of the ancient foundations, was erected on the site. A tumulus with pottery from the Middle Helladic period to Mycenaean II has been found at the NE base of the rocky hill on which stands Klidi.
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.
Samikon: Eth. Samikeus. A town of Triphylia in Elis, situated near
the coast about half-way between the mouths of the Alpheius and the Neda, and
a little north of the Anigrus. It stood upon a projecting spur of a lofty mountain,
which here approaches so near the coast as to leave only a narrow pass. From its
situation commanding this pass, it is probable that a city existed here from the
earliest times; and it was therefore identified with the Arene of Homer (Il. ii.
591, xi. 723), which the poet places near the mouth of the Minyeius, a river supposed
to be the same as the Anigrus. According to Strabo the city was originally called
Samos, from its being situated upon a hill, because this word formerly signified
heights, Samicum was at first the name of the fortress, and the same name was
also given to the surrounding plain. (Strab. viii. pp. 346, 347; Paus. v. 5. §
3.) Pausanias speaks (v. 6. § 1) of a city Samia, which he apparently distinguishes
from Samicum; but Samicum is the only place mentioned in history. Samicum was
occupied by the Aetolian Polysperchon against the Arcadians, and was taken by
Philip, B.C. 219. (Paus. v. 6. § 1; Polyb. iv. 77, 80.) The ruins of Samicurn
are found at Khaiaffa (written Chaiappa), which is only the name of the guarded
pass. The ruined walls are 6 feet thick, and about 1 1/2 mile in circumference.
They are of the second order of Hellenic masonry, and are evidently of great antiquity.
The towers towards the sea belong to a later age.
Near Samicumn upon the coast was a celebrated temple of the Samian
Poseidon, surrounded by a grove of wild olives. It was the centre of the religious
worship of the six Triphylian cities, all of whom contributed to its support.
It was under the superintendence of Macistus, the most powerful of the Triphylian
cities. (Strab. viii. pp. 344, 346, 347.) In a corrupt passage of Strabo this
temple is said to be 100 stadia equidistant from Lepreum and the Annius (tou Anniou);
for the latter name we ought to read Alpheius and not Anigrus, as some editors
have done.
In the neighbourhood of Samicum there were celebrated medicinal springs,
which were said to cure cutaneous diseases. Of the two lagoons which now stretch
along the coast, the larger, which extends as far as the mouth of the Alpheius,
begins at the northern foot of the hill upon which Samicum stands; the southern
extends along the precipitous sides of the hill, which were called in antiquity
the Achaean rocks. (Strab viii. p. 347.) The river Anigrus flows into the latter
of these lagoons, and from thence flows out into the sea. The lagoon is deep,
being fed with subterraneous sources; in summer it is said to be very fetid, and
the air extremely unwholesome. Strabo relates that the waters of the lake were
fetid, and its fish not eatable, which he attributes to the Centaurs washing their
wounds in the Anigrus. Pausanias mentions the same circumstances; and both writers
describe the efficacy of the water in curing cutaneous diseases. There were two
caves, one sacred to the Nymphs Anigrides (Anigrides, Paus.; Anigriades, Strab.),
and the other to the Atlantides; the former was the more important, and is alone
mentioned by Pausanias. It was in the cave of the Anigrides that the persons who
were going to use the waters first offered up their prayers to the Nymphs. (Strab.
viii. p. 346, seq.; Paus. v. 5. § § 7 - 11.) These two caves are still visible
in the rocks; but they are now accessible only by a boat, as they are immediately
above the surface of the lake. General Gordon, who visited these caverns in 1835,
found in one of them water distilling from the rock, and bringing with it a pure
yellow sulphur.
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
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