Listed 9 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "SIKYON Municipality CORINTHIA" .
SIKYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
TITANI (Ancient city) SIKYON
Titana, Eth. Titanios. A place in the Sicyonia, upon the left bank
of the Asopus, distant 60 stadia from Sicyon, and 40 from Phlius. It was situated
upon the summit of a hill, where Titan, the brother of the Sun, is said to have
dwelt, and to have given his name to the spot. It was celebrated for a temple
of Asclepius, reported to have been built by Alexander, the son of Machaon, the
son of Asclepius. This temple still existed in the time of Pausanias, in the middle
of a grove of cypress trees, in which the servants of the god attended to the
patients who came thither for the recovery of their health. Within the temple
stood statues of Asclepius and Hygieia, and of the heroes Alexanor and Euamerion.
There was also a temple of Athena at Titane, situated upon a hill, and containing
an ancient wooden statue of the goddess. In descending from the hill there was
an altar of the Winds. (Paus. ii. 11. § § 5 - 8, ii. 12. § 1, ii. 27. § 1.) Stephanus
B. refers the Titanoio te leuka karena of Homer (Il. ii. 735) to Titane, but those
words indicate a mountain in Thessaly. The ruins of Titane were first discovered
by Ross. Leake heard that there were some ancient foundations on the summit of
the hill above Liopesi, which he supposed to be the remains of the temple of Asclepius
at Titane; but although Hellenic remains exist at this site, there can be no doubt
that Titane is represented by the more important Paleokastron situated further
S., and a few minutes N. of the village of Voivonda. This Paleokastron stands
upon a projecting spur of the mountains which run eastward towards the Asopus,
and terminate just above the river in a small hill, which is surrounded by beautiful
Hellenic walls, rising to the height of 20 or 30 ft. on the S. and SW. side, and
flanked by three or four quadrangular towers. On this hill there stands a chapel
of St. Tryphon, containing fragments of Doric columns. This was evidently the
acropolis of the ancient city, and here stood the temple of Athena mentioned by
Pausanias. The other parts of this projecting ridge are covered with ancient foundations;
and upon this part of the mountain the temple of Asclepius must have stood. (Leake,
Morea, vol. iii. p. 354, seq.; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 49, seq.; Curtius,
Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 500, seq.)
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
EPIIKIA (Ancient location) SIKYON
The Spartan army invaded the Corinthia by way of Epieikia in 394 B.C.
to fight the opening battle of the Corinthian War along the nearby Longopotamos
river. Two years later Epieikia was fortified by the Spartan Praxitas following
another invasion of the region (Xen. Hell. 4.2.14, 4.13). The site is probably
to be identified with the ruins of a small outpost above the F side of Kondita
Ravine, where the Corinthian stream farthest W is located.
J. R. Wiseman, 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.
SIKYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
On the Corinthian Gulf about 26 km W of Corinth. Little is known of
the city's earliest history except for close ties with Argos, which were broken
under the Orthagorid tyrants who ruled it ca. 656-556 B.C. Under Kleisthenes the
city enjoyed its greatest power and prosperity and supported a flourishing school
of painting. After the removal of the tyrants by Sparta, Sikyon became a loyal
member of the Peloponnesian League, until Epaminondas made it the center of Theban
power in the Peloponnese after Leuktra in 371 B.C. In the 4th c. B.C. it was again
the home of famous painters and sculptors, including Lysippos. Through the efforts
of Aratos, the city joined the Achaian League in 251 B.C. and became a leading
power in the confederacy until 146 B.C. Following the destruction of Corinth,
Sikyon for a time supervised the Isthmian Games but after the Romans had exacted
a large public debt in 56 B.C. and disastrous earthquakes had struck in the 2d
c., the city was reduced to the half-ruined and depopulated condition in which
Pausanias found it ca. A.D. 160.
Old Sikyon lay in the plain near its port on the Corinthian Gulf,
at modern Kiato, but in 303 B.C. Demetrios Poliorketes moved it to the two lofty
plateaus of the acropolis, which lie ca. 4 km inland. On the upper terrace was
the acropolis proper, while the lower terrace, now partly occupied by the village
of Basiliko, was the site of the agora, several public buildings, and private
houses. The natural strength of the site, which is surrounded by deep ravines
cut by the Asopos and Helisson rivers, was increased by a stone circuit wall,
traces of which survive. Another massive wall separates the acropolis from the
lower terrace.
On the acropolis Pausanias (2.7.5) records Sanctuaries of Tyche Akraia
and the Dioskouroi. Probably to be associated with the former are some meager
foundations and a colossal marble head of Tyche, in the Sikyon Museum, which is
a Roman copy of the famous Tyche of Antioch by Eutychides of Sikyon. Cut into
the N and NE slopes of the acropolis are the seats of a large, unexcavated stadium
and the cavea of the theater, partly excavated. Built probably in the early 3d
c. B.C. and repaired at least twice in Roman times, the theater is one of the
largest on the Greek mainland. Of interest are its vaulted entrances to the lower
diazoma and a Doric colonnade behind the stage building which faces N and terminates
in a fountain-house at the W and at the E in a large, rectangular room. Slight
traces of an adjacent temple, possibly that of Dionysos (Paus. 2.7.5), were seen
by Leake but are no longer visible.
Excavations have revealed several important public and sacred buildings
to the SE and below the theater. Here lies the gymnasium, a square structure of
the 3d c. B.C., which is built on two levels. An open court on the lower level
is framed on three sides by an Ionic colonnade with rooms opening off it; around
three sides of the upper court is a simple Doric colonnade, repaired in Roman
times. Two fountain-houses lie on the lower level, built into the retaining wall
that separates the two terraces. Near the W side of the gymnasium is a spring
in a small rock Sanctuary of the Nymphs.
In the agora, which lies to the SE of the gymnasium, is the bouleuterion,
a square hypostyle hall of Ionic columns built in the 3d c. B.C. and later transformed
into a Roman bath. It opens onto the agora on the N and is separated by a road
on the E from a long Doric stoa, perhaps of the 2d c. B.C., which formed the S
edge of the agora. Behind a double colonnade of 45 x 22 columns the stoa contained
a row of 21 shops, only the foundations of which are preserved. The rest of the
agora is still to be excavated, with the exception of the foundations of a long,
narrow temple on the W side. Constructed in the archaic period, the temple was
renovated in Hellenistic times and later converted into a Christian church. Its
identification is uncertain: the excavators suggest Artemis, but Roux's suggestion
that it was the Temple of Apollo described by Pausanias (2.7.8) as being in the
agora is attractive. A colossal statue of Attalos I, who was a great favorite
at Sikyon, stood beside the temple (Polyb. 17.16).
A large and well-preserved Roman bath of the 2d or 3d c. lies to the
N of the agora and has been partly restored to serve as a museum and storehouse
for the finds from the Greek excavations. Remains of walls running in straight
lines for considerable distances and intersecting at right angles are visible
on the surface of the lower terrace. They indicate that the new city of Demetrios
was laid out on a grid pattern.
On the low hill of Haghia Paraskevi near the ancient port a Christian
basilica has been excavated which is constructed of blocks reused from a Classical
temple. It is possible that the source of this material was the Temple of Athena
reported by Pausanias (2.5.6) as standing on the acropolis of the archaic city.
Attested at Sikyon by Pausanias and other authors are the shrine and
grave of Aratos, Stoas of Kleisthenes and Lamia (Painted Stoa), and Sanctuaries
of Apollo Lykios, Herakles, Asklepios, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Demeter; none of
these has yet come to light.
R. Stroud, 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!
