Listed 10 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "MANDRA Village XANTHI".
AVDIRA (Ancient city) XANTHI
Abdera (ta Abdera, also Abderon or -os; Abdera,-orum, Liv. xlv. 29;
Abdera,-ae, Plin. xxv. 53: Eth. Abderites, Abderites or -ita: Adj. Abderitikos,
Abderiticus, Abderitanus), a town upon the southern coast of Thrace, at some distance
to the E. of the river Nestus. Herodotus, indeed, in one passage (vii. 126), speaks
of the river as flowing through Abdera (6 ho di Habderon rheon Nestos, but cf.
c. 109, kata Abdera). According to mythology, it was founded by Heracles in honour
of his favourite Abderus. (Strab. p. 331.) History, however, mentions Timesius
or Timesias of Clazomenae as its first founder. (Herod. i. 168.) His colony was
unsuccessful, and he was driven out by the Thracians. Its date is fixed by Eusebius,
B.C. 656. In B.C. 541, the inhabitants of Teos, unable to resist Harpagus, who
had been left by Cyrus, after his capture of Sardis, to complete the subjugation
of Ionia, and unwilling to submit to him, took ship and sailed to Thrace, and
there recolonised Abdera. (Herod. l. c.; Scymnus Chius, 665; Strab. p. 644.) Fifty
years afterwards, when Xerxes invaded Greece, Abdera seems to have become a place
of considerable importance, and is mentioned as one of the cities which had the
expensive honour of entertaining the great king on his .march into Greece. (Herod.
vii. 120.) On his flight after the battle of Salamis, Xerxes stopped at Abdera,
and acknowledged the hospitality of its inhabitants by presenting them with a
tiara and scymitar of gold. Thucydides (ii. 97) mentions Abdera as the westernmost
limit of the kingdom of the Odrysae when at its height at the beginning of the
Peloponnesian war. In B.C. 408 Abdera was reduced under the power of Athens by
Thrasybulus, then one of the Athenian generals in that quarter. (Diod. xiii. 72.)
Diodorus speaks of it as being then in a very flourishing state. The first blow
to its prosperity was given in a war in which it was engaged B.C. 376 with the
Triballi, who had at this time become one of the most powerful tribes of Thrace.
After a partial success, the Abderitae were nearly cut to pieces in a second engagement,
but were rescued by Chabrias with an Athenian force. (Diod. xv. 36.) But little
mention of Abdera occurs after this. Pliny speaks of it as being in his time a
free city (iv. 18). In later times it seems to have sunk into a place of small
repute. It is said in the middle ages to have had the name of Polystylus. Dr.
Clarke (Travels, vol. iii. p. 422) mentions his having searched in vain on the
east bank of the Nestus for any traces of Abdera, probably from imagining it to
have stood close to the river. Abdera was the birthplace of several famous persons:
among others, of the philosophers Protagoras, Democritus, and Anaxarchus. In spite
of this, its inhabitants passed into a proverb for dullness and stupidity. (Juv.
x. 50; Martial, x. 25. 4; Cic. ad Att. iv. 1. 6, vii. 7.) Mullets from Abdera
were considered especial dainties (Athen. p. 118). It was also famous for producing
the cuttle-fish (Id. p. 324).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
DIKEA (Ancient city) AVDIRA
Dikaia. a Greek port town on the coast of Thrace on lake Bistonis, in the country
of the Bistones. The place appears to have decayed at an early period. Some identify
it with the modern Curnu, and others with Bauron.
AVDIRA (Ancient city) XANTHI
A town of Thrace, near the mouth of the Nestus, which flowed
through the town. It was colonized by Timesius of Clazomenae about B.C. 656, and
a second time by the inhabitants of Teos in Ionia, who settled there after their
own town had been taken by the Persians, B.C. 544. It was the birthplace of Democritus,
Hecataeus, Protagoras, Anaxarchus, and other distinguished men; but its inhabitants,
notwithstanding, were accounted stupid, and Abderite was a term of reproach.
This extract is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
DIKEA (Ancient city) AVDIRA
A town in Thrace on Lake Bistonis.
AVDIRA (Small town) XANTHI
Avdera is a large village situated about 25 klm away from the city of Xanthi. It has a rich history, which reduces to the ancient years. Its scenic little harbor , just a few kilometers away from the village, is host to vessels and fishers. The new seaside built-up area of Avdera throbs with life, especially during the summer period. Here you will find lee creeks (Ai-Yannis, Porto-Molo ) to swim in a very clean sea. The area of Avdera is suitable for amusement, sightseeing and study (Here the great philosophers Democritus, Protagoras, Leucippus, etc. were born.). You can visit the Museum , a modern buiding which is host to the findings of the excavations on ancient Avdera, and the folklore Museum (tel. 0541 51259).
This text is cited May 2003 from the Prefecture of Xanthi URL below.
AVDIRA (Ancient city) XANTHI
A titular see in the province of Rhodope
on the southern coast of Thrace,
now called Bouloustra. It
was founded about 656 B.C.
A titular see of Macedonia Secunda, suffragan of Philippi.
When Philippi was made a
metropolitan see Polystylum
was one of its suffragans. In 1363 the Greek bishop Peter became Metropolitan
of Christopolis and the see was united to the Archdiocese of Maronia.
Cantacuzenus says that Polystylum
was the ancient Abdera; this statement also occurs in a Byzantine list of names
of cities published by Parthey. This is not absolutely correct. Polystylum is
the modem village of Bouloustra
in the villayet of Salonica,
situated in the interior of the country north of Kara Aghatch where the ruins
of Abdera are found, but it is doubtless because of this approximate identification
that the see of Abdera is placed among the titular sees, although such a residential
see never existed.
S. Petrides, ed.
Transcribed by: Douglas J. Potter
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
Coastal city situated on Cape Bulustra, about 17 km NE of the estuary
of the river Nestos, birthplace of the philosopher Demokritos and other illustrious
men. The founding of the city, according to ancient tradition, can be traced back
to mythical times since it is related to the eighth labor of Herakles, the capture
of the man-eating horses of King Diomedes of the Bistonians. Another tradition
refers to Timesios of Klazomenai as an inhabitant of the city (656-652 B.C.),
but his colonists were driven back by the Thracians. In 545 B.C., the Ionians
of Teos, unable to suffer Persian domination any longer, settled on the site of
Abdera, which they rebuilt (Hdt. 50.68). The city dominated a large and rich area,
"covered with vineyards and fertile," which it fought hard to wrest
from the Thracians (Pind., Second Hymn).
Abdera was subjugated by the Persians during their period of action
in Thrace and in 492 B.C. It was used as a base of operations (Hdt. 6.46,47; 7.120).
As a member of the First Athenian Alliance, it contributed to the Athenian treasury
the sum of 10 to 15 talents, starting in 454 B.C. This heavy taxation and the
rich silver currency are an indication of the economic prosperity of the city.
In 376 B.C. Abdera was destroyed by the invasion of the Thracian tribe
of the Triballi, who killed all the citizens who took part in the battle (Diod.
Sic. 15.36). A little later, ca. 350 B.C., Philip II of Macedon conquered the
city. About the 3d century B.C. it fell successively to King Lysimachos of Thrace,
to the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, and again to the Macedonians, who dominated it
until 196 B.C., when the Romans declared it a free state. Abdera suffered a second
catastrophe in 170 B.C., when the Roman armies and those of Eumenes II, king of
Pergamon besieged and sacked it (Diod. Sic. 30.6). During Roman Imperial times,
it lost political importance and went into decline. In the 6th c. A.D. a small
Byzantine town, the seat of a bishopric, was established on the NW hill of the
great ancient city.
Large sections of the immense wall, which dated from the archaic period,
were uncovered in the W, N, and E parts of the city. In the W wall a gate with
two towers was uncovered, and to this led a central street of the city, as well
as the road that came from the W harbor. (Under the surface of the sea, stone
plinths and rocks that form a large breakwater have been preserved.) A second
small open harbor appears to have been situated on the sandy shore of the E end
of the city, where a round tower is preserved in the sea. In the N section near
the wall the theater was uncovered. In the W part large clusters of habitations
of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, with a strict N-S orientation, show that
the area was built according to the Hippodamian system of city planning. A mosaic
floor found in the courtyard of a house depicts dolphins, rosettes, and lilies.
The foundations of a large building in the SW section appear to belong to Roman
baths. N of the city stretched a large suburb, and at a distance of 2 to 4 km
N and NW, a group of graves and tombs yielded findings that date from the late
archaic and Classical periods.
The findings of the excavation--which consist mainly of pots, architectural
fragments, corner tiles decorated with reliefs and lettering, sculptures, lamps,
and especially a rich collection of terracotta figurines, the product of a local
workshop of image-makers--are on exhibit in the Museum of Kavala. The agora and
the sacred temples of the city, whose existence is known from ancient sources,
have not yet been uncovered.
D. Lazarides, 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 15 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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