Listed 100 (total found 106) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "LARISSA Prefecture THESSALIA" .
MONI AGIOU DIMITRIOU (Monastery) LARISSA
The St. Demetrios Monastery dates to the 14th century.
AMYROS (Ancient city) AGIA
Amyrus (Amuros: Eth. Amureus), a town in Thessaly, situated on a river
of the same name falling into the lake Boebeis. It is mentioned by Hesiod as the
vine-bearing Amyrus. The surrounding country is called the Amyric plain (to Amurikon
pedion) by Polybius. Leake supposes the ruins at Kastri to represent Amyrus. (Hes.
ap Strab. p. 442, and Steph. B. s. v.; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 596; Val. Flacc.
ii. 11; Pol. v. 99; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 447.)
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ARGISSA (Ancient city) LARISSA
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.)
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ATRAX (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.)
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AZORON (Ancient city) ELASSONA
Azoros, Azorion (Ptol. iii. 13. § 42): Eth. Azorites. A town in Perrhaebia in
Thessaly situated at the foot of Mount Olympus. Azorus, with the two neighbouring
towns of Pythium and Doliche, formed a Tripolis. (Liv. xlii. 53, xliv. 2.) There
was also a town of the name of Azoras in Pelagonia in Macedonia. (Strab. vii.)
CHYRETIES (Ancient city) ELASSONA
Cyretiae (Churetiai, Ptol. iii. 13. § 44: Eth. Kuretieus, Kuretiaios,
Inscr., Cyretiensis), a town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, frequently mentioned in
the Roman wars in Greece. It was plundered by the Aetolians, B.C. 200 (Liv. xxxi.
41), was taken by Antiochus, B.C. 191, but recovered by M. Baebius and Philip
in the same year (xxxvi. 10, 13), and was occupied by Perseus in B.C. 171 (xlii.
53). It was situated upon a small tributary of the Titaresius at the modern village
of Dheminiko. Its acropolis occupied the hill, on which now stands the church
of St. George, where Leake found several inscriptions, among which is a public
letter in Greek, addressed to the Tagi (magistrates) and city of the Cyretienses
by T. Quinctius Flamininus, when he commanded the Roman armies in Greece. (Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 304.)
EGINION (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Aighinion: Eth. Aiginiens, Aiytvtmes, Aeginiensis: Stagus, a town
of the Tymphaei in Thessaly, is described by Livy as a place of great strength
and nearly impregnable (Liv. xxxii. 15). It is frequently mentioned in the Roman
wars in Greece. It was given up to plunder by L. Aemilius Paulus for having refused
to open its gates after the battle of Pydna. It was here that Caesar in his march
from Apollonia effected a junction with Domitius. It occupied the site of the
modern Stagus, a town at a short distance from the Peneus. At this place Leake
found an inscription, in which Aeginium is mentioned. Its situation, fortified
on two sides by perpendicular rocks, accords with Livy's account of its position.
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ERETRIA (Ancient city) FARSALA
A town of Thessaly, in the district Phthiotis, near Pharsalus. It
was here that Quintius Flamininus halted at the end of the first day's march from
Pherae towards Scotussa, in B.C. 197. Leake places it at the village of Tjangli,
where he found the ruined walls of an ancient city. A long and narrow table-summit
formed the citadel, of which the lower courses of the walls still exist in their
whole circuit. The town walls are still better preserved, and are extant in some
parts on the eastern side to the height of 18 or 20 feet. Here also are two door-ways
still perfect.
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ERITION (Ancient city) THESSALIA
A town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, appears to have been near Cyretiae, since it
was taken along with the latter town by M. Baebius in B.C. 191. (Liv. xxxvi. 13.)
Leake places it at Paleokastro, a village above Sykia, on the left bank of the
Vurgaris, a river of Tripolitis. In the church of St. George, which occupies the
site of the ancient Cyretiae, Leake noticed an inscribed stone, on which the name
of Apollodorus is followed by a word beginning ERE, which he conjectures with
much probability may be the place called Eritium by Livy.
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ESTIEOTIS (Ancient area) THESSALIA
Hestiaeotis or Histiaeotis (Hestiaiotis, Histiaiotis), inhabited by
the Hestiaeotae (Hestiaiotai), was the northern part of Thessaly, of which the
Peneius may be described in general as its southern boundary. It occupied the
passes of Olympus, and extended westward as far as Pindus. (Plin. iv. 1; Strab.
ix. pp. 430, 437, 438.) It was the seat of the Perrhaebi (Perrhaibai), a warlike
and powerful tribe, who possessed in historical times several towns strongly situated
upon the mountains. They are mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 749) as taking part in
the Trojan War, and were regarded as genuine Hellenes, being one of the Amphictyonic
states (Aeschin. de Fals. Leg. p. 122). The part of Hestiaeotis inhabited by them
was frequently called Perrhaebia, but it never formed a separate Thessalian province.
The Perrhaebi are said at one time to have extended south of the Peneius as far
as the lake Boebeis, but to have been driven out of this district by the mythical
race of the Lapithae. (Strab. ix. pp. 439, 440.) It is probable that at an early
period the Perrhaebi occupied the whole of Hestiaeotis, but were subsequently
driven out of the plain and confined to the mountains by the Thessalian conquerors
from Thesprotia. Strabo states that Hestiaeotis, was formerly, according to some
authorities, called Doris (ix. p. 437), and Herodotus relates that the Dorians
once dwelt in this district at the foot of Mts. Ossa and Olympus (i. 56). It is
said to have derived the name of Hestiaeotis from the district of this name in
Euboea, the inhabitants of which were transplanted to Thessaly by the Perrhaebi
(Strab. ix. p. 437); but this is an uncertified statement, probably founded alone
upon similarity of name. Homer mentions another ancient tribe in this part of
Thessaly called the Aethices, who are placed by Strabo upon the Thessalian side
of Pindus near the sources of the Peneius. They are described as a barbarous tribe,
living by plunder and robbery. (Horn. Il. ii. 744; Strab. vii. p. 327, ix. p.
434; Steph. B. s. v. Aithikia.)
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EVRYMENES (Ancient city) AGIA
Eurumenai (Apoll. Rhod., Steph. B. s. v.); Erumnai, (Strab.): Eth.
Eurumenios. A town of Magnesia in Thessaly, situated upon the coast at the foot
of Mt. Ossa, between Rhizus and Myrae. (Scylax, p. 25; Strab. ix. p. 443; Liv.
xxxix. 25.) Pliny relates that crowns thrown into a fountain at Eurymenae became
stones. (Plin. xxxi. 2. s. 20.) Leake supposes the site of Eurymenae to be represented
by some ancient remains between Thanatu and Karitza.
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FALANNON (Ancient city) TYRNAVOS
Phalanna : Eth. Phalannaios. A town of the Perrhaebi in Thessaly,
situated on the left bank of the Peneius, SW. of Gonnus. Strabo says (ix. p. 440)
that the Homeric Orthe became the acropolis of Phalanna; but in the lists of Pliny
(iv. 9. s. 16) Orthe and Phalanna occur as two distinct towns. Phalanna was said
to have derived its name from a daughter of Tyro. (Steph. B. s. v.) It was written
Phalannus in Ephorus, and was called Hippia by Hecataeus. (Steph. B.) Phalanna
is mentioned in the war between the Romans and Perseus, B.C. 171. (Liv. xlii.
54, 65.) Phalanna probably stood at Karadjoli, where are the remains of an ancient
city upon a hill above the village.
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FALORIA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Phalore, Phaloreia, Eth. Phaloreus, Phaloreites. A town of Histiaeotis in Thessaly,
apparently between Tricca and the Macedonian frontier. Leake places it in one
of the valleys which intersect the mountains to the northward of Trikkala, either
at Sklatina or at Ardham.
FARSALOS (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Pharsalos: Eth. Pharsalios: the territory is Pharsalia, (Strab. ix.),
one of the most important cities of Thessaly, situated in the district Thessaliotis
near the confines of Phthiotis, upon the left bank of the Enipeus, and at the
foot of Mt. Narthacium. The town is first mentioned after the Persian wars; but
it is probable that it existed much earlier, since there is no other locality
in this part of Thessaly to be compared to it for a combination of strength, resources,
and convenience. Hence it has been supposed that the city was probably named Phthia
at a remote period, and was the capital of Phthiotis. Among its ruins there are
some remains which belong apparently to the most ancient times. On one side of
the northern gateway of the acropolis are the remnants of Cyclopian walls; and
in the middle of the acropolis is a subterraneous construction, built in the same
manner as the treasury of Atreus at Mycenae. Leake observes that Pharsalus is
one of the most important military positions in Greece, as standing at the entrance
of the most direct and central of the passes which lead from the plains of Thessaly
to the vale of the Spercheius and Thermopylae. With a view to ancient warfare,
the place had all the best attributes of a Hellenic polis or fortified town: a
hill rising gradually to the height of 600 or 700 feet above the adjacent plain,
defended on three sides by precipices, crowned with a small level for an acropolis,
watered in every part of the declivity by subterraneous springs, and still more
abundantly at the foot by sources so copious as to form a perennial stream. With
these local advantages, and one of the most fertile plains in Greece for its territory,
Pharsalus inevitably attained to the highest rank among the states of Thessaly,
and became one of the largest cities of Greece, as its ruined walls still attest.
The city was nearly 4 miles in circuit, and of the form or an irregular triangle.
The acropolis consisted of two rocky tabular summits, united by a lower ridge.
It was about 500 yards long, and from 100 to 50 broad, but still narrower in the
connecting ridge. Livy speaks of Palaepharsalus (xliv. 1), and Strabo distinguishes
between Old and New Pharsalus. (Strab. ix.) It is probable that at the time of
these writers the acropolis and the upper part of the town were known by the name
of Palaepharsalus, and that it was only the lower part of the town which was then
inhabited.
Pharsalus is mentioned by Scylax among the towns of Thessaly. In B.C.
455 it was besieged by the Athenian commander Myronides, after his victory in
Boeotia, but without success. (Thuc. i. 111.) At the commencement of the Peloponnesian
War, Pharsalus was one of the Thessalian towns that sent succour to the Athenians.
(Thuc. ii. 22.) Medius, tyrant of Larissa, took Pharsalus by force, about B.C.
395. (Diod. xiv. 82.) Pharsalus, under the conduct of Polydamas, resisted Jason
for a time, but subsequently formed an alliance with him. (Xen. Hell. vi. 1. 2,
seq.) In the war between Antiochus and the Romans, Pharsalus was for a time in
the possession of the Syrian monarch; but on the retreat of the latter, it surrendered
to the consul Acilius Glabrio, B.C. 191. (Liv. xxxvi. 14.)
Pharsalus, however, is chiefly celebrated for the memorable battle
fought in its neighbourhood between Caesar and Pompey, B.C. 48. It is a curious
fact that Caesar has not mentioned the place where he gained his great victory;
and we are indebted for the name to other authorities. The exact site of the battle
has been pointed out by Leake with his usual clearness. Merivale, in his narrative
of the battle, has raised some difficulties in the interpretation of Caesar's
description, which have been commented upon by Leake in an essay printed in the
Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, from which the following account
is taken.
A few days previous to the battle Caesar had taken possession of Metropolis,
a city westward of Pharsalus, and had encamped in the plain between these two
cities. Meantime Pompey arrived at Larissa, and from thence advanced southwards
towards Pharsalus; he crossed the Enipeus, and encamped at the foot of the heights,
which are adjacent to the modern Fersala on the east. Caesar's camp, or rather
his last position before the battle, was in the plain between Pharsalus and the
Enipeus, at the distance of about 3 miles from the still extant north-western
angle of the walls of Pharsalus. There was a distance of 30 stadia, or about 4
Roman miles, from the two camps. (Appian, B.C. ii. 65.) Appian adds that the army
of Pompey, when drawn up for battle, extended from the city of Pharsalus to the
Enipeus, and that Caesar drew up his forces opposite to him. (B.C. ii. 75.) The
battle was fought in the plain immediately below the city of Pharsalus to the
north. There is a level of about 2 1/2 miles in breadth between the Enipeus and
the elevation or bank upon which stood the northern walls of Pharsalus. Merivale
is mistaken in saying that the plain of Pharsalus, 5 or 6 miles in breadth, extends
along the left bank of the Enipeus. It is true that 5 or 6 miles is about the
breadth of the plain, but this breadth is equally divided between the two sides
of the river; nor is there anything to support Merivale's conjecture that the
course of the river may have changed since the time of the battle. Leake observes
that the plain of 2 1/2 miles in breadth was amply sufficient for 45,000 men drawn
up in the usual manner of three orders, each ten in depth, and that there would
be still space enough for the 10,000 cavalry, upon which Pompey founded chiefly
his hopes of victory; for the breadth of the plain being too great for Caesar's
numbers, he thought himself sure of being able, by his commanding force of cavalry,
to turn the enemy's right.
At first Pompey drew up his forces at the foot of the hills; but when
Caesar refused to fight in this position, and began to move towards Scotussa,
Pompey descended into the plain, and arranged his army in the position already
described. His right wing being protected by the Enipeus, which has precipitous
banks, he placed his cavalry, as well as all his archers and slingers, on the
left. Caesar's left wing was in like manner protected by the Enipeus; and in the
rear of his right wing, behind his small body of horse, he stationed six cohorts,
in order to sustain the anticipated attack of the enemy's cavalry. Pompey resolved
to await the charge. Caesar's line advanced running, halted midway to recover
their breath, and then charged the enemy. While the two lines were thus occupied,
Pompey's cavalry on the left began to execute the movement upon which he placed
his hopes of victory; but after driving back Caesar's small body of horse, they
were unexpectedly assailed by the six cohorts and put to flight. These cohorts
now advanced against the rear of Pompey's left; while Caesar at the same time
brought up to his front the third line, which had been kept in reserve. Pompey's
troops now gave way in every direction. Caesar then advanced to attack the fortified
camp of the enemy, which was defended for some time by the cohorts left in charge
of it; but at length they fled to the mountains at the back of the camp. Pompey
proceeded straightway to Larissa, and from thence by night to the sea-coast. The
hill where the Pompeians had taken refuge being without water, they soon quitted
it and took the road towards Larissa. Caesar followed them with four legions,
and, by taking a shorter road, came up with them at the distance of 6 miles. The
fugitives now retired into another mountain, at the foot of which there was a
river; but Caesar having cut off their approach to the water before nightfall,
they descended from their position in the morning and laid down their arms. Caesar
proceeded on the same day to Larissa. Leake observes that the mountain towards
Larissa to which the Pompeians retired was probably near Scotussa, since in that
direction alone is any mountain to be found with a river at the foot of it.
In the time of Pliny, Pharsalus was a free state (iv. 8. s. 15). It
is also mentioned by Hierocles in the sixth century. It is now named Fersala (ta
Phersala), and the modern town lies at the foot of the ancient Acropolis.
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GONI (Ancient city) TYRNAVOS
Gonnus or Gonni (Gonnos, Herod., Strab.; Gonnoi, Polyb., Steph. B.: Eth. Gonnios,
also Gounios, Gonatas, Steph. B. s. v.), an ancient town of the Perrhaebi in Thessaly,
which derived its name, according to the later Greek critics, from Gonneus, mentioned
in the Iliad. (Il. ii. 748; Steph. B. s. v. Gonnoi.) Its position made it one
of the most important places in the north of Thessaly. It stood on the northern
side of the Peneius, near the entrance of the only two passes by which an enemy
can penetrate into Thessaly from the north. The celebrated vale of Tempe begins
to narrow at Gonni; and the pass across Mt. Olympus a little to the west of Tempe
leads into Thessaly at Gonni. It was by the latter route that the army of Xerxes
entered Thessaly. (Herod. vii. 128, 173.) The position of Gonni with respect to
Tempe is clearly shown by the numerous passages in which it is mentioned by Livy.
After the battle of Cynoscephalae, in B.C. 197, Philip fled in haste to Tempe,
but halted a day at Gonni, to receive such of his troops as might have survived
the battle. (Liv. xxxiii. 10; Polyb. xviii. 10.) In the war against Antiochus,
in B.C. 191, when the king, having marched from Demetrias, had advanced as far
north as Larissa, a portion of the Roman army under the command of App. Claudius
marched through the pass across Mt. Olympus, and thus arrived at Gonni. On this
occasion Livy says that Gonni was 20 miles from Larissa, and describes it as situated
in ipsis faucibus saltus qu? Tempe appellantur. (Liv. xxxvi. 10.) In B.C. 171
it was strongly fortified by Perseus; and when this monarch retired into Macedonia,
the Roman consul Licinius advanced against the town, but found it impregnable.
(Liv. xlii. 54, 67.) Gonni does not occur in history after the wars of the Romans
in Greece,. but it is mentioned by Strabo (ix. p. 440; Ptol. iii. 13. § 42).
The site of Gonni is fixed by Leake at a place called Lykostomo, or
the Wolf's Mouth, in the vale of Dereli, at the foot of a point of Mt. Olympus,
about a mile from the Peneius. Here are some remains of a Hellenic city, mixed
with other ruins of a later date. It would therefore appear that the town of Lycostomium
(Lykostomion), which occurs in Byzantine history as early as the eleventh century
(Cantacuz. ii. 28, iv. 19), was built upon the site of Gonni. (Leake, Northern
Greece, vol. iv. p. 388.)
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GYRTON (Ancient city) LARISSA
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.
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ILONI (Ancient city) THESSALIA
A town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, mentioned by Homer along with Orthe
and Oloosson, afterwards called Leimone (Aeimone), according to Strabo. The same
writer says that it was in ruins in his time, and that it lay at the foot of Mt.
Olympus, not far from the river Eurotas, which the poet calls, Titaresius. Leake
places it at Selos, where there are said to be some ancient remains.
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KRANNON (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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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KYFOS (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Cyphus. Kuphos: Eth. Kuphaios. A town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, which supplied 22 ships
for the Trojan war. It is placed by Strabo at the foot of Mt. Olympus. (Hom. Il.
ii. 748; Strab. ix. p. 441; Lycophr. 897.) According to Stephanus there were two
cities of the name of Cyphus, one mentioned by Homer, and the other by Lycophron;
but in this he appears to have been mistaken.
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KYNOS KEFALES (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Kunos kephalai. The names of two ranges of hills, so called from their
supposed resemblance to the heads of dogs. 1. In Thessaly, a little to the south
of Scotussa, in whose territory they were situated. They are described by Polybius
(xviii. 5) as rugged, broken, and of considerable height; and are memorable as
the scene of two battles: one fought, in B.C. 364, between the Thebans and Alexander
of Pherae, in which Pelopidas was slain; and the other, of still greater celebrity,
fought in B.C. 197, in which the last Philip of Macedon was defeated by the Roman
consul Flamininus.
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LARISSA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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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MELIVIA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Meliboia: Eth. Meliboeus. An ancient town of Magnesia in Thessaly,
mentioned by Homer as one of the places subject to Philoctetes (Il. ii. 717).
It was situated upon the sea-coast (Herod. vii. 188; Scylax, p. 25; Apoll. Rhod.
i. 592), andis described by Livy (xliv. 13) as situated at the roots of Mt. Ossa,
and by Strabo (ix. p. 443) as lying in the gulf between Ossa and Pelium. Leake
therefore places it near Aghia (Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 414). Meliboea was
taken and plundered by the Romans under Cn. Octavius, B.C. 168. (Liv. xliv 46:
Meliboea is also mentioned by Strab. ix. p. 436; Steph. B. s. v.; Mela, ii. 3;
Plin. iv. 9. s. 16.) The Meliboean purple is said by Lucretius (ii. 499; Virg.
Aen. v. 251) to have derived its name from this town. Many modern writers, however,
suppose the name to have come from the small island Meliboea at the mouth of the
Orontes in Syria; but there is no reason for this supposition, as the shellfish
from which the purple dye is obtained is found in the present day off the coast
of Thessaly.
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MYLES (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Mulai: Eth. Mulaios. A town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, taken by Perseus
in B.C. 171. (Liv. xlii. 54; Steph. B. s. v.) As Livy describes it as a strong
place near Cyretiae, it is placed by Leake at Dhamasi, which is not only strong
in itself, but very important, as commanding the pass of the Titaresius, leading
into Perrhaebia from the Pelasgiotis. (Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 311.)
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OLOSSON (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Eth. Oloossonios. A town of Perrhaebia in Thessaly, mentioned by Homer,
who gives to it the epithet of white, from its white argillaceous soil. In Procopius
the name occurs in the corrupt form of Lossonus. It is now called Elassona, and
is a place of some importance. It is situated on the edge of a plain near Tempe,
and at the foot of a hill, on which there is a large ancient monastery, defended
on either side by a deep ravine. The ancient town, or at least the citadel, stood
upon this hill, and there are a few fragments of ancient walls, and some foundations
behind and around the monastery.
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OMOLIO (Ancient city) AGIA
A town of Thessaly, situated at the foot of Mt. Homole, and near the
edge of the vale of Tempe. Mt. Homole was the part of the chain of Ossa lying
between Tempe and the modern village of Karitza. Mt. Homole is sometimes used
as synonymous with Ossa. It was celebrated as a favourite haunt of Pan, and as
the abode of the Centaurs and the Lapithae. Pausanias describes it as the most
fertile mountain in Thessaly, and well supplied with fountains. (Paus. ix. 8.
§ 6; Eurip. Here. Fur. 371; Theocr. Idyll. vii. 104; Virg. Aen. vii. 675; Steph.
B. s. v. Omole.) The exact site of the town is uncertain. Both Scylax and Strabo
seem to place it on the right bank of the Peneius near the exit of the vale of
Tempe, and consequently at some distance from the sea (Scylax, p. 12; Strab. ix.
p. 445); but in Apollonius Rhodius and in the Orphic poems Homole is described
as situated near the sea-shore, and in Apollonius even another town, Eurymenae,
is placed between Homole and Tempe. (Apoll. Rhod. i. 594; Orpheus, Argon. 460.)
Eurymenae, how. ever, stood upon the coast more to the south. Leake conjectures
that the celebrated convent of St. Demetrius, situated upon the lower part of
Mt. Kissavo, stands on the site of Homolium.
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OSSA (Mountain) LARISSA
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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SILANA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
A town in the NW. of Thessaly, near the frontiers of Athamania, mentioned along
with Gomphi and Tricca by Livy. Leake conjectures that it occupied the site of
Poliana, near which are several squared blocks of ancient workmanship.
SKOTOUSSA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Skotoussa or Skotousa: Eth. Skotoussaios. An ancient town of Pelasgiotis
in Thessaly, lying between Pherae and Pharsalus, near the frontiers of Phthiotis.
Scotussa is not mentioned in Homer, but according to some accounts the oracle
of Dodona in Epeirus originally came from this place. (Strab. vii. p. 329.) In
B.C. 394 the Scotussaei joined the other Thessalians in opposing the march of
Agesilaus through their country. (Xen. Hell. iv. 3. 3) In B.C. 367 Scotussa was
treacherously seized by Alexander, tyrant of the neighbouring town of Pherae.
(Diod. xv. 75.) In. the territory of Scotussa were the hills called Cynoscephalae,
which are memorable as the scene of two battles, one fought in B.C. 364, between
the Thebans and Alexander of Pherae, in which Pelopidas was slain, and the other,
of still greater celebrity, fought in B.C. 197, in which the last Philip of Macedonia
was defeated by the Roman consul Flamininus. (Plut. Pelop. 32; Strab. ix. p. 441;
Polyb. xviii. 3, seq.; Liv. xxxiii. 6, seq.) In B.C. 191 Scotussa surrendered
to Antiochus, but was recovered shortly afterwards, along with Pharsalus and Pherae,
by the consul Acilius. (Liv. xxxvi. 9, 14.) The ruins of Scotussa are found at
Supli. The city was about two or three miles in circumference; but of the walls
only a few courses of masonry have been preserved. The acropolis stood at the
south-western end of the site, below which, on the east and north, the ground
is covered with foundations of buildings, heaps of stones, and fragments of tiles
and pottery. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 454, seq.)
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TEMBI (Valley) LARISSA
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).
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THAVMAKIA (Ancient city) AGIA
Thaumakia: Eth. Thaumakieus. A town of Magnesia in Thessaly, one of
the four cities whose ships in the Trojan War were commanded by Philoctetes. It
was said to have been founded by Thaumacus, the son of Poeas. Leake supposes it
to be represented by the paleokastro of Askiti, one of the villages on the Magnesian
coast. This Thaumacia must not be confounded with Thaumaci in Phthiotis mentioned
above.
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THETIDO (Settlement) FARSALA
Thetidium (Thetidion, Strab. ix. p. 431; Polyb. xviii. 3, 4; Thetideion,
Eurip. Androm. 20; Thestideion, Steph. B. s. v.: Eth. Thetideus), a place in Thessaly,
close to Pharsalus, where Flamininus encamped at the end of the second march from
Pherae towards Scotussa, before the battle of Cynoscephalae. It derived its name
from Thetis, the mother of Achilles, the national hero of the Achaean Phthiotae.
Leake places it at or near Magula, on the opposite bank of the Enipeus. (Northern
Greece, vol. iv. pp. 472, 473.)
ATRAX (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
FALORIA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
(Phaloreia). A town of Histiaeotis in Thessaly.
FARSALOS (Ancient city) THESSALIA
(Pharsalos). A town in Τhessaly, in the district Thessaliotis, west of the river Enipeus. Near Pharsalus was fought the decisive battle between Caesar and Pompey, B.C. 48, which made Caesar master of the Roman world. It is frequently called the battle of Pharsalia, which was the name of the territory of the town.
GONI (Ancient city) TYRNAVOS
(Gonnoi) or Gonnus (Gonnos). A strongly fortified town of the Perrhaebi in Thessaly, on the river Peneus and at the entrance of the vale of Tempe.
GYRTON (Ancient city) LARISSA
or Gyrtona (Gurton, Gurtone). An ancient town in Pelasgiotis in Thessaly, on the Peneus.
KRANNON (Ancient city) THESSALIA
(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.
KYNOS KEFALES (Ancient city) THESSALIA
(Kunos Kephalai, i. e. "Dogs' Heads)." Two hills near Scotussa in Thessaly,
where the Thebans defeated the Pheraeans (B.C. 364) and where Flamininus gained
his celebrated victory over Philip of Macedonia, B.C. 197.
LARISSA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
An important town of Thessaly in Pelasgiotis, situated on the Peneus, in an extensive plain, and once the capital of the Pelasgi.
MELIVIA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
(Meliboia). A town on the coast of Thessaly in Magnesia, between Mount Ossa and Mount Pelion, where Philoctetes reigned, who is hence called by Vergil, dux Meliboeus. It was noted for its purple dye.
OMOLIO (Ancient city) AGIA
Or Homolium (Homolion). A town in Magnesia in Thessaly, at the foot of Mount Ossa, near the Peneus.
OSSA (Mountain) LARISSA
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.
SKOTOUSSA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
A very ancient town of Thessaly, in the district Pelasgiotis, near the source of the Onchestus.
TEMBI (Valley) LARISSA
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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KRANNON (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
FTHIA (Ancient city) LARISSA
City and region of southern Thessalia,
on the mainland facing northern Euboea
(the city of Phthia itself has not been located by archaeologists; the region
is variously called Phthia or Phthiotis).
Phthia is best known as the country of Achilles and his father Peleus.
Mythology knows of a Phthia, eponym of the region, who was loved by Apollo and
gave him three sons, Dorus (the ancestor of the Dorians, who is also sometimes
presented as a son of Hellen and a grandson of Deucalion), Laodocus and Polypoetes,
who where kings of this country before they were slain by Aetolus, one of the
sons of Endymion, king of Elis,
and the ancestor of the Aetolians who settled on the northern shore of the gulf
of Corinth and founded such cities as Pleuron
and Calydon.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1999), ed.
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KRANNON (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
ADICHASSIA (Municipality) ELASSONA
GIANNOULI (Municipality) TYRNAVOS
SARANTAPORO (Municipality) ELASSONA
LARISSA (Prefecture) THESSALIA
LARISSA (Municipality) THESSALIA
LARISSA (Prefecture) THESSALIA
In the following WebPages you can find an interactive map with all the monuments and museums of the Prefecture, with relevant information and photos.
KYNOS KEFALES (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Total results on 24/4/2001: 12 for Cynoscephalae, 4 for Kynoskephalai.
FARSALOS (Ancient city) THESSALIA
Titular see and suffragan of Larissa
in Thessaly. The city is
mentioned for the first time after the Persian war. In 445 B.C. it was unsuccessfully
besieged by the Athenian Myronides, in 395 it was seized by Midias, tyrant of
Larissa and it was finally
forced to submit to Jason of Pherae;
in 191 the consul Acilius Glabrio made it over to Antiochus, King of Syria.
It is especially famous for the victory of 9 August, 48 B.C., won by Caesar from
Pompey, after the latter had killed 15,000 men. At the time of Pliny it was a
free city. In the sixth century A.D. it was made a port of Thessaly:
in the time of Constantine Porphyrogenetus, it belonged to the theme of Macedonia.
In 1881 it was ceded by Turkey with Thessaly
to Greece.
At the beginning of the tenth century Pharsalus still remained suffragan
of Larissa; about 970 it
became an autocephalous archbishopric; in 1300 it was elevated by Andronicus II
to metropolitan dignity; at the close of the fifteenth century it was again suffragan
of Larissa. Later it was
united to the Diocese of Phanarion,
and was suppressed only to be replaced (1900) by the Sees of Phanarus and Thessaliotides.
S. Vailhe, ed.
Transcribed by: Joseph C. Meyer
This text is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
LARISSA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
ARGISSA (Ancient city) LARISSA
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.
ATRAX (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
EGINION (Ancient city) THESSALIA
A town on the border between Thessaly and Epeiros; according to Strabo,
it belonged to the Tymphaei. It appears several times in Livy's account of the
Macedonian War, where it is described as secure and almost impregnable; it was
destroyed by the Romans in 167 B.C. Subsequently, in the Civil Wars, Caesar joined
Domitius Calvinus there before marching on Pompey at Pharsalus. The ancient town
has been identified with Kalabaka, where there are no ancient remains; the literary
sources are more easily reconciled with the Rock of the Goat N of the modern village
of Nea Koutsoufliani. This small site is surrounded by cliffs, and retains traces
of a tower and rubble walls faced with squared stone blocks. A modern road to
the E of the acropolis has cut through a group of pithos and cist burials.
M. H. Mcallister, 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.
FALANNON (Ancient city) TYRNAVOS
The chief city of the Perrhaibians in the region. Phalanna flourished
in the 5th and 4th c., replacing Olosson in importance by 400 B.C.; although later
outstripped by Gonnos, it was still useful to Perseus as a camp site in 171 B.C.
Inscriptions indicate that the city records were kept in the Temple of Athena
Polias, although the city decrees were dated by the tenures of the priests of
Asklepios. There was also a theater and a Sanctuary of Hades and Persephone. The
site, misleadingly described by Strabo as near Tempe, has not been certainly identified,
but lay between Orthe and Gonnos in a position to control the roads from the N
and the rich fields to the S. Although Karatsoli and Gritzova have been proposed,
Phalanna was probably on the flat hill called Kastri 3 km E of modern Tyrnavos;
there are building blocks scattered in the area, but no city walls.
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.
FARSALOS (Ancient city) THESSALIA
A city of (Tetras) Phthiotis. It lies in the E corner of Thessaly's
W plain, on and at the foot of a N spur of Mt. Narthakion (Kassidhiaris), about
4 km S of the Enipeus River. Modern Pharsala (or Pharsalos) occupies the site
of the lower city. The main road from the S via Thaumakoi to Larissa, etc., goes
by Pharsalos. A road follows E up the river and then over a low pass to Pherai,
or directly E to the gulf of Pagasni. Two more difficult roads lead to Phthiotic
Thebes and Halos.
Pharsalos was the home of the aristocratic Echecratidai, allies of
Athens after the Persian wars. In an attempt to restore one of the family the
Athenians besieged the city in the mid 5th c. B.C., but failed to take it (Thuc.
1.111; Diod. Sic. 2.83). It issued coinage in the 5th c. and resisted the tyrants
of Pherai from 400 B.C. although in 374 it was forced into an alliance with Jason
(Xen. Hell. 6.1). It was an important member of the Thessalian League opposed
to Pherai, and strong supporter of Philip II of Macedon. Before 346 B.C. with
the help of Philip, it obtained the territory of Halos (Dem. 19.39, 334). After
Alexander of Macedon's death, Pharsalos under Meno joined the anti-Macedonian
revolt (Lamian war: Diod. Sic. 18.11-iS) but was taken by the Macedonians under
Antipater in 322 B.C. (Plut. Mor. 846E). It seems to have dwindled in importance
thereafter. Justinian renewed the walls (Procop. De aed. 4.3.5) and it was the
site of a bishopric.
The walls of the ancient city are the most conspicuous remains. The
wall surrounded the acropolis, two rocky, flat-topped peaks at E and W joined
by a narrow saddle. From each end of the acropolis walls run N down the hill to
the plain, where few traces are preserved. The wall ran a long tongue into the
plain where the modern road to the railroad station runs directly N from the city.
It included the hill directly above the spring of the ancient Apidanos stream
(now called Apidanos, formerly Tabachana). A wall dividing the lower and upper
city connects the E end of the acropolis with an isolated hill (301 m) just N
of the W peak of the acropolis. Hill 301 and the W peak are joined by a double
wall. The total wall circuit is ca. 6 km. Traces of polygonal masonry can be seen
in the walls surrounding the acropolis, down the hill from the acropolis' E peak
to the plain, connecting the W peak of the acropolis with Hill 301 and in the
cross wall which runs from that hill to the E peak of the acropolis. There is
no trace of the polygonal E city wall which must have connected the acropolis
or Hill 301 with the W wall. The polygonal wall is probably that of the late 6th
or 5th c. It was improved and overbuilt by a double-faced wall of rectangular
and trapezoidal blocks, and the circuit was apparently then enlarged to include
part of the plain, and a wide swing up the hill to the W peak of the acropolis.
This wall was strengthened by towers at weak points. It is in places preserved
to 8 courses in height. The enlargement and rebuilding of the city wall was very
likely made in the time of greatest Pharsalian prosperity and power around the
middle of the 4th c. B.C. The acropolis wall and the cross wall from it to Hill
301 were improved and strengthened in Byzantine times.
Very few ancient remains are to be seen in the city. Just above and
to the S of the Apidanos spring, at the W side of the city is a mound on which
is a Church of Haghios Paraskevi (earlier Fetiye Cami). The city wall runs along
the edge of this mound, and traces of a square tower could be seen (1914). Test
trenches here in 1964 turned up prehistoric sherds from the Neolithic period on,
and through archaic to Roman, and some ancient remains including a poros capital
of Early Classical times. Here or nearby was a Temple of Zeus Thaulios, to whom
an inscription has been found. In the center of the modern town in the main plateia
were found the foundations of a square building (13 x 13 m) with an inner peristyle
court, of the 4th-3d c. B.C. Doric and Ionic architectural fragments from it are
in the Volo Museum. In the Kurcunli Cami N of the plateia were to be seen (1914)
some remains of an ancient temple. In the Varusi quarter, just above the plain
by the E wall, inscriptions to and a head of Asklepios have been found, and a
Hellenistic water channel. On the hill in 1966 fragments of 5th c. B.C. terracotta
protomes turned up, probably of Demeter and Kore. Twenty minutes W of the city
a Hellenic wall (neither end visible), perhaps part of a temple peribolos, was
seen in 1952.
In recent years the most notable discoveries have been in the necropolis.
To the W of Sourla hill (ca. 3 km E of Pharsalos) is a necropolis largely of the
4th c. B.C. In a block hollowed to receive it was a handsome 4th c. bronze hydria
with Boreas and Oreithuia in relief under the horizontal handle (now in the Volo
Museum). Just W of the city, on the road to Dhomoko, was another necropolis. Most
notable among other Mycenaean and Classical tombs found here was the bottom part
of a tholos tomb with dromos, of stones and earth with a facing of good polygonal
masonry, containing two sarcophagi. The mound over it was surrounded with a handsome
polygonal terrace wall. The tomb was built in archaic times directly over and
as a successor to a Mycenaean shaft grave, and was used until the Hellenistic
period. Near this in a hollowed block was a 4th c. bronze hydria with a Nike under
the handle (National Museum of Athens).
To the SW of the city on the slope of the Karabla (Karafla?) is a
cave of Pan and the nymph which was investigated in 1922. Votive statuettes and
inscriptions dating from the 6th c. B.C. to the Hellenistic period were found.
In the territory was the Thetideion (Polyb. 18.20.6; Strab. 9.431;
Plut. Pel. 31-32) possibly to be found N of the Enipeus on a hill between Orman
Magoula and Dasolophos (Bekides) where a Church of Haghios Athanasios incorporates
Hellenic and Byzantine remains.
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 5 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
GONI (Ancient city) TYRNAVOS
An important city of Perrhaibia, located on the left bank of the Peneois
river, at the W entrance to the Tempe pass. It controlled the pass and the S end
of a route which led from Macedonia to Thessaly over the E shoulder of Olympos
via Lake Askyris. Xerxes came by here in 480 B.C. (Hdt. 7.128, 173). The area
was settled in prehistoric times, and the city evidently prospered in the archaic
and Classical periods. Owing to its position, it was important to Macedon in the
Hellenistic period, and it played a part in wars between Rome and various Hellenistic
kings. Philip V collected stragglers here on his way back to Macedonia in 197
B.C. after Kynokephalai (Livy 33.10; Polyb. 18.27.12). It was freed and important
after the Roman liberation of 196 B.C. Antiochus III, advancing N in Thessaly
in 191 B.C., was frightened back to Demetrias by Appius Claudius who came down
from Macedonia to the heights above Gonnos (via the Askyris route? [Livy 36.10]);
Perseus in 171 B.C. took the city and strengthened its fortifications with a triple
ditch and rampart, and left a garrison there which remained until Pydna (Livy
42.54, 67; 44.6). The city prospered thereafter, but seems to have dwindled in
importance in the Roman provincial period.
The ruins of the site are on the end of a ridge of lower Olympos which
stretches down into the Peneios plain 1 km from the river and ca. 3 km from the
W end of the Tempe pass. The ancient town is almost 2 km SE of modern Gonnoi (formerly
Dereli). The end of the ridge is broken into three separate hills aligned in a
half-moon shape facing SE. Along the NW side of the ridge is a deep ravine. In
the archaic period the NE hill was circled by a wall made of small, flat, roughly
squared stone slabs laid in fairly regular courses; part of it is still preserved
to 6 m high. In Hellenistic times the city wall was extended along the ridge to
include the other two hills, and then across the wide, theater-shaped slope between
the SE hill and the acropolis. The line of the wall along the ridge (ca. one course
high) can be traced; the stretch across the valley has largely disappeared. The
wall between the middle hill and the SE one, and around the SE hill was fortified
by some 12 projecting towers. In the middle of this stretch of wall was a gate
flanked by towers. Another gate could be seen in the middle of the stretch crossing
the valley, and outside this gate Arvanitopoullos in 1910 saw a ditch and earth
rampart he took to be the fossa triplex built by Perseus.
The archaic acropolis was inhabited since Neolithic times. On the
summit, excavations in 1910-11 uncovered the foundations of an elliptical temple
of small stones with an entrance to the SE. It probably had two poros columns
in the door; fragments of an archaic Doric capital were found. The temple seems
to have been built with a stone socle and mudbrick upper parts. Fragments of archaic
painted terracotta antefixes and cornice were found here. The temple was rebuilt
on the same plan in the 4th-3d c. B.C.: Hellenistic terracottas and roof tiles
were also found. Three half-round terrace walls support the slope to the S of
the temple, which Arvanitopoullos called the Temple of Athena Polias. Foundations
of another building, possibly a temple, were discovered and excavated at this
time just inside the NW gate. Dedications to Artemis were found near it. To the
E of the city walls, in the plain, are the foundations of a temple (partially
excavated in 1914) perhaps to Asklepios. South of this are the foundations of
another temple.
Arvanitopoullos supposed the agora of the city to be on the gentle
slope at the 5 foot of the acropolis hill, where he saw the remains of a large
building. Just outside the wall here he saw the remains of a Roman (?) building.
He discovered a water channel just to the N of the acropolis, which brought water
from a spring called Manna on the peak of Lower Olympos called Solio, where there
was said to be (1910) a cemented reservoir. South of the walled city is a mound
in the plain called Besik Tepe, which was a prehistoric site. Around the mound
are traces of a (period?) wall, and on the summit remains of buildings of small
stones. Ancient graves have been found at this tepe, outside the N gate of the
city, and outside the S gate. The site of Gonnos has yielded a rich quantity of
inscriptions, some sculpture and other remains.
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.
KRANNON (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
LARISSA (Ancient city) THESSALIA
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.
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