Listed 17 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "LARISSA Municipality THESSALIA" .
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.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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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