Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "NYMFEON Ancient city TAVRIS".
Ancient Greek city 17 km S of Kerch along the shore of the Kerch Strait
near the modern village of Geroevka. It was founded by Ionian colonists in the
first half of the 6th c. B.C. on the site of an earlier native (Scythian?) settlement.
Owing to its good port, Nymphaion emerged as an important commercial center, especially
for the grain trade. It was probably incorporated into the Bosporan state in the
early 5th c. but ca. 444 B.C. became the main Athenian base in the E Crimea. With
the decline of Athens in the late 5th c. it was again included in the Bosporan
state. The city issued its own coins for a short period around this time. Following
an apparent decline in the Hellenistic era, it recovered in the early centuries
A.D. It was destroyed in the mid 3d c. by the Goths. (Aesch. In Ctes. 171; Steph.
Byz.; Ps. Skyl. 68; Strab. 7.4.4; Ptol. 3.6.2; Plin. HN, 4.86; Anon. Perpl. Ponti
Euxini, 76 [50]).
The site, located on a small hill, covered an area of some 9 ha but
part of the ancient port and adjoining city are now under water. The architectural
remains date primarily from the late archaic, Classical and Early Roman eras and
include numerous residential, commercial, and public buildings along with the
accompanying paved courtyards and streets. Recent excavations, however, have revealed
several Hellenistic structures including a unique large building of the 3d c.
B.C. made of rose marl. Large sections of the city were replanned and rebuilt
during the 1st c. A.D. Many buildings were destroyed in the 2d c., after which
time only a relatively few new buildings were erected.
The most interesting architectural monuments from the city are probably
the sanctuaries of Demeter, Aphrodite, and the Kabeiri, the latter two located
in the upper city (acropolis). The remains of the Sanctuary of Demeter are found
in the lower terrace along the seashore and consist of parts of the perimeter
and sanctuary walls as well as the foundations of the main altar. The original
sanctuary, built in the mid 6th c. B.C., was a small quadrangular room of adobe
brick walls on a stone foundation. It was subsequently destroyed and rebuilt on
several occasions during the city's history. The Sanctuary of Aphrodite had several
rooms. First constructed in the late 6th c. B.C., it was destroyed in the 4th
c. The walls of the Sanctuary of the Kabeiri, built in the 6th c. B.C., still
remain. Many terracotta statuettes, apparently used in votive offerings, were
found in and around the sanctuaries.
Other notable architectural monuments include two winemaking establishments
of the 4th c. B.C., the earliest thus far discovered in the N Black Sea, and the
city's defensive walls, which date from the Classical era. Remains of potters'
kilns date to the 6th c. B.C.
The kurgan necropolis contained rich burials of the 5th c. and first
half of the 4th c. B.C. Among the graves were stone tombs with horse burials.
T. S. Noonan, 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.
Nymphaea, Nymphaeum. (Numphaia, Scylax, p. 29; Numphaion, Strab. vii. p. 309; Appian, B. Mithr. 108; Ptol. iii. 6. § 3; Anon. Peripl. p. 5; Plin. iv. 26; Craterus, ap. Harpocrat. s. v.; Nymphae, Geog. Rav. v. 2), a Milesian colony of the Tauric Chersonese, with a good harbour. (Strab. l. c.) The ruins of this town are to be found on the S. point of the gulf now called the Lake of Tchourbache. (Dubois de Montperreux, Voyage Autour du Caucase, vol. v. pp. 246--251; Marigny Taitbout, Portulan de la Mer Noire, p. 74.) Pallas (Reise in d. Sudl. Statthalt. Russland's, vol. ii. p. 341) fixes it between the Paulofka Battery and Kamyschburnu.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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