Listed 6 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for destination: "SPARTI Ancient city LACONIA".
A replica of a temple (5th century B.C.). This monument of Leonidas contains the bones of the hero of Thermopylai; it lies to the north of the modern town.
This extract is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains image.
The ancient theater is located on the south slope of the Spartan
Acropolis. It was re-built during the Post-Hellenistic period (1st century B.C),
and it more then likely replaced an older wooden theater (2nd century B.C).
It is a huge public structure, supported by two large walls. Based on its space
availability, it is assumed that it entertained as many as 16,000 guests per
performance. The center and the stage were composed of white marble while the
walls were composed of limestone (which blends better with the environment).
At the upper peripherals of the center is the colonnade, where the audience
would seek refuge from the rain.
There where 48 sitting rows (9 in the lower and 18 in the upper
frieze). The entrance was located on the east side of the theater, where today
we can see the remains of a magnificent staircase leading to the frieze. The
audience could also enter the theater from the top or from Athena's Copper Temple.
The stage underwent several changes. Originally it must have been
wooden because at its western alley we find a brick storage space which was
mainly used in the winter. The wood was probably replaced during the second
century B.C., during the theater's reconstruction.
Today, the ancient theater which is no longer in good condition is
covered by the time's embankment. Only a very small portion of it has been excavated:
the orchestra, the stage and few other sections above the center. We all await
the excavation's continuation and long for the theater's restoration, even if
it is only partial.
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains images.
Region: Laconia
Periods: Dark Age, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman
Type: Unfortified city
Summary: One of the major Classical city-states of ancient Greece.
Physical Description:
Located ca. 50 km inland on the wide and fertile plain
of the Eurotas valley, Sparta is almost completely surrounded by major mountain
ranges. In contrast to other ancient Greek cities, Sparta was not a compact fortified
city-state center with monumental civic and religious buildings. It was a loose
collection of smaller villages spaced over a large rural area and 6 low hills
(cf. Thuc. 1.10.2). The highest of these knolls (ca. 25 m) served as the acropolis
and location for the Temple of Athena Chalkioikos. In the Hellenistic period a
theater, stoa and agora were built near the acropolis, but the Temple of Athena
and the earlier remains at the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia on the W bank of the
Eurotas are almost the only archaeological remains from Archaic and Classical
Sparta. The location and the militaristic character of early Sparta made city
walls unnecessary, but as Spartan power weakened construction of fortification
walls began (in 307 B.C.). The 10 km long circuit wall was completed in 184 B.C.
Description:
The location of Homeric Sparta is uncertain, and historical
Sparta was traditionally a Dorian foundation of the 10th century B.C. By the 7th
century B.C. Sparta had conquered all of Laconia and Messenia and by the 6th century
all of the central and SW Peloponnese was under direct Spartan control. In the
5th century B.C. Sparta had control of the Peloponnesian League and in 405 B.C.
defeated Athens. The reversal of Spartan power, however, began with their defeat
by Thebes in 371 B.C. In 369 B.C. Messenia was liberated and by 195 B.C. Sparta
had lost all of its political dependencies. Under the Romans, Sparta enjoyed a
degree of prosperity, in part, because of Roman admiration of the Spartan tradition
of discipline. The Romans revived the ancient initiation rites for Spartan youths
at the Sanctuary of Artemis, but in a debased touristic manner in which the Spartan
youths were flogged in an amphitheater constructed around the altar of Artemis.
Sparta survived the Herulian invasions of 267 A.D., but was devastated by the
Goths in 395 A.D. and finally abandoned.
Exploration:
Early excavations by C. Waldstein of the American School in
1892-1893. Excavations by the British School in 1906-1910, 1924-1928 and 1949.
Beginning in 1957 C. Christou has carried out excavations and rescue operations
in the area of the modern city for the Greek Service.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 27 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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