Listed 100 (total found 155) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "MESSINIA Prefecture PELOPONNISOS" .
ITHOMI (Acropolis) MESSINIA
Pausanias claims that it is the Messenian Ithome that Homer includes in the List of Ships (Paus. 4,9,2). The truth is, however, that the Ithome mentioned by Homer must be a town in Thessaly, since it is mentioned along with other Thessalic towns (Ekd. Athinon, Pausaniou Periegissis, vol. 3, p.57, note 1).
Site of the University of Michigan.
University of Cincinnati
ALAGONIA (Ancient city) AVIA
A town of Laconia near the Messenian frontier, belonging to the Eleuthero-Lacones,
containing temples of Dionysus and Artemis. This town was distant 30 stadia from
Gerenia, but its site is unknown.
AMFIA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Ampheia (Ampheia: Eth. Ampheus), a town of Messenia, situated on the
frontiers of Laconia, upon a hill well supplied with water. It was surprised and
taken by the Spartans at the beginning of the Messenian war, and was made their
head-quarters in conducting their operations against the Messenians. Its capture
was the first act of open hostilities between the two people. It is placed by
Leake at the Hellenic ruin, now called the Castle of Xuria, and by Boblaye on
the mountain called Kokala. (Paus. iv. 5. § 9; Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 461; Boblaye,
Recherches, p. 109.)
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AMFIGENIA (Ancient city) KYPARISSIA
Eth. Amphigeneus. One of the towns belonging to Nestor (Horn. Il.
ii. 593), was placed by some ancient critics in Messenia, and by others in Macistia,
a district in Triphylia. Strabo assigns it to Macistia near the river Hypsoeis,
where in his time stood a temple of Leto.
ANDANIA (Ancient city) ANDANIA
Eth. Andanieus, Andanios. An ancient town of Messenia, and the capital of the
kings of the race of the Leleges. It was celebrated as the birthplace of Aristomenes,
but towards the end of the second Messenian war it was deserted by its inhabitants,
who took refuge in the strong fortress of Ira. From this time it was only a village.
Livy describes it as a parvum oppidum, and Pausanias saw only its ruins. It was
situated on the road leading from Messene to Megalopolis. Its ruins, according
to Leake, are now called Ellinikokastro, and are situated upon a height near the
village of Fyla or Filia. The Homeric Oechalia is identified by Strabo with Andania,
but by Pausanias with Carnasium, which was only 8 stadia from Andania.
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ASSINI (Ancient city) KORONI
Eth. Asinaios, Asineus. A town in Messenia, which was built by the
Dryopes, when they were expelled from Asine in the Argeia, as related above. (Pans.
ll. cc.) It stood on the western side of the Messenian gulf, which was sometimes
called the Asinaean gulf, from this town (Asinai_os kolpos, Strab. viii. p. 359;
Asinaeus Sinus, Plin. iv. 5. s. 7). Asine was distant 40 stadia north of the promontory
Acritas, 40 stadia from Colonides (Pans. iv. 34. § 12), 15 miles from Methona,
and 30 miles from Messene (Tab. Peut.). Its site is now occupied by Koroni, which
is situated upon a hill jutting out into the sea above C. Gallo (the ancient Acritas).
The ancient town of Corone was situated further north; and it has been reasonably
conjectured that the inhabitants of Corone removed from their town to the deserted
site of Asine, and carried with them their ancient name,--such a migration of
names not being uncommon in Greece.
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AVIA (Ancient city) KALAMATA
he Abia: nr. Zarnata. A town of Messenia, on the Messenian gulf, and
a little above the woody dell, named Choerius, which formed the boundary between
Messenia and Laconia in the time of Pausanias. It is said to have been the same
town as the Ira of the Iliad (ix. 292), one of the seven towns which Agamemnon
offered to Achilles, and to have derived its later name from Abia, the nurse of
Hyllus, the son of Hercules. Subsequently it belonged, with Thuria and Pharae,
to the Achaean League. It continued to be a place of some importance down to the
reign of Hadrian, as we learn from an extant inscription of that period.
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AVLON (Ancient city) TRIFYLIA
Aulon. A valley in the north-west of Messenia, upon the confines of Elis
and Messenia, and through which there was a route into the Lepreatis. Pausanias
speaks of a temple of Asclepius Aulonius in what is called Aulon, which he places
near the river Neda; but whether there was a town of the name of Aulon is uncertain.
The French Commission suppose that there was a town of this name, near the entrance
of the defile which conducts from Cyparissia to the mouth of the Neda, and believe
that its position is marked by some ruins near the sea on the right bank of the
river Cyparissus.
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DORION (Prehistoric settlement) TRIFYLIA
Dorium (Dorion), a town of Messenia, celebrated in Homer as the place
where the bard Thamyris was smitten with blindness, because he boasted that he
could surpass the Muses in singing. (Hom. Il. ii. 599.) Strabo says that some
persons said Dorium was a mountain, and others a plain; but there was no trace
of the place in his time, although some identified it with a place called Oluris
(Olouris) or Olura (Oloura), in the district of Messenia named Aulon. (Strab.
viii. p.350.) Pausanias, however, places the ruins of Dorium on the road from
Andania to Cyparissia. After leaving Andania, he first came to Polichne; and after
crossing the rivers Electra and Coeus, he reached the fountain of Achaia and the
ruins of Dorium. (Paus. iv. 33. § 7.) The plain of Sulima appears to be the district
of the Homeric Dorium. (Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 484; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol.
ii. p. 154.)
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EIRA (Ancient fortress) MESSINIA
A mountain in Messenia, which the Messenians fortified in the Second
Messenian War, and which Aristomenes defended for ten years against the Spartans.
It was in the north of Messenia, near the river Neda. Leake places it at no great
distance from the sea, under the side of the mountain on which now stands Sidheroskastro
and Marmaro; but there are no ancient remains in this spot. More to the east,
on the left bank of the Neda, near Kalkaletri, are the remains of an ancient fortress,
which was, in all probability, Eira; and the lofty mountain above, now called
Tetrazi, was probably the highest summit of Mount Eira.
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EPANO KARDAMYLI (Medieval settlement) KALAMATA
Kardamule: Eth. Kardamulites. A town of Messenia, and one of the seven
places offered by Agamemnon to Achilles. (Il. ix. 150, 292.) It was situated on
a strong rocky height at the distance of seven stadia from the sea, and sixty
from Leuctra. (Paus. iii. 26. § 7; Strab. viii.) It is called a Laconian town
by Herodotus (viii. 73), since the whole of Messenia was included in the territories
of Laconia at the time of the historian. It again became a town of Messenia on
the restoration of the independence of the latter; but it was finally separated
from Messenia by Augustus, and annexed to Laconia. (Paus. l. c.) Pausanias mentions
at Cardamyle sanctuaries of Athena and of Apollo Carneius; and in the neighbourhood
of the town a temenus of the Nereids. There are considerable ruins of the town
to the NE. of the modern Skardhamula, at the distance of 1300 (French) metres
from the sea.
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EPIA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Aepeia (Eth. Aipheates) One of the seven Messenian towns, offered by Agamemnon to Achilles, is supposed by Strabo to be the same as Thuria, and by Pausanias the same as Corone. (Hom. Il. ix. 152; Strab. p. 360; Paus. iv. 34. § 5.)
ERANI (Ancient city) FILIATRA
(he Erana). A town in Messenia, mentioned by Strabo as lying upon the road between
Cyparissia and Pylos. It was, probably, near the promontory Cyparissium. According
to Strabo, it was erroneously identified by some with the Homeric Arene.
FARES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
Pharai, Phere, Pherai, Eth. Pharates, Pharaiates. An ancient town
of Messenia, situated upon a hill rising from the left bank of the river Nedon,
and at a distance of a mile from the Messenian gulf. Strabo describes it as situated
5 stadia from the sea (viii. p. 361), and Pausanias 6 (iv. 31. § 3); but it is
probable that the earth deposited at the mouth of the river Nedon has, in the
course of centuries, encroached upon the sea. Pherae occupied the site of Kaleamata,
the modern capital of Messenia; and in antiquity also it seems to have been the
chief town in the southern Messenian plain. It was said to have been founded by
Pharis, the son of Hermes. (Paus. iv. 30. § 2.) In the Iliad it is mentioned as
the well-built city of the wealthy Diocles, a vassal of the Atridae (v. 543),
and as one of the seven places offered by Agamemnon to Achilles (ix. 151); in
the Odyssey, Telemachus rests here on his journey from Pylos to Sparta (iii. 490).
After the capture of Messene by the Achaeans in B.C. 182, Pharae, Abia, and Thuria
separated themselves from Messene, and became each a distinct member of the league.
(Polyb. xxv. 1.) Pharae was annexed to Laconia by Augustus (Paus. iv. 30. § 2),
but it was restored to Messenia by Tiberius. Pausanias found at Pharae temples
of Fortune, and of Nicomachus and Gorgasus, grandsons of Asclepius. Outside the
city there was a grove of Apollo Carneius, and in it a fountain of water. (Paus.
iv. 30. § 3, seq., iv. 31. § 1.) Strabo correctly describes Pharae as having an
anchorage, but only for summer (viii. p. 361); and at present, after the month
of September ships retire for safety to Armyro, so called from a river strongly
impregnated with salt flowing into the sea at this place: it is the (hudor halmuron,
mentioned by Pausanias (iv. 30. § 2) as on the road from Abia to Pharae.
There are no ancient remains at Kalamata, which is not surprising,
as the place has always been well occupied and inhabited. The height above the
town is crowned by a ruined castle of the middle ages. It was the residence of
several of the Latin chieftains of the Morea. William Villehardouin II. was born
here. In 1685 it was conquered and enlarged by the Venetians. It was the headquarters
of the insurrection of 1770, and again of the revolution of 1821, which spread
from thence over the whole peninsula.
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GERINIA (Ancient city) AVIA
Gerenia, (Paus., Steph. B. s. v.); ta Gerena (Strab.); Gerenos (Hes.
Fragm. 22): Eth. Gerenios. A town of Messenia, where Nestor was said to have been
brought up after the destruction of Pylos, and whence he derived the surname Gerenian,
which occurs so frequently in Homer. There is, however, no town of this name in
Homer, and many of the ancient critics identified the later Gerenia with the Homeric
Enope. (Il. i. 150; Pans. iii. 26. § 9; Strab. viii. p. 360.) Under the Roman
empire Gerenia was the most northerly of the Eleuthero-Laconian towns, and was
situated on the eastern side of the Messenian gulf, upon the mountainous promontory
now called Cape Kephali. It possessed a celebrated sanctuary of Machaon, which
bore the name of Rhodon. Pausanias says that in the district of Gerenia there
was a mountain called Calathium, upon which there was a sanctuary of Claea, and
close to the latter a cavern, of which the entrance was narrow, though within
there were many things worthy to be seen. (Paus. iii. 26. § 11.) This cavern is
undoubtedly the one noticed by Leake, which is situated at the head of a little
valley behind the beach of Kitries, and immediately under a rocky gorge in the
mountains: at present the entrance is not narrow, but it appears to have been
widened to make it more convenient for a sheep-fold, for which purpose it is at
present used. Leake observed two or three sepulchral niches in the side of the
cliffs about the valley. Two very ancient inscriptions discovered at Gerenia are
published by Bockh. (Corp. Inscr. no. 13, 42.)
Gerenia is placed by the French Commission at Zarnta, about three
miles from the coast, where a castle built by the Franks rests upon very ancient
foundations. But Leake observes that the words of Pausanias (iii. 26. § 11) -
I erenias de hos es eesopsaian ano triakonta atechei stadious Alapsonia - leave
little or no doubt that Gerenia was a maritime town, and that it is now represented
by Kitries on the coast. He further supposes that Zarnata is the site of Alagonia.
But since the most ancient towns in Greece were almost universally built at some
distance from the coast, it is not improbable that the acropolis and the original
town of Gerenia stood at Zarnata, but that the town itself was afterwards removed
to the coast.
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ICHALIA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Oichalia, Eth. Oichalieus. In Messenia, in the plain of Stenyclerus.
It was in ruins in the time of Epaminondas (Paus. iv. 26. § 6), and its position
was a matter of dispute in later times. Strabo identified it with Andania, the
ancient residence of the Messenian kings, and Pausanias with Carnasium, which
was only 8 stadia distant from Andania, and upon the river Charadrus. Carnasium,
in the time of Pausanias, was the name given to a grove of cypresses, in which
were statues of Apollo Carneius, of Hermes Criophorus, and of Persephone. It was
here that the mystic rites of the great goddesses were celebrated, and that the
urn was preserved containing the bones of Eurytus, the son of Melaneus.
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KALAMES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
Calam, -ae (Kalamai), a village of Messenia near Limnae, and at no
great distance from the frontiers of Laconia, is represented by the modern village
of Kalami, at the distance of three-quarters of an hour NW. of Kalamata: the latter
is the site of the ancient Therae, and must not be confounded with Kalami. (Paus.
iv. 31. § 3; Pol. v. 92; Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 362, Peloponnesiaca, p. 183;
Bollaye, Recherches, p. 105; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 2.)
KOLONIDES (Ancient city) EPIA
Colonides, Kolonides. A town in the SW. of Messenia, described by Pausanias as
standing upon a height at a short distance from the sea, and 40 stadia from Asine.
The inhabitants affirmed that they were not Messenians, but a colony led from
Athens by Colaenus. It is mentioned by Plutarch (Philop. 18) under the name of
Colonis (Kolonis) as a place which Philopoemen marched to relieve; but according
to the narrative of Livy (xxxix. 49) Corone was the place towards which Philopoemen
marched. The site of Colonides is uncertain. Leake places it upon the Messenian
gulf at Kastelia, where are some remains of ancient buildings, N. of Koroni, the
site of Asine; but the French commission suppose it to have stood on the bay of
Phoenicus, NW. of the promontory Acritas.
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KORONI (Ancient city) PETALIDI
Korone: Eth. Koronaeus, Koroneus, Koronuieus, Koronaios (Steph. B.:
Petalidhi). A town of Messenia, situated upon the western side of the Messenian
gulf, which was sometimes called after it, the Coronaean. (Plin. iv. 5. s. 7.)
According to Pausanias, it was built on the site of the Homeric Aepeia, at the
time of the restoration of the Messenians to their native country, by Epaminondas;
and received the name of Coroneia because Epimelides, who founded the new town,
was a native of Coroneia, in Boeotia. This name was changed by the Messenians
into that of Corone. According to others, Corone corresponded to the Homeric Pedasus.
(Strab. viii. p. 360.) In the acropolis of the city was a brazen statue of Athena,
who became the patron deity of Corone in consequence of her worship at Coroneia.
In the agora there was a statue of Zeus Zoter, as at Messene; and there were likewise
in the lower city temples of Artemis, of Dionysus, and of Asclepius. The harbour
of Corone was called the port of the Achaeans, probably because the city belonged
to the Achaean league. (Paus. iv. 34.)
Pausanias says that Corone was situated to the right of the Pamisus,
close to the sea, and at the foot of a mountain called Temathia or Mathia (the
reading is doubtful). The present name of the mountain is Lykodimo, at the foot
of which stands Petalidhi, on the site of Corone, in a small but fertile plain.
Within the last few years a colony of Mainotes has settled here, and restored
to the place its ancient name. The modern town of Koroni, however, which is situated
upon a promontory some distance south of Petalidhi, occupies the site of Asine.
It is probable that the inhabitants of Corone migrated at some period to Asine,
carrying with them their ancient name.
There are considerable remains of Corone. Part of a mole may still
be traced jutting out into the sea, and in the plain have been found foundations
of houses and walls, and some works of ancient art. There are likewise traces
of the walls of the acropolis upon the heights above the plain.
Corone was supplied with water for drinking from the fountain Plataniston,
which flowed from a hollow plane tree 20 stadia from the road, leading from the
Pamisus. Eighty stadia south of Corone, near the coast, was the temple of Apollo
Corynthus, the site of which is probably indicated by some ancient remains on
the hill of St. Elias, near the sea, above the village of Kastelia. Corone, as
already stated, belonged to the Achaean league. It was on his march to relieve
this city that Philopoemen was made prisoner, and put to death at Messene on the
following day. (Liv. xxxix. 49.) Plutarch, however, relates that Philopoemen was
captured on his march towards Colonis (Plut. Philopoem. 18); but the statement
of Livy is the more probable one. Corone is also mentioned by Ptolemy (iii. 16.
§ 8).
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KYPARISSIIS (Ancient city) KYPARISSIA
Cyparissia. Kuparissia, Kuparisseeis, Kuparissiai, Kuparissai, Kuparissos, Eth.
Kuparissieus, Kuparisseus. A town on the western coast of Messenia, situated a
little south of the river Cyparissus, upon the bay to which it gave the name of
the Cyparissian gulf. (Plin. Mela, ll. cc.) This gulf was 72 miles in circuit
according to Pliny, and was bounded by the promontory of Ichthys on the north,
and by that of Cyparissium on the south. Cyparissia was the only town of importance
upon the western coast of Messenia between Pylus and Triphylia. It is mentioned
in the Homeric catalogue (Il. l. c.), and appears to have been inhabited from
the earliest to the latest times. It was beautifully situated upon the sides of
one of the offshoots of the range of mountains, which run along this part of the
Messenian coast. Upon the narrow summit of the rocks now occupied by a castle
built in the middle ages, stood the ancient acropolis. There is no harbour upon
the Messenian coast north of Pylos; but Leake remarks that the roadstead at Cyparissia
seems to be the best on this part of the coast; and in ancient times the town
probably possessed an artificial harbour, since traces of a mole may still be
seen upon the sea-shore. This was probably constructed on the restoration of Messene
by Epaminondas; for it was necessary to provide the capital of the new state with
a port, and no spot was so suitable for this object as Cyparissia. Hence we find
Messene and the harbour Cyparissia mentioned together by Scylax. Pausanias found
in the town a temple of Apollo, and one of Athena Cyparissia. The town continued
to coin money down to the time of Severus. In the middle ages it was called Arkadia,
a name which was transferred from the interior of the peninsula to this place
upon the coast. It continued to bear this name till its destruction by Ibrahim
in 1825, and when rebuilt it resumed its ancient name Cyparissia, by which it
is now called. Some remains of ancient walls may be traced around the modern castle;
and below the castle on the slope of the hill, near the church of St. George,
are some fragments of columns. On the south side of the town, close to the sea-shore,
a fine stream rushes out of the rock and flows into the sea; and a little above
is a basin with a spring of water, near which are some stones belonging to an
ancient structure. This is the ancient fountain sacred to Dionysus, which Pausanias
perceived near the entrance of the city, on the road from Pylus.
Stephanus calls Cyparissia a city of Triphylia, and Strabo (viii.)
also distinguishes between the Triphylian and Messenian Cyparissia, but on what
authority we do not know.
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LEFKTRA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Leuctrum (ta Leuktra, to Leuktron). A town of Laconia, situated on
the eastern side of the Messenian gulf, 20 stadia north of Pephnus, and 60 stadia
south of Cardamyle. Strabo speaks of Leuctrum as near the minor Pamisus, but this
river flows into the sea at Pephnus, about three miles south of Leuctrum. The
ruins of Leuctrum are still called Leftro. Leuctrum was said to have been founded
by Pelops, and was claimed by the Messenians as originally one of their towns.
It was awarded to the latter people by Philip in B.C. 338, but in the time of
the Roman empire it was one of the Eleuthero-Laconian places. Pausanias saw in
Leuctra a temple and statue of Athena on the Acropolis, a temple and statue of
Cassandra (there called Alexandra), a marble statue of Asclepius, another of Ino,
and wooden figures of Apollo Carneius.
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LIMNES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A place on the frontiers of Messenia and Laconia, containing a temple
of Artemis Limnatis, used jointly by the Messenians and Lacedaemonians. An outrage
offered by the Messenians to some Lacedaemonian virgins at the festival of this
goddess is said to have been the cause of the First Messenian War. (Strab. vi.,
viii.; Paus. iii. 2. § 6, iv. 31. § 3.) The possession of this temple, and of
the Ager Dentheliatis, the district in which it was situated, was a frequent subject
of the dispute between the Lacedaemonians and Messenians down to the time of the
Roman emperors. (Tac. Ann. iv. 43.) The ruins of the temple of Artemis Limnatis
have been discovered by Ross, near the church of Panaghia Volimniatissa, in the
village of Volimnos.
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MESSINI (Ancient city) ITHOMI
(Eth. and Adj. Messenios: Adj. Messeniakos). The later capital of
Messenia, built under the direction of Epaminondas in B.C. 369. (Diod. xv. 66;
Paus. iv. 27.) The name of Messene had been applied in ancient times to the country
inhabited by the Messenians; but there was no city of this name till the one founded
by Epaminondas. The Thebans and their allies assisted the Messenians in building
it; and the best architects and masons were invited from all Greece to lay out
the city with regularity, and to arrange and construct properly the temples and
other public buildings. Epaminondas also took especial pains with the fortifications,
which were regarded by Pausanias as the most perfect in Greece. The walls, as
well as the towers and bulwarks, were built entirely of stone; and the excellence
and solidity of the masonry are still apparent in the existing remains. (Paus.
iv. 31. § 5.) The foundation of the city was attended with great pomp and the
celebration of solemn sacrifices. First, sacrifices were offered by Epaminondas,
who was recognised as Oekist or Founder, to Dionysus and Apollo Ismenius, - by
the Argives to the Argive Hera and Zeus Nemeius, - by the Messenians to Zeus Ithomatas
and the Dioscuri. Next, prayer was offered to the ancient Heroes and Heroines
of the Messenian nation, especially to the warrior Aristomenes, that they would
come back and take up their abode in the new city. After this, the ground was
marked out and the building begun, under the sound of Argive and Boeotian flutes,
playing the strains of Pronomus and Sacadas. (Paus. iv. 28. § 6; Grote's Greece,
vol. ix. p. 309.) The history of this town is related under Messenia so that it
is only necessary in this place to give an account of its topography.
Messene is situated upon a rugged mountain, which rises between the
two great Messenian plains, and which thus commands the whole country. This mountain,
about half-way up, divides into two summits, of which the northern was called
Ithome and the southern Eva. The sharp ridge connecting them is about half a mile
in length. Mt. Ithome is one of the most striking objects in all Peloponnesus.
It rises to the height of 2631 feet, or more than 700 feet higher than the Acrocorinthus;
but it looks much loftier than it really is, in consequence of its precipitous
sides and isolated position. Upon this summit the Acropolis of Messene was built;
but the city itself was situated in a hollow somewhat in the form of a shell,
extending on the west side of the sharp ridge which connects Ithome and Eva. The
city was connected by a continuous wall with its acropolis. There are considerable
remains of the ancient city, and the walls may still be traced in the greater
part of their extent. They are most perfect on the northern side, with the. Arcadian
or Megalopolitan gate in the centre. They may be followed up to the summit of
Ithome, and then along the ridge connecting Ithome and Eva ; but here towards
the south-east traces of them are sometimes lost. In this part, however, the foundations
of the eastern or Laconian gate, as it has been called, are clearly seen. The
summit of Mt. Eva was evidently not included within the city walls. The direction
of the southern wall is most uncertain. From the eastern gate to the ruins, which
are supposed to be those of the southern gate, and near which the present road
runs to the southern Messenian plain, no line of walls can be traced; but on the
western side the walls may again be clearly followed. The circumference of the
walls is about 47 stadia, or nearly 6 English miles ; but it includes a large
space altogether unfit for the site of buildings; and the great extent was doubtless
intended to receive a part of the surrounding population in time of war.
The space included within the city-walls now consists of corn-fields
and pastures amidst woods of wild olive and oak. Nearly in the centre of the ancient
town is the modern village of Mavromati ; and near the southern gate, at the foot
of Mount Eva, are two poor villages, named Simissa. On the eastern slope of Mount
Eva is the monastery of Vurkano, embossed in cypress and orange groves, and one
of the most elegant and picturesque structures of this class in Greece.
The northern gate, leading to Megalopolis in Arcadia (Paus. iv. 33.
§ 3), is one of the finest specimens of Greek military architecture in existence.
Its form is seen in the preceding plan. It is a small fortress, containing double
gates opposite to one another, and connected by a circular court of 62 feet in
diameter. In front of the outer gate on either side is a strong rectangular tower.
Upon entering the court through the outer gate, there is a niche on each side
for a statue, with an inscription over it. The one on the left hand is still legible,
and mentions Quintus Plotius Euphemion as the restorer (Bockh, Inscr. No. 1460).
Pausanias (iv. 33. § 3) notices in this gate a Hermes in the Attic style, which
may possibly have stood in one of these niches. Leake observes that the interior
masonry of the circular court is the most exact and beautiful he ever saw. The
lower course is a row of stones, each about 5 1/2 in length and half as much in
height; upon this is placed another course of stones of equal length and of half
the height, the joints of which are precisely over the centre of each stone in
the lower course. The upper part of the walls has fallen: nine courses are the
most that remain. Neither gateway retains its covering, but the flat architrave
of the inner one lies in an oblique position upon the ruins of the wall by which
it was formerly supported; it measures 18 feet 8 inches in length by 4 feet 2
inches in breadth, and 2 feet 10 inches in thickness. The road still leads through
this gate into the circuit of the ancient city. The ruins of the towers, with
the interjacent curtains, close to the gate on the slope of Mount Ithome, show
this part of the fortifications to have resembled a chain of strong redoubts,
each tower constituting a fortress of itself. A flight of steps behind the curtain
led to a door in the flank of the tower at half its height. The upper apartment,
which was entered by the door, had a range of loopholes, or embrasures, on a line
with the door, looking along the parapet of the curtain, and was lighted by two
windows above. The embrasures, of which there are some in each face of the towers,
have an opening of 7 inches within, and of 3 feet 9 inches without, so that, with
a small opening, their scope is very great. The windows appear to be too high
for any purpose but to give light. Both the curtains and towers in this part of
the walls are constructed entirely of large squared blocks, without rubble or
cement. The curtains are 9 feet thick. The inner face of the towers has neither
door nor window. The tower next to the gate of Megalopolis has had all the stones
disjointed, like those of the Propylaea at Athens, probably by an earthquake.
The towers are in general about 25 feet square, projecting about 14 feet from
a curtain varying in length according to the nature of the ground, and 8 or 10
feet in thickness. The masonry was not in general such as has been described at
the towers near the gate of Megalopolis, but, as in most Greek works of defence,
consisted of an exterior and interior facing of that kind of masonry filled up
with rubble.
In describing Messene, Pausanias first mentions the Agora, which contained
a fountain called Arsinoe, supplied by a subterraneous canal from the source named
Clepsydra. In the Agora, probably in the centre, was a statue of Zeus Soter. The
various temples, which he then proceeds to enumerate, either surrounded the Agora,
or were in its immediate neighbourhood. These were temples of Poseidon and Aphrodite;
a marble statue of the mother of the gods, the work of Damophon, who also made
the statue of Artemis Laphria; a temple of Eileithyia, a sacred building of the
Curetes, and a sanctuary of Demeter, containing statues of the Dioscuri. But the
temple of Asclepius contained the greatest number of statues, all of which were
made by Damophon. The temple of Messene contained her statue in gold and Parian
marble, while the back part was adorned with pictures representing the Messenian
heroes and kings. A building, called Hierosythium, contained statues of all the
gods worshipped by the Greeks. Pausanias next mentions the gymnasium, with statues
made by Aegyptian artists, a pillar bearing a figure of Aethidas in relief, and
the monument of Aristomenes, - the stadium containing a brazen statue of Aristomenes;
and lastly, the theatre, with the adjoining temple of Serapis and Isis. The fountain
called Clepsydra occurs in ascending to the summit of Ithome. On the summit was
a temple of Zeus Ithomatas; and an annual festival, called Ithomaea, was celebrated
in honour of the god. (Paus. iv. 31. § 6 - iv. 33. § 2.)
The Agora must have stood near the modern village of Mavromati, in
the neighbourhood of which most of the foundations of the ancient buildings are
found. The rivulet, which now runs unconfined through the village, was in ancient
times conducted through a subterraneous canal, and formed the fountain Arsinoe
mentioned above. The modern village has derived its name from the spring, - Mavromati
meaning Black Spring or Black Eye. South of the site of the Agora are the ruins
of the stadium, of which the upper or circular end and more than half of one of
the sides still remain. The rivulet of Mavromati now runs through the length of
the stadium. The stadium was surrounded by a colonnade, which was double at the
upper end: here the lower parts of the columns are in their original places; there
were about twenty in each row, 1 foot 10 inches in diameter, with Doric flutings.
Part of the colonnade, on the right side of the stadium, is likewise in its place,
and on the left side is the foundation of a public edifice, where are many pieces
of columns of the same description as the colonnade round the stadium. Perhaps
this was the Hierothysium. The stone seats of the stadium did not extend its whole
length, but about two-thirds only; at the circular end, they are most perfect.
(Leake.) Immediately south of the stadium is a wall, which appears to have been
part of the walls of the city. In this wall a small temple is built, like a kind
of tower. Between the stadium and the village of Mavromati, to the west of the
rivulet, are the remains of a small theatre, about 60 feet in diameter. North
of the stadium the slope is divided into terraces, of which the supporting walls
still remain. Here some of the temples mentioned by Pausanias probably stood.
In ascending Mount Ithome, there is about half way up a terrace of
considerable size, which commands a fine view of the Messenian gulf. Here the
French Commission discovered some ruins overgrown with shrubs, which appear to
have been an Ionic temple facing the east, containing a porch with two columns
and a cella. This was probably a temple of Artemis, as an inscription here found
contains the names of Messenians, who had held the priesthood of Artemis Limnatis,
and the remains of the statue discovered in the cella appear to be those of this
goddess. Below the temple are two smaller terraces ; and 60 feet further sideways,
WSW. of the temple, is a kind of grotto cut out of the rock, with a portico, of
which there are remains of five pillars. This was, perhaps, intended to receive
the water of the fountain Clepsydra, which Pausanias mentions in his ascent to
the summit of the mountain. The summit itself is a small flat surface, extending
from SE. to NW. On the northern and eastern sides the wall runs along the edge
of the perpendicular cliffs, and some remains of a more ancient masonry may be
perceived, which probably belonged to the earlier fortifications of Messene. At
the northern and broader end of the summit are the deserted buildings of the monastery
of Vurkano; this was undoubtedly the site of the temple of Zeus Ithomatas. There
is a magnificent view from the summit. Along the northern boundary of the horizon
the Lycaean range extends ; to the east are seen the mountains now named Makryplai,
which unite with the range of Taygetum; to the north-west the sea-coast between
the rivers Cyparisseeis and Neda is visible; while to the south the mouth of the
Pamisus and the Messenian gulf are spread open to view.
The similarity of Ithome to Acrocorinthus is noticed by Strabo (viii.
p. 361). He observes, that both are lofty and precipitous mountains, overhanging
their respective cities, but connected with them by a common line of fortifications.
Messene continued to exist in the later times of the Roman empire, as we learn
from inscriptions ; but in the middle ages it had ceased to be a place of any
importance; and hence the ancient remains have been less disturbed by the hands
of man than in most other parts of Greece.
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
MESSINIA (Ancient area) MESSINIA
Messenia (Messenia, Herod., Thuc.; in older writers, Messene,
Hom. Od. xxi. 15; Messaa, Pind. Pyth. iv. 126; shortened Messe, Mese, Steph. B.
s. v. Messenia; Messenis ge, Thuc. iv. 41: Eth. and Adj. Messenios: Adj. Messeniakos),
the south-westerly district of Peloponnesus, bounded on the east by Laconia, on
the north by Elis and Arcadia, and on the south and west by the sea. It was separated
from Laconia by Mt. Taygetus, but part of the western slope of this mountain belonged
to Laconia, and the exact boundary between the two states, which varied at different
times, will be mentioned presently. Its southern frontier was the knot of mountains,
which form the watershed of the rivers Neda, Pamisus and Alpheius. On the south
it was washed by the Messenian gulf (ho Messeniakos kolpos, Strab. viii. p. 335),
called also the Coronaean or Asinaean gulf, from the towns of Corone or Asine,
on its western shore, now the Gulf of Koroni. On the east it was bounded by the
Sicilian or Ionian sea. The area of Messenia, as calculated by Clinton, from Arrowsmith's
map is 1162 square miles.
I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. Messenia, in its general features,
resembles Laconia. The Pamisus in Messenia, like the Eurotas in Laconia, flows
through the entire length of the country, from north to south, and forms its most
cultivated and fertile plains. But these plains are much larger than those in
Laconia, and constitute a considerable portion of the whole country ; while the
mountains on the western coast of Messenia are much less rugged than on the eastern
coast of Laconia, and contain a larger proportion of fertile land. Hence the rich
plains of Messenia are often contrasted with the sterile and rugged soil of Laconia;
and the climate of the former country is praised by the ancients, as temperate
and soft, in comparison with that of the latter. The basin of the Pamisus is divided
into two distinct parts, which are separated from each other on the east by a
ridge of mountains extending from Mt. Taygetus to the Pamisus, and on the west
by Mrt. Ithome. The upper part, called the plain of Stenyclerus or Stenyclarus
(to Stenuklerikon pedion), is of small extent and moderate fertility, and is entirely
shut in by mountains. The lower plain, which opens to the Messenian gulf, is much
more extensive, and was sometimes called Macaria (Makaria), or the Blessed, on
account of its surprising fertility. (Strab. viii. p. 361.) It was, doubtless,
to this district that Euripides referred, when he described the excellence of
the Messenian soil as too great for words to explain, and the land as watered
by innumerable streams, abounding in fruits and flocks; neither too hot in summer,
nor too cold in winter. (Eurip. ap. Strab. viii. p. 366.) Even in the present
day, although a part of the plain has become marshy by neglecting the embankments
of the Pamisus, it is described by travellers as the most fertile district in
the Peloponnesus. It now produces oil, silk, figs, wheat, maize, cotton, wine,
and honey, and presents as rich a cultivation as can well be imagined. (Leake,
Morea, vol. i. pp. 347, 352.) Besides the Pamisus, numerous other streams and
copious perennial springs gush in all directions from the base of the mountains.
The most remarkable feature on the western coast is the deep bay of Pylos, now
called Navarino, which is the best, and indeed the only really good harbour in
the Peloponnesus.
II. MOUNTAINS, PROMONTORIES, RIVERS, AND ISLANDS.
1. Mountains.-The upper plain, in which are the. sources of the Pamisus,
was the original abode of the Messenians, and the stronghold of the nation. Here
was Andania, the capital of the most ancient Messenian kings. Thither the Messenians
retreated, as often as they were overpowered by their enemies in the lower plains,
for here were their two great natural fortresses, Ithome and Eira, the former
commanding the entrance to the lower plain, and the latter situated in the mountains,
which rise in the northern part of the upper plain. These mountains, now called
Tetrazi, form, as has been already said, the watershed of the rivers Neda, Pamisus,
and Alpheius. From this central ridge, which is 4554 feet high, a chain extends
towards the west, along the banks of the Neda, and is also prolonged towards the
south, forming the mountains of the western peninsula, and terminating at the
promontory Acritas. From the same central ridge of Tetrazi, another chain extends
towards the east, dividing the Messenian plain from the upper basin of the Alpheius,
and then uniting with Mount Taygetus, and forming the harrier between the basins
of the lower Pamisus and the Eurotas. These two mountain chains, which, issuing
from the same point, almost meet about half-way between Mount Tatrazi and the
sea, leave only a narrow defile through which the waters of the Pamisus force
their way from the upper to the lower plain. South of this defile the mountains
again retire to the east and west, leaving a wide opening for the lower plain,
which has been already described.
Scarcely in any part of Greece have the names of the ancient mountains
been so little preserved as in Messenia. Tetrazi was perhaps the mountains of
Eira. The eastern continuation of Tetrazi, now named Makryplai, formed part of
the ancient Mt. Nomia. (Nomia ore, Paus. viii. 38. § 11.) The western prolongation
of Tetrazi along the banks of the Neda was called Elaeum (Elaion), now Kuvela,
and was partly in the territories of Phigalia. (Paus. viii. 41. § 7.) The mountains
Ithome and Evan are so closely connected with the city of Messene that they are
described under that head. In the southern chain extending down the western peninsula,
the names only of Aegaleum, Buphras, Tomeus or Mathia, and Temathia have been
preserved. Aegaleum (Aigaleon) appears to have been the name of the long and lofty
ridge, running parallel to the western shore between Cyparissia and Coryphasium
(Pylos); since Strabo places the Messenian Pylos at the foot of Mt. Aegaleum (viii.
p. 359; Leake, Morea, vol. i. pp. 426, 427). Buphras (he Bouphras) and Tomeus
(ho Tomeus) are mentioned by Thucydides (iv. 118) as points near Coryphasium (Pylos),
beyond which the Lacedaemonian garrison in the latter place were not to pass.
That they were mountains we may conclude from the statement of Stephanus B., who
speaks of the Tomaion oros near Coryphasium. (Steph. B. s. v. Tomeus.) Temathia
(Temathia), or Mathia (Mathia, the reading is doubtful), was situated, according
to Pausanias (iv. 34. § 4), at the foot of Corone, and must therefore correspond
to Lykodimo, which rises to the height of 3140 feet, and is prolonged southward
in a gradually falling ridge till it terminates in the promontory Acritas.
2. Promontories. Of these only four are mentioned by name,--Acritas (Akritas),
now C. Gallo, the most southerly point of Messenia; and on the west coast Coryphasium
forming the entrance to the bay of Pylus; PLLatamodes (Platamodes, Strab. viii.
p. 348), called by Pliny (iv. 5. s. 6) Platanodes, distant, according to Strabo
(l. c.), 120 stadia N. of Coryphasium, and therefore not far from Aia Kyriake
(Leake, vol. i. p. 427); and lastly Cyparissium [Cyparissia], a little further
north, so called from the town Cyparissia
3. Rivers. The Pamisus (Pamisos) is described by Strabo as the greatest
of the rivers within the Isthmus (viii. p. 361); but this name is only given by
the ancient writers to the river in the lower plain, though the moderns, to facilitate
the description of the geography of the country, apply this name to the whole
course of the waters from their sources in the upper plain till they fall into
the Messenian gulf. The principal river in the upper plain was called Balyra (Balira).
It rises near the village of Sulima, and flows along the western side of the plain:
two of the streams composing is were the Electra (Elektra) and the Coeus (Koios).
Near Ithome the Balyra receives the united waters of the Leucasia (Leukasia) and
the Amphitus (Amphitos), of which the former flows from the valley of Bogasi,
in a direction from N. to E., while the latter rises in Mt. Makryplai, and flows
through the plain from E. to W. This river (the Amplitus), which maybe regarded
as the principal one, is formed out of two streams, of which the northern is the
Charadrus (Karadros). (On the Balyra and its tributaries, see Paus. iv. 33. §§
3-6.) The Balyra above the junction of the Amphitus and Leucasia is called Vasiliko,
and below it Mavrozumeno, though the latter name is sometimes given to the river
in its upper course also. At the junction of the Balyra and the Amphitus is a
celebrated triangular bridge, known by the name of the bridge of Mavrozumeno.
It consists of three branches or arms meeting in a common centre, and corresponding
to the three principal roads through the plain of Stenyclerus. The arm, running
from north to south passes over no river, but only over the low swampy ground
between the two streams. At the southern end of this arm, the two others branch
off, one to the SW. over the Balyra, and the other to the SE. over the Amphitus,
the former leading to Messene and the other to Thuria. The foundations of this
bridge and the upper parts of the piers are ancient; and from the resemblance
of their masonry to that of the neighboring Messene, they may be presumed to belong
to the same period. The arches are entirely modern. The distance of this bridge
from the Megalopolitan gate of Messene agrees with the 30 stadia which Pausanias
(iv. 33. § 3) assigns as the interval between that gate and the Balyra; and as
he says immediately afterwards that the Leucasia and Amphitus there fall into
the Balyra, there can be little doubt that the bridge is the point to which Pausanias
proceeded from the gate. (Leake, Morea, vol. i. pp. 480, 481.)
The Mavrozumeno, shortly after entering the lower plain, received
on its left or western side a considerable stream, which the ancients regarded
as the genuine Pamisus. The sources of this river are at a north-eastern corner
of the plain near the chapel of St. Floro, and at the foot of the ridge of Skala.
The position of these sources agrees sufficiently with the distances of Pausanias
(iv. 31. § 4) and Strabo (viii. p. 361), of whom the former writer describes them
as 40 stadia from Messene, while the latter assigns to the Pamisus a course of
only 100 stadia. Between two and three miles south of the sources of the Pamisus
there rises another river called Pidhima, which flows SW. and falls into the Mavrozumeno,
lower down in the plain below Nisi, and at no great distance from the sea. Aris
was the ancient name of the Pidhima. (Paus. iv. 31. § 2.)
The Mavrozumeno, after the junction of the Pidhima, assumes the name
of Dhipotamo, or the double river, and is navigable by small boats. Pausanias
describes it as navigable 10 stadia from the sea. He further says that seafish
ascend it, especially in the spring, and that the mouth of the river is 80 stadia
from Messene (iv. 34. § 1). The other rivers of Messenia, with the exception of
the Neda, which belongs to Arcadia also, are little more than mountain torrents.
Of these the most important is the Nedon, not to be confounded with the above-mentioned
Neda, flowing into the Messenian gulf, east of the Pamisus, at Pherae. It rises
in the mountains on the frontiers of Laconia and Messenia, and is now called the
river of Kalamata: on it there was a town of the same name, and also a temple
of Athena Nedusia. (Strab. viii. pp. 353, 360; Leake, Morea, vol. i. pp. 344,
345; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes p. 1.) The other mountain torrents mentioned by
name are the Bias, flowing into the western side of the Messenian gulf, a little
above Corone (Paus. iv. 34. § 4); and on the coast of the Sicilian or Ionian sea,
the Selas (Selas, Ptol. iii. 16. § 7), now the Longovardho, a little S. of the
island Prote, and the Cyparissus (Kuparissos), or river of Arkhadhia.
4. Islands. Theganussa (Theganoussa), now Venetiko, distant 3700 feet from
the southern point of the promontory Acritas, is called by Pausanias a desert
island ; but it appears to have been inhabited at some period, as graves have
been found there, and ruins near a fountain. (Paus. iv. 34. § 12; Thenagousa or
Thinagousa, Ptol. iii. 16. § 23; Plin. iv. 12. s. 19. § 56; Curtius, Peloponnesos,
vol. ii. p. 172.) West of Theganussa is a group of islands called Oenussae (Oinoussai),
of which the two largest are now called Cabrera (by the Greeks Schixa) and Sapienza.
They are valuable for the pasture which they afford to cattle and horses in the
spring. On the eastern side of Sapienza there is a well protected harbour; and
here are found cisterns and other remains of an ancient settlement. (Paus. iv.
34. § 12; Plin. iv. 12. s. 19. § 55; Leake, vol. i. p. 433; Curtius, vol. ii.
p. 172.) On the western coast was the island of Sphacteria opposite the harbour
of Pylus; and further north the small island of Prote (Prote), which still retains
its ancient name. (Thuc. iv. 13; Plin. iv. 12. s. 19. § 55; Mela, ii. 7; Steph.
B. s. v.)
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
METHONI (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Methone, Mothone, Eth. Mothonaios, Methonaieus (Steph. B. s. v.: Mothoni,
Modon). An ancient town in the SW. corner of Messenia, has always been an important
place, both in ancient and in modern times, on account of its excellent harbour
and salubrious situation. It is situated at the extreme point of a rocky ridge,
which runs into the sea, opposite the island Sapienza, one of the group called
in ancient times Oenussae. Off the outer end of the town, is the little insulated
rock which Pausanias (iv. 35. § 1) calls Mothon, and which he describes as forming
at once a narrow entrance and a shelter to the harbour of his time: it is now
occupied by a tower and lantern, which is connected by a bridge with the fortification
of Mothoni. A mole branches from it, which runs parallel to the eastern wall of
the town, and forms a harbour for small vessels. It seems to be exactly in the
position of the ancient port, the entrance into which was probably where the bridge
now stands. (Leake.) According to the unanimous testimony of the ancient writers
(Strab. viii. p. 359; Paus. iv. 35. § 1), Methone was the Homeric Pedasus, one
of the seven cities which Agamemnon offered to Achilles. (Hom. Il. ix. 294.) Homer
gives to Pedasus the epithet ampeloessa, and Methone seems to have been celebrated
in antiquity for the cultivation of the vine. The eponymous heroine Methone, is
called the daughter of Oeneus, the wineman (Paus. l. c.); and the same name occurs
in the islands Oenussae, lying opposite the city. The name of Methone first occurs
in the Messenian wars. Methone and Pylus were the only two places which the Messenians
continued to hold in the second war, after they had retired to the mountain fortress
of Ira. (Paus. iv. 18. § 1, iv. 23. § 1.) At the end of the Second Messenian War,
the Lacedaemonians gave Methone to the inhabitants of Nauplia, who had lately
been expelled from their own city by the Argives. (Paus. iv. 24. § 4, iv. 35.
§ 2.) The descendants of the Nauplians continued to inhabit Methone, and were
allowed to remain there even after the restoration of the Messenian state by Epaminondas.
(Paus. iv. 27. § 8.) In the first year of the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 431, the
Athenians attempted to obtain possession of Methone, but were repulsed by Brasidas.
(Thuc. ii. 25.) Methone suffered greatly from an attack of some Illyrian privateers,
who, under the pretext of purchasing wine, entered into intercourse with the inhabitants
and carried off a great number of them. (Paus. iv. 35. § § 6, 7.) Shortly before
the battle of Actium, Methone, which had been strongly fortified by Antony, was
besieged and taken by Agrippa, who found there Bogud, king of Mauretania, whom
he put to death. (Dion Cass. 1. 11; Strab. viii. p. 359; Oros. vi. 19.) Methone
was favoured by Trajan, who made it a free city. (Paus. iv. 35. § 3.) It is also
mentioned by Mela (ii. 3), Pliny (iv. 5. s. 7), Ptolemy (iii. 15. § 7), and Hierocles.
Pausanias found at Methone a temple of Athena Anemotis, the storm-stiller,
and one of Artemis. He also mentions a well of bituminous water, similar both
in smell and colour to the ointment of Cyzicus, but of which no trace is now found.
In 1124 Modon was conquered by Venice, but did not become a permanent possession
of the republic till 1204. In the middle of the old Venetian piazza there still
stands the shaft of an ancient granite column, about 3 feet in diameter and 12
feet high, with a barbarous base and capital, which appear to have been added
by the Venetians, when they fixed upon the top of it, in 1493, a figure of the
Lion of St. Mark. Five years afterwards it was taken by the Turks, and remained
in their hands till it was recaptured by Morosini. In 1715 the Turks again took
possession of it, and retained it till the last Greek revolution, when it was
wrested from them by the French in 1828. Like other places in Greece, which have
been continuously inhabited, Modon contains few ancient remains. Some Hellenic
foundations may be traced in the city-walls, and ancient sepulchres may be seen
above the suburb.
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PEFNOS (Ancient city) LEFKTRA
Pephnos, Pephnon. A town of Laconia, on the eastern coast of the Messenian
gulf, distant 20 stadia from Thalamae. In; front of. it was an island of the same
name, which Pausanias describes as not larger than a great rock, in which stood,
in the open air, brazen statues of the Dioscuri, a foot high. There was a tradition,
that the Dioscuri were born in this island, The island is at the mouth of the
river Milea, which is the minor Pamisus of Strabo (viii. p. 361). In the island,
there are two ancient tombs, which are called those of the Dioscuri. The Messenians
said that their territories originally extended as far as Pephnus.
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
PIDASSOS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Pedasos. A small town of Mysia, on the river Satnioeis, which is mentioned
by Homer (Il. vi. 35, xx. 92, xxi. 87), but was deserted in the time of Strabo
(xiii. p. 605), who (p. 584) mentions it among the towns of the Leleges, which
were destroyed by Achilles. (Comp. Steph. B. s. v. Pedasa. Pliny (v. 32) imagines
that Pedasus was the same place as that which subsequently bore the name of Adramyttium;
but as Homer distinctly places it on the river Satnioeis, the supposition is impossible.
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PTELEOS (Ancient city) TRIFYLIA
A town of Triphylia, in Elis, belonging to Nestor (Hom. Il. ii. 594), is said
by Strabo to have been a colony from the Thessalian Pteleum. This town had disappeared
in Strabo's time; but its uninhabited woody site was still called Pteleasimum.
PYLOS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Pulos: Eth. Pulios. A town in Messenia, situated upon the promontory
Coryphasium, which forms the northern termination of the bay of Navarino. According
to Thucydides it was distant 400 stadia from Sparta (Thuc. iv. 3), and according
to Pausanias (v. 36. § 1) 100 stadia from Methone. It was one of the last places
which held out against the Spartans in the Second Messenian War, upon the conclusion
of which the inhabitants emigrated to Cyllene, and from thence, with the other
Messenians, to Sicily. (Paus. iv. 18. § 1, iv. 23. § 1.) From that time its name
never occurs in history till the seventh year of the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 424,
when Demosthenes, the Athenian commander, erected a fort upon the promontory,
which was then uninhabited and called by the Spartans Coryphasium (Koruphasion),
though it was known by the Athenians to be the site of the ancient Pylus. (Thuc.
iv. 3.) The erection of this fort led to one of the most memorable events in the
Peloponnesian War. Thucydides has given a minute account of the topography of
the district, which, though clear and consistent with itself, does not coincide,
in all points, with the existing locality, Thucydides describes the harbour, of
which the promontory Coryphasium formed the northern termination, as fronted and
protected by the island Sphacteria, which stretched along the coast, leaving only
two narrow entrances to the harbour, - the one at the northern end, opposite to
Coryphasium, being only wide enough to admit two triremes abreast, and the other
at the southern end wide enough for eight or nine triremes. The island was about
15 stadia in width, covered with wood, uninhabited and untrodden, (Thuc. iv. 8.)
Pausanias also says that the island Sphacteria lies before the harbour of Pylus
like Rheneia before the anchorage of Delos (v. 36. § 6), It is almost certain
that the fortress erected by the Athenians stood on the site of the ruins of a
fortress of the middle ages, called Paleo-Avarino, which has been changed into
Navarino by the habit of using the accusative case, eis ton Abarinon, and by attaching
the final v of the article to the substantive. The distances of 400 stadia from
Sparta and 100 stadia from Methone, given respectively by Thucydides and Pausanias,
are the correct distances of Old Navarino from those two ancient sites. (Leake,
Peloponnesiaca, p. 191.) Sphacteria (Sphakteria is now called Sphagia, a name
which it also bore in antiquity. (Sphagia, Strab. viii. p. 359; Plat. Menex. p.
242; hai Sphagiai, Xen. Hell. vi. 2. 31; tres Sphagiae, Plin. iv. 12. s. 25.)
The chief discrepancy between the account of Thucydides and the existing
state of the coast is found in the width of the two entrances into the bay of
Navarino, the northern entrance being about 150 yards wide, and the southern not
less than between 1300 and 1400 yards; whereas Thucydides states the former admitted
only two triremes abreast, and the latter only eight or nine. Therefore not only
is the actual width of the two entrances very much greater than is stated by Thucydides,
but this width is not in the proportion of the number of triremes; they are not
as 8 or 9 to 2, but as 17 to 2. To explain this difficulty Col. Leake supposes
that Thucydides was misinformed respecting the breadth of the entrances to the
harbour. But to this a satisfactory reply is given by Dr. Arnold, that not only
could no common false estimate of distances have mistaken a passage of nearly
1400 yards in width for one so narrow as to admit only eight or nine ships abreast,
but still less could it have been supposed possible to choke up such a passage
by a continuous line of ships, lying broadside to broadside, which Thucydides
tells us the Lacedaemonian commanders intended to do. Moreover the northern entrance
has now a shoal or bar of sand lying across it, on which there are not more than
18 inches of water; whereas the narrative of Thucydides implies that there was
sufficient depth of water for triremes to sail in unobstructed. The length of
17 stadia, which Thucydides ascribes to Sphacteria, does not agree with the actual
length of Sphagia, which is 25 stadia. Lastly Thucydides, speaking of the bay
of Pylus, calls it a harbour of considerable magnitude (limeni onti ou smikroi);
an expression which seems strange to be applied to the spacious Bay of Navarino,
which was not only the largest harbour in Greece, but perfectly unlike the ordinary
harbours of the Greeks, which were always closed artificially at the mouth by
projecting moles when they were not sufficiently land-locked by nature.
In consequence of these difficulties Dr. Arnold raised the doubt whether
the island now called Sphagia be really the same as the ancient Sphacteria, and
whether the Bay of Navarino be the real harbour of Pylus. He started the hypothesis
that the peninsula, on which the ruins of Old Navarino stand, is the ancient island
of Sphacteria converted into a peninsula by an accumulation of sand at either
side; and that the lagoon of Osmyn-Aga on its eastern side was the real harbour
of Pylus, into which there was an opening on the north, at the port of Voidho--Kilia,
capable of admitting two triremes abreast, and another at the south, where there
is still a narrow opening, by which eight or nine triremes may have entered the
lagoon from the great harbour of Navarino. Upon this hypothesis Col. Leake observes,
that in itself it is perfectly admissible, inasmuch as there is scarcely a situation
in Greece on the low coasts, near the mouths of rivers, where, by the operation
of waters salt or fresh, or both united, some change has not taken place since
the times of ancient history; and that in the present instance, therefore, there
is no great difficulty in imagining that the lagoon may be an ancient harbour
converted into a lagoon by an accumulation of sand which has separated it from
the sea. But, among the many difficulties which beset this hypothesis, there are
two which seem quite fatal to it; one of which has been stated by Mr. Grote and
the other by Col. Leake. The former writer remarks that, if the peninsula of Old
Navarino was the real ancient Sphacteria, it must have been a second island situated
to the northward of Sphagia; and that, consequently, there must have been two
islands close together and near the scene. This, as Mr. Grote observes, is quite
inconsistent with the narrative of Thucydides, which presupposes that there was
only one island--Sphacteria, without any other near or adjoining to it. Thus the
Athenian fleet under Eurymedon, on first arriving, was obliged to go back some
distance to the island of Prote, because the island of Sphacteria was full of
Lacedaemonian hoplites (Thuc. iv. 13); whereas, if the hypothesis of Dr. Arnold
were admitted, there would have been nothing to prevent them from landing on Sphagia
itself. It is true that Xenophon (Hell. vi. 2. § 3) speaks of Sphagiai in the
plural, and that Pliny (iv. 12. s. 25) mentions tres Sphagiae; but two of them
appear to have been mere rocks. The objection of Col. Leake is still more fatal
to Dr. Arnold's hypothesis. He calls attention to the fact that the French Commission
observed that the walls of the castle of Old Navarino stand in many parts on Hellenic
foundations, and that in some places three courses of the ancient work remain,
consisting of a kind of masonry which seems greatly to resemble that of Messene.
Besides these remains of middle Hellenic antiquity, some foundations are traced
of a more ancient inclosure at the northern end of the peninsula, with a descent
to the little harbour of Voidho - Kilia by means of steps cut in the rock. Remains
of walls of early date are to be seen likewise towards the southern extremity
of the hill, among which is a tumulus; - all tending to prove that the entire
peninsula of Navarino was occupied at a remote period of history by an ancient
city. This peninsula could not, therefore, have been the ancient Sphacteria, which
never contained any ancient town. The only way of reconciling the account of Thucydides
with the present state of the coast is to suppose, with Mr. Grote and Curtius,
that a great change has taken place in the two passages which separate Sphagia
from the mainland since the time of Thucydides. The mainland to the south of Navarino
must have been much nearer than it is now to the southern portion of Sphagia,
while the northern passage also must have been both narrower and clearer.
It is unnecessary to relate here the events which followed the erection
of the Athenian fort at Pylus, and which terminated with the capture of the Spartans
in the island of Sphacteria, as they are given in every Grecian history. The following
extract from Col. Leake illustrates the description of Thucydides in the most
satisfactory manner: The level and source of water in the middle where the Lacedaemonians
encamped, - the summit at the northern end to which they retired, - the landing-places
on the western side, to which the Helots brought provisions,- are all perfectly
recognisable. Of the fort, of loose and rude construction on the summit, it is
not to be expected that any remains should now exist; but there are some ruins
of a signal-tower of a later age on the same site. The summit is a pile of rough
rocks ending in a peak; it slopes gradually to the shore on every side, except
to the harbour, where the cliffs are perpendicular, though here just above the
water there is a small slope capable of admitting the passage of a body of men
active in climbing among rocks and difficult places. By this pass it is probable
the Messenians came upon the rear of the Lacedaemonians on the summit; for just
at the southern termination of the pass there is a passage through the cliffs
which border the greater part of the eastern shore of the island, so that by this
opening, and along the pass under the rocks to the northward of it, the Messenians
had the means of passing unseen from the centre of the island to the rear of the
Lacedaemonians on the summit. Though this hill slopes gradually from its rocky
peak to the shore on every side except towards the harbour, it does not admit
of a landing at its foot, except in the calmest weather; nor is it easily assailed
on any side by land, on account of the ruggedness of the summit, except by the
means to which the Messenians resorted; so that the words of Thucydides respecting
it are perfectly accurate (ek thalasses apokremnon kai e, tes ges hekista epimachon).
The southern extremity of the island is rocky, steep, and difficult of access,
and forms a separate hill; in every other part the ground slopes from the cliffs
on the side of the harbour to the western shore, which, though rocky, is low;
so that when the weather is calm it is more easy in face of an opponent to land,
and to make way into the island on that side than on the eastern shore, where
the cliffs admit of an easy access only in two places, one towards the northern
end, the other in the middle of the island, where an opening in the cliffs leads
immediately into the most level part of it; exactly in the opening stands a small
church of the Panaghia. There are also two small creeks adjacent to each other,
near the southern end of the eastern side of the island, opposite to Neokastro:
near these creeks there is a well. The principal source of water is towards the
middle of the island, at an excavation in the rock 20 feet deep, which seems to
be more natural than artificial; for below a shallow surface of soil, in which
there is a circular peristomium of modern masonry, the excavation in the rock
is irregular and slanting. In one or two places there are groves of high bushes,
and there are low shrubs in every part of it. It often happens, as it did in the
seventh summer of the Peloponnesian war, that a fire, occurring accidentally or
of intention, clears the face of the island during the droughts of that season:
the northern hill exhibits at this moment recent marks of a similar conflagration.
(Morea, vol. i. 408, seq.)
The peninsula of Coryphasium is a precipice on the eastern side or
towards the lagoon; while on the western side or towards the open sea it slopes
gradually, particularly on the SW., where Demosthenes succeeded in preventing
the landing of Brasidas and the Lacedaemonians. The promontory is higher at the
northern end. Below the ruined fortress at the northern end there is a fine cavern,
called Voidho-Kilia (Boido-koilia), the ox's belly, which gives name to the small
circular port immediately below it, which has been already spoken of. This cavern
is 60 feet long, 40 wide, and 40 high, having a roof like a Gothic arch. The entrance
is triangular, 30 feet long and 12 high; at the top of the cavern there is an
opening in the surface of the hill above. This cave was, according to the Peloponnesian
tradition, the one into which the infant Hermes drove the cattle he had stolen
from Apollo. It is mentioned in the Homeric hymn to Hermes as situated upon the
sea-side (v. 341); but in Antoninus Liberalis (c. 23) it is expressly said to
have been at Coryphasium. In Ovid (Met. ii. 684) Mercury is represented as beholding
from Mt. Cyllene the unguarded cattle proceeding into the fields of Pylus. The
bay of Voidho-Kilia is separated by a low semicircular ridge of sand from the
large shallow lagoon of Osmyn-Aga. As neither Thucydides nor Pausanias says a
word about this lagoon, which now forms so striking a feature in the topography
of this district, we may confidently conclude, with Leake, that it is of recent
formation. The peninsula must, in that case, have been surrounded with a sandy
plain, as Pausanias describes it; and accordingly, if we suppose this to have
been the site of the Homeric Pylus, the epithet emathoeis, which the poet constantly
gives to it, would be perfectly applicable.
The Athenians did not surrender their fortress at Pylus to the Lacedaemonians
in accordance with the treaty made in B.C. 421 (Thuc. v. 35), but retained possession
of it for fifteen years, and only lost it towards the close of the Peloponnesian
War. (Diod. xiii. 64.) On the restoration of the Messenians to their country by
Epaminondas, Pylus again appears in history. The remains of the walls already
described belong to this period. On more than one occasion there was a dispute
between the Messenians and Achaeans respecting the possession of this place. (Liv.
xxvii. 30; Polyb. xviii. 25.) It was visited by Pausanias, who saw there a temple
of Athena Coryphasia, the so-named house of Nestor, containing a picture of him,
his tomb, and a cavern said to have been the stable of the oxen of Neleus and
Nestor. He describes the latter as within the city; which must therefore have
extended nearly to the northern end of the promontory, as this cave is evidently
the one described above. (Paus. v. 36.) There are imperial coins of this city
bearing the epigraph Pulion, belonging to the time of Severus. (Eckhel, vol. ii.
p. 277.) It would appear from Leake that the restored city was also called Coryphasium,
since he says that at the time of the Achaean League there was a town of Coryphasium,
as we learn from a coin, which shows that Coryphasium was a member of that confederacy.
(Peloponnesiaca, p. 191.)
The modern name Avarino, corrupted, as already said, into Navarino,
is probably due to the Avars, who settled there in the sixth century of the Christian
era. The mediaeval castle was built by the widow of the Frankish chieftain William
de la Roche. Her descendants sought a more convenient place for their residence,
and erected on the southern side of the harbour the Neokastro or modern Navarino.
It commanded the southern end of the harbour, which became more and more important
as the northern entrance became choked up. Containing, as it does, the best harbour
in the Peloponnesus, Navarino constantly appears in modern history. It was taken
by the Turks in 1500. In 1685 it was wrested from them by the Venetian commander
Morosini, and remained in the hands of the Venetians till 1715. In more recent
times it is memorable by the great battle fought in its bay, on the 20th of October,
1827, between the Turkish fleet and the combined fleets of England, France, and
Russia. (Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 181.)
It remains to speak of the site of the Homeric Pylos. According to
a generally received tradition, Neleus, the son of Poseidon, migrated from Iolcos
in Thessaly, and founded on the west coast of Peloponnesus a kingdom extending
westward as far as that of the Atridae, and northward as far as the Alpheius,
or even beyond this river. Neleus incurred the indignation of Hercules for refusing
to purify him after the murder of his son Iphitus. The hero took Pylus and killed
Neleus, together with eleven of his twelve sons. But his surviving son Nestor
upheld the fame of his house, and, after distinguishing himself by his exploits
in youth and manhood, accompanied in his old age the Grecian chiefs in their expedition
against Troy. Upon the invasion of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, three generations
after Nestor, the Neleids quitted Pylus and removed to Athens, where they obtained
the kingly power. The situation of this Pylus - the Pulos Neleios, as it was called
- was a subject of much dispute among the Grecian geographers and grammarians.
Strabo (viii. p. 339) quotes a proverbial verse, in which three towns of this
name were mentioned - esti Pulos pro Piloio Pulos ge men esti kai allos,- of which
the former half - Esti Pulos pro Puloio - was at least as old as the time of Aristophanes,
when Pylus became famous by the capture of the Spartans at Sphacteria. (Aristoph.
Equit. 1059.) The claims of the Eleian Pylus to be the city of Nestor may be safely
set on one side; and the choice lies between the towns in Triphylia and Messenia.
The ancients usually decided in favour of the Messenian Pylos. This is the opinion
of Pausanias (iv. 36), who unhesitatingly places the city of Nestor on the promontory
of Coryphasium, although, as we have already seen, he agrees with the people of
Elis that Homer, in describing the Alpheius as flowing through the land of the
Pylians (Il. v. 545), had a view to the Eleian city. (Paus. vi. 22. § 6.) It is
however, much more probable that the land of the Pylians was used by the poet
to signify the whole kingdom of the Neleian Pylus, since he describes both Thryoessa
on the Alpheius and the cities on the Messenian gulf as the extreme or frontier
places of Pylus. (Thruoessa polis . . . neate Pulou emathoentos, Il. xi. 712;
neatai Pulou emathoentos, Il. ix. 153.) In this sense these expressions were understood
by Strabo (viii. pp. 337, 350). It is curious that Pausanias, who paid so much
attention to Homeric antiquities, does not even allude to the existence of the
Triphylian Pylus. Pindar calls Nestor the Messenian old man. (Pyth. vi. 35.) Isocrates
mentions Messenia as his birthplace (Panath. § 72); and Pherecydes (ap. Schol.
ad> Hom. Od. xi. 289) and Eustathius (ad Od. iii p: 1454) describes the Messenian
Pylus as the city founded by Peleus. This was also the opinion of Diodorus (xv.
66), and of many others. In opposition to their views, Strabo, following the opinion
of the Homerikoteroi, argues at great length that the Triphylian Elis was the
city of Nestor. (Strab. viii. pp. 339, seq., 348, seq.) He maintains that the
description of the Alpheius flowing through the land of the Pylians (Il. v. 545),
which, as we have already seen, was the only argument which the Eleians could
adduce for their claim, is applicable to the Triphylian Pylus; whereas the poet's
mention of Nestor's exploits against the Epeians (II. xi. 670, seq.) is fatal
to the supposition of the Messenian city being his residence. Nestor is described
as making an incursion into the country of the Epeians, and returning thence with
a large quantity of cattle, which he safely lodges by night in the Neleian city.
The third day the Epeians, having collected their forces on the Alpheius, Nestor
marched forth from Pylus, and at the end of the first day halted at the Minyeius
(subsequently called the Anigrus), where he passed the night; starting from thence
on the following morning, he arrived at the Alpheius at noon. Strabo argues that
neither of these events could have taken place if Nestor had marched from so distant
a city as the one at Coryphasium, while they might easily have happened if the
Neleian city had been situated at the Triphylian Pylus. Again he argues from the
Odyssey that the Neleid Pylus could not have been on the sea-coast, since Telemachus,
after he had disembarked at the temple of Poseidon and had proceeded to Pylus,
sent a courier to his ship to fetch his companions (Od. iii. 423); and on his
return from Sparta to Pylos, he desired Pisistratus to turn off to the sea-side,
that he might immediately embark, as he wished not to be detained in the city
by Nestor. (Od. xv. 199, seq.) These arguments, as well as others, adduced by
Strabo, have convinced K. O. Muller (Orchomenos, p. 357, seq.), Thirlwall (Hist.
of Greece, vol. i. p. 96), and several modern scholars; but Leake, Curtius, and
others have adhered, with much greater probability, to the more common view of
antiquity, that the Neleian Pylus was situated at Coryphasium. It has been shown
that Pylus was frequently used by Homer to signify the Neleid kingdom, and not
simply the city, as indeed Strabo himself had admitted when arguing against the
claims of the Eleian Pylus. Moreover, even if it should be admitted that the account
of Nestor's exploits against the Epeians agrees better with the claim of the Triphylian
Pylus, yet the narrative of the journeys of Telemachus is entirely opposed to
this claim. Telemachus in going from Pylus to Sparta drove his horses thither,
without changing them, in two days, stopping the first night at Pherae (Od. iii.
485); and he returned from Sparta to Pylus in the same manner. (Od. xv. 182, seq.)
Now the Messenian Pylus, Pherae, and Sparta, lie in a direct line, the distance
from Pylus to Pherae being about 35 miles by the road, and from Pherae to Sparta
about 28 miles. On the other hand, the road from the Triphylian Pylus to Sparta
would have been by the valley of the Alpheius into that of the Eurotas; whereas
Pherae would have been out of the way, and the distance to it would have been
much more than a day's journey. Besides which, the position of the Messenian Pylus,
the most striking upon the whole western coast of Peloponnesus, was far more likely
to have attracted the Thessalian wanderers from Iolcos, the worshippers of the
god Poseidon, than a site which was neither strong by nature nor near the coast.
But although we may conclude that the Messenian Pylus was the city
of Nestor, it may admit of doubt whether the city itself existed on the promontory
Coryphasium from the earliest times. The Greeks rarely built a city in the earliest
period immediately upon the coast, and still more rarely chose a site so badly
supplied with water as Coryphasium, of which the Athenians experienced the inconvenience
when they defended it in the Peloponnesian War. There seems much probability in
the account of Strabo (viii. p. 359) that the ancient Messenian Pylus was situated
at the foot of Mt. Aegaleos, and that upon its destruction some of its inhabitants
settled at Coryphasium. If then we suppose the city of Nestor to have stood a
little way inland, and Coryphasium to have been its port-town, the narrative of
Telemachus' return becomes perfectly clear. Not wishing to lose time at the royal
residence, he drives straight to the port and goes quietly on board. Hence, one
of Strabo's most serious objections to the Messenian Pylus disappears. Strabo
was justified in seeking for a separate site for the city and the port, but he
seems to have forgotten the existence of the Old Pylus inland, which he had himself
mentioned. (Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 416, seq.; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii.
p. 174, seq.)
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PYRGOS (Ancient city) TRIFYLIA
Purgos, Purgoi, Eth. Purgites. The most southerly town of Triphylia
in Elis, at the mouth of the river Neda, upon the Messenian frontier (Strab. viii.
p. 348), and hence described by Stephanus B. as a Messenian town. It was one of
the settlements of the Minyae. (Herod. iv. 148.) It opened its gates to Philip
in the Social War. (Polyb. iv. 77, 80.) Leake places Pyrgi at some ancient remains
upon the right bank of the Neda, not far from its mouth. (Morea, vol. i. p. 57,
vol. ii. p. 207.)
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RION (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Rhion. A town in Messenia, in the Thuriate gulf, and also the name
of one of the five divisions into which Cresphontes is said to have divided Messenia.
(Strab. viii. pp. 360, 361.) Strabo describes Rhium as over against Taenarum (apenantion
Tainaron), which is not a very accurate expression, as hardly any place on the
western coast, except the vicinity of Cape Acritas, is in sight from Taenarum.
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
STENYKLAROS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Stenuklaros, Stenukleros: Eth. Stenuklerios. A town in the north of Messenia,
and the capital of the Dorian conquerors, built by Cresphontes. Andania had been
the ancient capital of the country. (Paus. iv. 3. § 7; Strab. vii. p. 361.) The
town afterwards ceased to exist, but its name was given to the northern of the
two Messenian plains. (Paus. iv. 33. § 4, iv. 15. § 8: Herod. ix. 64.)
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
THALAMES (Ancient city) LEFKTRA
Also Thalame, Eth. Thalamatas. A town of Laconia, distant 80 stadia
north of, Oetylus, and 20 stadia from Pephnus. (Paus. iii. 26. § § 1, 2.) Pephnus
was on the coast, on the eastern side of the Messenian gulf, and Thalamae was
situated inland, probably at or near Platza, upon the river Milea, the minor Pamisus
of Strabo (viii. p. 361). Ptolemy (iii. 16. § 22) also calls it one of the inland
towns of Laconia. Theopompus called Thalamae a Messenian town (Steph. B. s. v.
Thalamai), and we know that the Messenians said that their territory originally
extended as far as the minor Pamisus. Thalamae was said to have been founded by
Pelops, and was called in the time of Strabo the Boeotian Thalamae, as if it had
received a Boeotian colony. (Strab. viii. p. 360.) Thalamae is mentioned by Polybius
(xvi. 16). It was subsequently one of the Eleuthero-Laconian towns. (Paus. iii.
21. § 7.) In the territory of Thalamae, on the road to Oetylus was a temple and
oracle of Ino or Pasiphae, in which the future was revealed to those that slept
in the temple. Even the Spartan kings sometimes slept in the temple for this purpose.
The temple probably stood upon the promontory Trachela, where there are some ancient
remains.
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THOURIA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
Thouria: Eth. Thouriates. A town of Messenia, situated in the eastern
part of the southern Messenian plain, upon the river Aris (Pidhima), and at the
distance of 80 stadia from Pharae, which was about a mile from the coast (Paus.
iv. 31. § 1). It was generally identified with the Homeric Antheia, though others
supposed it to be Aepeia. (Paus. l. c.; Strab. viii. p. 360.) It must have been
a place of considerable importance, since the distant Messenian gulf was even
named after it (ho Thouriates kolpos, Strab. l. c.). It was also one of the chief
towns of the Lacedaemonian Perioeci after the subjugation of Messenia; and it
was here that the Third Messenian War took its rise, B.C. 464 (Thuc. i. 101).
On the restoration of the Messenians by Epaminondas,Thuria, like the other towns
in the country, was dependent upon the newly-founded capital Messene; but after
the capture of this city by the Achaeans in B.C. 182, Thuria, Pharae, and Abia
joined the Achaean League as independent members. (Polyb. xxv. 1.) Thuria was
annexed to Laconia by Augustus (Paus. l. c.); but it was restored to Messenia
by Tiberius. Pausanias found two cities of this name. The Thuriatae had descended
from the summit of the lofty hill of the upper city to dwell upon the plain; but
without abandoning altogether the upper city, where a temple of the Syrian goddess
still stood within the town walls (Paus. iv. 31. § 2). There are considerable
remains of both places. Those of Upper Thuria are on the hill of the village called
Paleokastro, divided from the range of mountains named Makryplai by a deep ravine
and torrent, and which commands a fine view of the plain and gulf. The remains
of the walls extend half a mile along the summit of the hill. Nearly in the centre
of the ruins is a quadrangular cistern, 10 or 12 feet deep, cut out of the rock
at one end, and on the other side constructed of masonry. The cistern was divided
into three parts by two cross walls. Its whole length is 29 paces; the breadth
half as much. On the highest part of the ridge there are numerous ruins, among
which are those of a small Doric temple, of a hard brown calcareous stone, in
which are cockle and muscle shells, extremely perfect. In the plain at Palea Lutra
are the ruins of a large Roman building, standing in the middle of fig and mulberry
grounds. Leake observes that it is in an uncommon state of preservation, part
even of the roof still remaining. The walls are 17 feet high, formed of equal
courses of Roman tiles and mortar. The roof is of rubble mixed with cement. The
plan does not seem to be that of a bath only, as the name would imply, though
there are many appearances of the building having contained baths: it seems rather
to have been the palace of some Roman governor. As there are no sources of water
here, it is to be supposed that the building was supplied by an aqueduct from
the neighbouring river of Pidhima.
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
TRIFYLIA (Ancient area) MESSINIA
Triphylia (Triphulia) is the smallest of the three divisions of Elis,
and contains only a very small portion of level land, as the Arcadian mountains
here approach almost close to the sea. Along nearly the whole of the Triphylian
coast there is a series of lagoons already mentioned. At a later time the Alpheius
was the northern boundary of Triphylia; but at an earlier period the territory
of the Pisatis must have extended south of the Alpheius, though all its chief
towns lay to the north of that river. The. mountain along the southern side of
the Alpheius immediately opposite Olympia was called originally Ossa (Strab. viii.
p. 356), but appears to have been afterwards called Phsellon (Strab. viii. p.
344, where Phellona should probably be read instead of Pholoen). Further south
are two ranges of mountains, between which the river Anigrus flows into the sea:
of these the more northerly, called in ancient times Lapithas (Lapithas, Paus.
v. 5. § 8), and at present Smerna, is 2533 feet high; while the more southerly,
called in ancient times, Minthe (Minthe, Strab. viii. p. 344), and now Alvena
rises to the height of 4009 feet. Minthe, which is the loftiest mountain in Elis,
was one of the seats of the worship of Hades; and the herb, fromw hich it derived
its name. was sacred to Persephone. The river Neda divided Triphylia from Messenia.
This extract 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
AVIA (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A town of Messenia on the Messenian Gulf, and at one time a member of the Achaean League.
AVLON (Ancient city) TRIFYLIA
A district and town on the borders of Elis and Messenia with a temple of Asclepius.
DORION (Prehistoric settlement) TRIFYLIA
A town of Messenia, where Thamyris the musician challenged the Muses to a trial of skill. Pausanias (iv. 33) notices this ancient town, of which he saw the ruins near a fountain named Achaia.
EPANO KARDAMYLI (Medieval settlement) KALAMATA
A town in Messenia; now Scardamoula.
FARES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A town of Messenia mentioned as early as Homer (Il. v. 543).
FINIKOUS (Ancient city) METHONI
A harbour in Messenia.
ICHALIA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
A town in Messenia, on the frontier of Arcadia.
INOUSSES (Island complex) PYLIA
A town in Messenia, on the western coast, on a promontory and bay of the same name.
ITHOMI (Acropolis) MESSINIA
Ithome. A fortress of Messenia, on a mountain of the same name. It was celebrated
for the long and obstinate defence (ten years) which the Messenians there made
in their last revolt against the Spartans. The mountain was said to have derived
its name from Ithome, one of the nymphs that nourished Zeus. On the summit was
the altar of Zeus Ithometes, to whom the mountain was especially dedicated. Strabo
compares the Messenian Acropolis to the Acrocorinthus, being situated, like that
citadel, on a lofty and steep mountain, enclosed by fortified lines which connected
it with the town. Hence these were justly deemed the two strongest places in the
Peloponnesus. When Philip, the son of Demetrius, was planning the conquest of
the peninsula with Demetrius of Pharos, the latter advised him to seize first
the horns of the heifer, which would secure to him possession of the animal. By
these enigmatical expressions he designated the Peloponnesus and the two strongholds
above mentioned. Remains of the ancient fortress still exist, the towers being
magnificent specimens of military architecture and engineering.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KORONI (Ancient city) PETALIDI
A town in Messenia on the west side of the Messenian Gulf, founded B.C. 371 by the Messenians, after their return to their native country, with the assistance of the Thebans.
KORYFASSIO (Cape) NESTOR
A promontory in Messenia, enclosing the harbour of Pylos on the north, with a town of the same name upon it.
KYPARISSIA (Small town) MESSINIA
A town in Messenia, on the western coast, on a promontory and bay of the same name.
LIMNES (Ancient city) KALAMATA
A town in Messenia, on the frontiers of Laconia, with a temple of Artemis Limnatis.
MESSINIA (Ancient area) MESSINIA
A country in Peloponnesus, bounded on the east by Laconia, from
which it was separated by Mount Taygetus, on the north by Elis and Arcadia, and
on the south and west by the sea. In the Homeric times the western part of the
country belonged to the Neleid princes of Pylos, of whom Nestor was the most celebrated;
and the eastern to the Lacedaemonian monarchy. On the conquest of Peloponnesus
by the Dorians, Messenia fell to the share of Cresphontes, who became king of
the whole country. Messenia was more fertile than Laconia; and the Spartans soon
coveted the territory of their brother-Dorians; and thus war broke out between
the two people. The First Messenian War lasted twenty years, B.C. 743-723; and
notwithstanding the gallant resistance of the Messenian king, Aristodemus, the
Messenians were obliged to submit to the Spartans after the capture of their fortress
Ithome. After bearing the yoke thirtyeight years, the Messenians again took up
arms under their heroic leader, Aristomenes. The Second Messenian War lasted seventeen
years, B.C. 685-668, and terminated with the conquest of Ira and the complete
subjugation of the country. Most of the Messenians emigrated to foreign countries,
and those who remained behind were reduced to the condition of Helots or serfs.
In this state they remained till 464, when the Messenians and other Helots took
advantage of the devastation occasioned by the great earthquake at Sparta to rise
against their oppressors. This Third Messenian War lasted ten years (464- 455),
and ended by the Messenians surrendering Ithome to the Spartans on condition of
being allowed a free departure from Peloponnesus. When the supremacy of Sparta
was overthrown by the battle of Leuctra, Epaminondas collected the Messenian exiles,
and founded the town of Messene (B.C. 369), at the foot of Mount Ithome, which
formed the acropolis of the city. Messene was made the capital of the country.
Messenia was never again subdued by the Spartans, and it maintained its independence
till the conquest of the Achaeans and the rest of Greece by the Romans (B.C. 146).
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PAMISSOS (River) MESSINIA
Pamisos. The chief river of Messenia emptying into the Messenian Gulf.
PYLOS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
In the southwest of Messenia, was situated at the foot of Mount
Aegaleos on a promontory at the northern entrance of the basin, now called the
Bay of Navarino, the largest and safest harbour in all Greece. This harbour was
fronted and protected by the small island of Sphacteria (Sphagia), which stretched
along the coast about 1 3/4 miles, leaving only two narrow entrances at each end.
Pylos became memorable in the Peloponnesian War, when the Athenians under Demosthenes
built a fort on the promontory Coryphasium a little south of the ancient city,
and just within the northern entrance to the harbour (B.C. 425). The attempts
of the Spartans to dislodge the Athenians proved unavailing; and the capture by
Cleon of the Spartans who had landed on the island of Sphacteria was one of the
most important events in the whole war.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
STENYKLAROS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
A town in the north of Messenia, which was the residence of the Dorian kings of the country.
TRIFYLIA (Ancient area) MESSINIA
The southern portion of Elis, lying between the Alpheus and the Neda, and said to have derived its name from the three different tribes by which it was peopled. Its chief town was Pylos.
PYLOS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
City of Messenia,
along the southwestern coast of Peloponnese,
east of Sparta.
Pylos was founded by Neleus, the son of Tyro and Poseidon who was
raised in Iolcos at the court
of Tyro's husband Chreteus with his twin brother Pelias. He had to move to Messenia
when Pelias took the throne of Iolcos
from Aeson, Jason's father. There, he married Chloris, the only surviving daughter
of Amphion and Niobe, from whom he had a daughter, Pero, and twelve sons. Pero
was very beautiful, and Neleus was reluctant to marry her, even to his nephew
Bias, the son of his brother Amythaon. He put as a condition for the marriage
that Bias bring him back the herds of Phylacus, the father of Aeson's wife Alcimede,
that were kept by a very fierce dog. Bias succeeded with the help of his brother
Melampous and married Pero with whom he had, among other, a son named Talaus,
who was the father of Adrastus, the king of Argos
who led the expedition of the Seven against Thebes
at the request of Polynices, Oedipus' son.
With his sons, Neleus had to sustain a war against Heracles, either
because Neleus had refused tu purify him after the murder of Iphitus, or becase
Neleus has sided with adversaries of Heracles in an earlier campaign waged by
the hero. Anyway, in that war, all of Neleus' sons, except the youngest, Nestor,
were killed, and maybe even Neleus himself (some traditions say that he survived
and later died in Corinth).
Nestor was endowed by Apollo, guilty of having massacred the brothers and sisters
of his mother Chloris, with a very long life. He succeeded his father on the throne
of Pylos, and is shown old in the Iliad playing a leading role as the wise advisor
of the Greeks.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
GARGALIANI (Municipality) MESSINIA
MESSINIA (Prefecture) PELOPONNISOS
AGIA MARIANI (Isolated island) INOUSSES
It is located between the islands of Schiza and Sapientza. It is a small, low
island covered in rich underbush. The church of Santa Marina is located on the
island, which pilgrims visit on the 17th of July each year.
AGIOS ANDREAS (Settlement) EPIA
The area of St. Andreas is an archaeological site and between the community and Logga there is the ancient temple of Apollo while the archaeological spade has brought to light a brass statuette depicting archer, ancient tombs, a small brass bell with the Latin date 1634 (St. Andreas), a marble byzantine round top with a sculptured byzantine cross with the letters «A-Ω» on it as well as marble pillars with Byzantine decorations of crosses, rodakes and laurel. Between Petalidi and Logga there was «polisma» with the temple of Inous.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
ALAGONIA (Ancient city) AVIA
Alagonia is considered to be the extensive mountainous area in the west part of the mountain range of Taygetos, on the borders between the provinces of Messinia and Lakonia and includes the villages of Alagonia, Artemisia, Ladas, Karveli, Nedousa and Piges which were named Pisinohoria during the turkish rule. It got its name from the ancient city Alagonia which belonged to the Eleftherolakones (=free Lakones) in Mani. at Artemisia and in the area of Volimos there was the famous Temple of Limnatidos Artemidos where the incident between Messinian men and the women from ancient Sparta took place in the early 8th century B.C. and caused the Peloponnesean wars(740-460 B.C). During the Roman era, it had become a part of the «Public of the Freelakones».
This extract is cited Oct 2002 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below.
ANDROUSSA (Small town) MESSINIA
Androusa is a small town between contemporary Messini and the ancient
one, built on the highlands, with a view of the Messinian valley.
It was founded by Goulielmo Villeardouino and constituted a base for
the Hegemony and the Courts of justice, as well as a recreation area for the Frank
Knights during the domination by the Franks(1205-1430).
In the mid 13th century Villeardouinos built its castle, remnants
of which are still found today, which was abandoned during the period of the Second
Turkish rule(1715-1821).In 1308 it became the base of the Episcopal with the Decree
of Patriarch Athanasios (1304-1310) who was from Androusa. It developed as a big
agricultural centre passing from the Franks to the Navarrae and from the Byzantines
to the Turks and constituted one of the 24 provinces of Morea. During the Turkish
rule, many Greeks from Androusa became guerrillas, fighting for freedom, while
the bishop of Androusa, Joseph, became the first Minister of Education and Religion
of the newly established Greek Country after the Revolution of 1821.
Today it is a honorary municipality and constitutes an agricultural
centre for the area where oil, figs, raisins and wine are widely produced. The
Byzantine monuments of the area, like the byzantine castle, the Monastery (for
men) and the church of St. Samarina, as well as the ancient reservoir which are
an example of its historical passage through the byzantine years, are an attraction
for many visitors every year.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
BOBA (Isolated island) INOUSSES
To the south, we come accross a large closed bay, Porto Logo the safe harbour
of the sailors and the fleets. coming into the bay, we pass by the islet of Bomba,
where according to legend the Apostle Paul landed when his ship sailed into a
storm on its way to Rome. The bottom of the bay is strewn with shipwrecks.
CHORA (Small town) MESSINIA
The city of Chora is built on the green basin which separates Pylia from Trifylia and where the kingdom of the homeric King Nestoras was located. During the byzantine era its name was Ligouditsa and with the communities of Kavelargia and Tsifliki the contemporary city of Chora was formed. The name means «head village» - commercial centre. The city is very important in terms of transportation and is a financial centre, as well. It is both a historical and aarchaeological place, while the museum of the city exhibits 4000 archaeological findings which are visited every year by a host of people. In the area of Eglianos, 4 km south of the city, there is the palace of king Nestoras as well as the domed tomb attributed to Nestoras. In the east of Chora there is Maniaki, which is the place where the hero and one of the leaders of the Greek Revolution of 1821, Papaflessas was killed while heroically fighting with a few others against Ibrahem Pasha on the 20th May 1821.
.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
FILIATRA (Small town) MESSINIA
The city of Filiatra nowadays constitutes an important agricultural and commercial centre, built on a plain of olive groves and vineyards. The area has been inhabited since the Prehistoric Υears while in the area of St. Kyriaki (=Sunday) was the ancient city Erana with the areas Arini and Aliartos. During the domination by the Eneti(1685-1715) the area around Filiatra belonged to the district of Kallithea(Belvedere), as the area from Methoni to Filiatra was called, while during the second period of the domination by the Turks (1715-1821) Filiatra had developed into an important commercial centre of the area.
After the Revolution of 1821, products like oil and raisins were exported directly to the markets of the West, creating a state of wealth for the inhabitants until 1886 when the city was destroyed by an earthquake, while it got its name from the abundance of wells, the filiatra that existed in the area. There are byzantine monuments that are saved in the area which prove unmistakingly the prosperity of the hellenic-christian civilization, like St. Sotira of Christians (=the saviour of Christians), the Monastery of St. Christoforos, the Church of Vlaherna, St. Dionysios of Morenas, the Church of the Resumption and the Blessed Virgin Mary of Agriliotissa etc. The beaches at Lagouvardo, St. Kyriaki the Stomio and Agrili have golden sand and clean seas and are visited by many tourists every year.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
FINIKOUDAS (Village) METHONI
Finikounda is a picturesque fishing vallage between Koroni and Methoni with a magnificent gravel sand beach which is visited by many tourists every year. Green hills, valleys crossed by small rivers, flat areas, endless sandy beaches lacy bays and 4 islands in its horizon which are within a 10-minute distance; Schiza, Sapietza, Venetiko and St. Marina which surround a clean and calm sea. During the Protohellenic Era, it developed as a naval and transportation centre, while in the area of Analipsis have been found walls and ostraka (fragments of vases)of the era. The ancient Finikes who were a naval nation found the community «Finikous» where Anemomylos, of contemporary Finikounda, is today. The increasing number of tourists every year has created an excellent touristic infrastructure with hotels, rooms to rent, campsites, areas for recreation and leisure as well as tavernas with fresh fish.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
GARGALIANI (Municipality) MESSINIA
The Municipality of Gargaliani is located in the southwest of the
Peloponnese, stretches on the west axis of Messinia
Prefecture and it is one of the largest Municipalities of the Prefecture with
a total area of 122,680 m².
The bas-relief of the area varies and is considered flat from the
seashore on the areas west of the Municipality, the town of Gargaliani
until the commune of Pirgos
inclusive, while on the east there is the mount Aegaleo,
at the foot of which there is the commune of Mouzaki,
a semi-mount area with extremely beautiful local beauty. The natural scenery of
the area of the Municipality is mainly full of olive-trees and forest areas. During
the summer the population of the Municipality increases considerably due to ex-residents'
of the Municipality choice to spend their holidays at their place of birth and
also due to the increasing tourism (both Greek and foreign). It has been estimated
that the number of people - both tourists and residents- during High season is
approximately 15,000 people.
This text is cited Oct 2003 from the Municipality of Gargaliani URL below
GARGALIANI (Small town) MESSINIA
Gargaliani constitute an important financial centre for west Messinia nowadays, and can be found on a plateau 300 km high, and have a dense olive grove. They have a very «healthy» climate and a view of the Ionian Sea which is 7 km away. The area was inhabited from the Protohellenic Era (2600-2200 B.C.) on the basis of the findings at Anemomyli, Tsoukna, Kanalos and Lagos. During the venetian rule (1685-1715)it belonged to the area of Arkadia of the province of Methoni while during the years of the Orlofikon events (1770) it was looted by Moustapha Pasha of Larisa. During the Revolution of 1821, many fighters from the area were recruited to confront Ibrahem Pasha, while Tellos Agras set out from Gargaliani to reinforce the Macedonian struggle against Bulgary in 1905.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
INOUSSES (Island complex) PYLIA
KALAMATA (Town) MESSINIA
The capital of the province of Messinia has 44.052 residents and it
is built in the eastern part of the inmost part of the Messinian Gulf, at the
foot of Mount Taygetos.
It extends to a great length and has a Beach of 4 km with crystal
clear waters.
It was founded, according to local tradition, in the mid-2nd century
A.D. during the Homeric years by Fari, the son of Hermes and Filodameas, and was
firstly named Farai while its contemporary name, according to tradition, comes
from an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Kalomata Virgin Mary.
In the years of the Franks Kalamata, the basis of the barony, became
an important centre of medieval civilization, while in its castle, which had been
an acropolis for the ancient Faron and restored by the Franks, the prince and
occcupant (1289-1307) of Moreas, Vileardouinos the 2nd (1246-1278), father of
the princess Izambo, was born.
During the Turkish rule, it became an important financial centre with
Panayiotis Benakis, the most famous of its noblemen, along with the Mavromichalis
family from Mani.
Those become the organisers of the Revolution in 1770, the well-known
Orlofikon. On the 23rd of March in 1821, the Greek Revolution was declared at
the church of St. Apostles against the turkish invader by Petrobeis Mavromichali
the bey of free Mani.
Today, Kalamata is a contemporary city which has been rebuilt after
the disastrous earthquake on the 13th September 1986.
It has recreation facilities, parks and sports facilities where athletes
of individual and team sports prepare in order to take part in international competitions
like the weightlifters and the athletics team who won gold medals in the Olympic
Games of Atlanda.
There are also congress halls, hotels, marinas, campsites and rooms
to rent.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
KORONI (Small town) MESSINIA
Koroni, the Byzantine lady, was one of the most important commercial
and naval Venetian centres of the East. It is built ei a position from which it
dominates both the Messinian Gulf and the area of Eastern Pylia, keeping its nobility
till today.
It was founded by refugees from argolian Asini, who were brought to
settle the area by the Spartans after the ending of the A' (1st) Messinian War
in 740 B.C approximately and named it Asini.
Around the 9th century A.D. the inhabitants of Koroni(Petalidi) moved
and settled the top of the rock in order to protect themselves against brigands
and pirates and this is where the medieval castle is today.
Later, they spread by the feet of the rock where the ancient city
Asini was. Koroni was conquered by the Franks in 1205 while, in 1209 with the
Treaty of Sapietza, the Venetians became,until 1500, the lords of the city turning
it into the commercial and financial centre of Eastern Europe. In 1500 A.D. it
was conquered by the Turks of the sultan Vagiazit B' who dominated it until 1828,
except for the time from 1685 to 1715 when the Venetian Morozini tried to give
the city its old splendor. The city was liberated from the Turkish rule on the
18th October 1828 by general Maizon's troops. The first commandant was Nikitaras
who was a hero of the Greek Revolution of 1821.
Today, it still remains the financial centre of the area, keeping
its character as it was created and shaped in the course of history with a lot
of the characteristics of an island. It welcomes a lot of visitors every year
who seek serenity and tranquillity in the endless blue of the Mediterranean the
sun on its wonderful beach of Zaga, Memis and Artakis and the venetian colour
which it lent by its medieval castle and narrow streets.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
KYPARISSIA (Small town) MESSINIA
Kyparissia is the capital of the area of Trifylia and stretches between
the Ionian sea and the mountain «Psichro(=cold)», of the Kontovounion mountain
range, on the narrowest part of the valley of Trifyllia. It is a much-praised
City with splendid sunsets on the blue background of the Ionian Sea.
Kyparissia took part in the Trojan War under the guidance of King
Nestoras, and in the historical years its bay is referred to as «Kyparissies».
During the classical years, when the Thebans of general Epaminondas ruled, it
meets with great financial prosperity. It was also a member of the Achaic Confederacy
during the Roman years and because of its position it became a commercial and
financial centre. In the 10th century A.D. it is named «Arkadia» and during the
Frank rule (1205-1430) it is driven into decline. In 1432 it is passed on to the
Byzantines and stays like that until 1460, when the Turks become the lords of
the area. The Turkish rule lasted until 1821 with a pause during the years 1685
to 1715, the rule by the Eneti, when the city prospered again. It was one of the
first cities which took part in the Greek Revolution of 1821 and it was destroyed
by Ibrahem Pasha in 1825 and 1827.
The city, today, has 5500 inhabitants and is an admistrative and financial
centre for Northwest Messinia which looks like two cities from high up. One seems
to be wedged down at the feet of the Frank castle with its old paths, the old
mansions and the proud old castle. The other city seems to stretch comfortably
on the coastline of the bay which is sandy and bright on the resplendent wave
of the Ionian Sea.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
LONGA (Small town) EPIA
It used to be part of the hitherto borough of Epia. Logga used to be a small village before 1900, and St. Andreas was bigger. St. Andreas is now a holiday resort and the sea of the Messinian Gulf with Taygetos in the background, and the dazzling beaches of Messinian Mani stretch across it. According to Andronikos, Logga existed from the years of the Sarakini of Crete while it was later invaded by the Eneti during the Frank ruling in 1209 and, subsequently, by the Turks, which made many inhabitants move higher up and build a city. This protected them from the Venetian boats and the Turkish armadas which dominated the seas. In the south part of Logga there are remnants of buildings which date back to the Turkish - rule years. The old narrow roads were, according to tradition, constructed by Pasha-Ali. The endless olive grove was burnt by Ibrahem in 1827 in revenge for the fact that the inhabitants had fought against him in battles.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MARATHOUPOLI (Village) GARGALIANI
Next to Golden Sand beach of Galgaliani and opposite the island of Proti is Marathoupoli, which is a small village with an excellent view; a fishing village with an abundance of fresh fish which tends to become very popular among tourists as there's the appropriate foundation (hotels, rooms, camping e.t.c.)
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MELIGALAS (Small town) MESSINIA
Meligalas constitutes the agricultural centre of Upper Messinia and
is found in the centre of its fertile and all green valley, in the area where
according to the ancient, 2nd century A.D. tradition, the king and queen of Messinia
Polycaon and Meropi had their base.
During the 11th century B.C., that’s where the small Kingom (=polisma)
of King Kresfondi and his queen Meropi was created and where, in 459 B.C, was
a fierce battle between Spartans and Messinians who made a heroic exit from the
Acropolis of Ithomi. The first settlement in the area of the contemporary Meligalas
was built during the decay of Byzantio and it had been a fief of the Byzantine
lord Meligala after whom it was also named.
As a town, it developed during the domination by the Franks and the
Eneti through which the promotion of the agricultural products of Upper Messinia
took place.
The bridge of Mavrozoumena is a monument of this era which was built
in the 4th and restored in the 12th century A.D.
Meligalas took part in the Revolution of 1821 with the recruiting
of men and the offering of provisions.
Today, it constitutes an administrative and commercial centre of the
area of Upper Messinia.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MESSINI (Town) MESSINIA
The contemporary town has 7000 inhabitants and it’s built on the right
bank of the river Pamisos where «Makaria Ge» used to be in antiquity. The surrouniding
area has been inhabited since the Protohellenic Era (2600-2200 B.C), as the findings
in the area Mexa of Bouka prove. It was inhabited in the Late Hellenic Era (1580-1120
B.C) too as the chambered tombs which are dug in the peremeter of the hill, prove.
In 900 A.D. it is built by the Melissinous where «Panigyristra» is today. The
flooded river of Pamisos around Melissopyrgos gives the impression of an island
which gives Messini its nickname; «Nisi» (=island).
This nickname first appears in texts written during the Frank domination
(1205-1430) and it’s kept until today. During the french chronicle of Moreas,
«Nisi» is mentioned as the favourite place of the legendary Frank-Greek the Velleardouini
Princess Isabella, the owner of Morias, known as Princess Izambo.
In 1770, the last action of the Orlof revolutionary actions is recorded.
The remnants of Melissopyrgos are blown up and the last fighters, under the leadership
of Yiannis (John) Mavromichalis, like George Flessas and John Kolokotronis, grandfathers
of the Heroes of the 1821 Revolution Papaflessas and Kolokotronis, met a tragic
but heroic death.
During the Revolution in 1821, Nisi participates with Kalamata, shares
the expenses for the organisation and the training of the army, while in 1825,
it will be completely destroyed by Ibrahem Pasha. In 1833, the Episcopal of Messini
is founded and in 1867 the city is officially named «Messini».
The contemporary city bases its economy on agriculture. Oil, raisins,
potatoes and early vegetables are grown, while the area is rapidly developing
in terms of tourism with the creation of infrastructure at the beaches of «Bouka»,
Analipsi and Velika.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MESSINIA (Prefecture) PELOPONNISOS
Messinia consists of even and low mountains around the perimeter,
while in the middle lies the fertile valley of the river Pamisos.
In the east lies the mountainous mass of Taygetos whose highest peaks
are «prophet Elias» (2407 m.) «Neraedovouna» (2025 m.) and «Xerovouna» (1852 m.)
on the borders with Lakonia while the lowest peaks are on the borders with Arkadia,
like «Xerovouni» (1521 m.) and «prophet Elias» (1389 m).
Messinia is seperated from Arkadia with Mount Lykaeo (1421 m.) in
the northeast, and in the north it's separated from Elia with Mount Tetrazio or
Nomia (1389 m.). In the west part of the province, in Trifyllia, lie the mountains
of Kyparissia (1218 m.) while Mount Lykodimo (959 m.) takes up most of the area
of Pylia as far as Cape Akritas.
The big Messinian valley, which is crossed by the river Pamisos, is
divided by the holy mountain «Ithomata Dia (Zeus)», Ithomi (800 m.), while in
the coastal areas (along the Ionian Sea) from Kyparissia to Methoni small valleys
that are formed are cultivated. There are olive trees and early vegetables there.
The much-sung river of Pamisos springs at St. Floros at the feet of
Mount Taygetos and collects waters from the torrents that flow from Ithomi and
the north part of Taygetos and flows into an area close to Messini. Neda springs
from Mount Lykaeo and flows into the Gulf of Kyparissia and constitutes a natural
boundary with Elia.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
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