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Location information

Listed 28 sub titles with search on: Main pages  for wider area of: "ILIA Prefecture WEST GREECE" .


Main pages (28)

Miscellaneous

Agios Dimitrios Community

AGIOS DIMITRIOS (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 41455

Agios Ilias Community

AGIOS ILIAS (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 94596

Ambelokambos Community

AMBELOKAMBOS (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 61215

Avgio Community

AVGIO (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 41237

Temple of Apollo Helper (Epicurius)

BASSAE (Ancient sanctuary) ILIA

The Temple of Epicurean Apollo

  The temple of Apollo Epikourios stands at a height of 1130m on Mount Kotilio, 14km south of Andritsaina. At this site, which was called Bassai (little valleys) in antiquity, the inhabitants of nearby Phigaleia founded a sanctuary of Apollo Bassitas in the 7th c. BC, where they worshipped the god with the epithet Epikourios - supporter in war or illness. The temple of Apollo in the sanctuary at Bassai is one of the best-preserved monuments of the ancient Classical world. It was built from 420 to 400 BC on the site of an earlier, Archaic temple. The traveller Pausanias, who visited and admired the monument about the middle of the 2nd c. AD, states that its architect was Iktinos.
  The temple occupies a unique position in the history of the Greek architecture: it is an ingenious combination of archaising elements dictated by the local religious tradition, and the bold innovations of its creator. It is a Doric, peripteral temple, oriented north-south, with dimensions of 14.48x38.24 at the height of the stylobate. The very long, narrow plan of the peristyle, the number of columns (6x15 instead of the 6x13 usually found at this period), and the disposition of the columns (with larger intercolumniations at the ends of the temple) are all Archaic features and have reference to a specific model: the temple of Apollo at Delphi. They coexist harmoniously, however, with some of the progressive hallmarks of nature Classical Athenian architecture, such as the delicate columns, the low crepidoma and entablature, and the spacious prodomos and opisthodomos.
  The great originality of the monument lies in its internal design. In the cella, there is a suggestion of a collonade on three of the four sides, as in the Parthenon and the temple of Hephaistos (the Theseion) in Athens, but the columns on the longer sides are not free-standing. They are engaged in the walls, forming delicate transverse partitions (similar to those in the Archaic temple of Hera at Olympia) that end in lonic half-columns with unusual capitals and bases. At the end of the cella, opposite the entrance, the free-standing column (and perhaps also the two and half-columns aligned with it carried the first Corinthian capital in the history of architecture. The colonnade supported an lonic entablature with a relief frieze encircling the inside of the cella on all four sides. It was 31m long and consisted of 23 slabs, with scenes of an Amazonomachy and a Centauromachy, which have been in the British Museum since 1814. Behind the free-standing Corinthian column, in the position occupied in other temples by the closed adytum, there was a small room which, while it communicated freely with the cella, nonetheless "faced" east for religious reasons, with a door opening on to the east pteron. All these elements were designed to draw attention to the interior space and were innovations destined to exercise a decisive influence on the evolution of architecture over the following centuries.
  The temple is built of local limestone, with marble being used for the capitals in the cella, some parts of the ceiling and roof, and sculptural decoration. It began to fall into ruins in Roman times, initially because of human actions and later as a result of earthquakes. Today the temple is preserved in the form it received after the restoration work carried out by the Archaeological Society at the beginning of the century.
  Since 1965, and systematically since 1982, the Ministry of Culture has undertaken the difficult task of conserving and protecting the monument. The canopy that protects the sensitive building material from the extreme weather conditions in the region, the seismic-resistant scaffolding, and the other installations are all temporary, and will be removed once the rescue work is completed.

Text by: Th. Karagiorga-Stathakopoulou
Cited Sep 2002 from the Archaeological site pamphlet

Chavari Community

CHAVARI (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 91203

Dafni Community

DAFNI (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 94201

Dafniotissa Community

DAFNIOTISSA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 94070

Douneika Community

DOUNEIKA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 92349

Geraki Community

GERAKI (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 23157

Giannitsochori Community

GIANNITSOCHORI (Village) ZACHARO
Tel: +30 26250 61483

Ilida Community

ILIDA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 41286

Elis in antiquity

ILIS (Ancient city) ILIA
  The city-state of Elis developed in the northwest Peloponnese, far away from the major urban centres of the rest of Greece, and played only a limited role in the military and political events of the ancient Hellenic world. Neverthless, it remained centre-stage for hundreds of years, as quardian of the panhellenic Sanctuary of Olympia, responsible for the irreproachable preparation and organization of the Olympic Games.
  Evidence from excavations to date shows that Elis was settled, albeit as a small farming village, from the Early Helladic period (c.2800-2000 BC). In Mycenaean times (c. 1600-1100 BC) it was one of the four most important town in the region and its ingabitants, who are referred to as Epeians in the Iliad, took part in the Trojan War under the leadership of Polyxenus.
  The city of Elis was founded by Oxylus, who came from Aetolia in the 12th century BC, with the socalled Descent of the Dorians, and united all the scattered townships. Ancient tradition has nowadays been confirmed by the rich finds of the Submycenaean, Protogeometric and Geometric periods (c. 1100-700 BC) recovered from the region.
  Oxylus founded the Olympic Games when he incorporated the Sanctuary of Olympia in the city-state of Elis. The games were reorganized in the 8th century BC by his descendant King Iphitus, who signed a treaty with the kings Lycurgus of Sparta and Cleisthenes of Pisa. Under the terms of the 'Sacred Truce' the entire region of Elis was declared sacred, thus guaranteeing peace and the success of the games. In 776 BC, when the first Olympiad was held, the Eleians assumed supervision of the Sanctuary of Olympia. They forfeited this privilege to the Pisans in 668 BC but regained it, with the help of the Spartans in 580 BC.
  Henceforth the city enjoyed a great heyday, which lasted until the end of the 5th century BC. Political and other public issues were of little interest to Elis, whose chief concern was the organization of the Olympiads. The games were quinquennial, that is they were held at the end of a four-year period, most probably in mid-July. To comply with the rules, the competing athletes were obliged to come to Elis for training one month before the games commenced. They were accompanied by friends and relatives, resulting in the influx to the city of choice foreigners from the mainland and islands of Greece, as well as from the prosperous colonies in Asia Minor and Pontos, Magna Graecia and Africa.
  The importance that the Eleians attached to the organization of the Olympiads is reflected in the picture of the city's agora. The traveller Pausanias, who visited Elis in the 2nd century AD, describes gymnasia, a palaestra, stoas, temples, sanctuaries and temene (sacred precincts) but no building associated with civic life. These edifices were adorned with a host of statues and sculptures by famous artists fo antiquity. Pausanias mentions, among other monuments, the temple of Aphrodite Urania (Heavenly), with its chryselephantine statue of the goddess, a work by Pheidias; the open-air temenos of Aphrodite Pandemos (of the people), which housed a renowned bronze statue of the goddess, a work by Scopas; the temple and statue of Apollo Acesius (Healer); the temple of the Graces with the acrolithic statues of them; the temple of Silenus and the sculptural group of the god with Methe (Drunkeness).
  At its zenith the Eleian state comprised four districts: Coele (Hollow) Elis - the fertile plain where the capital of the Eleians developed -, Acroreia, Pisatis and Triphylia. The people lived in an atmosphere of peace, prosperity and lawfulness. The rich soil of the region and the mild climate favoured the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Indeed he names Elis and Eleians (ancient Falis and Faleioi) denote the valley and the valley-dwellers respectively.
  In recent years excavations have revealed 120 settlements, while surveys have located another 200 or so sites. Most of these were probably small villages or isolated farmsteads. Only the capital, Elis, developed into a thriving urban centre. After the establishment of the democratic body politic and its second synoecism in particular (471 BC), it was reinforced considerably and became one of the largest and most populous cities in the Peloponnese. It occupied the area between the present villages of Paliopolis (or Nea Elis) in the southeast, Bouchioti (or Avgeion) in the southwest and Kalyvia in the west. The ancient acropolis was on Ayannis hill.
  Women played a significant role in the management of public affairs in Elis. According o Pausanias, there was a council of sixteen wise Eleian women, which had to its credit the reconcilation of Pisa and Elis, as well as the institution of the Heraean Games. These were panhellenic foot races for girls, held in honour of the goddess Hera and organized every four years, like the Olympics but on different dates.
  By the late 6th century BC Elis was minting its own coinage, which during the period of its peak rivalled that of other Greek cities in art and execution. There were also local pottery workshops and foundries for casting bronze statues, whose products had a very distinctive character.
  The flourishing of the Eleian state was largely due to its long-standing alliance with Spata, which was dissolved during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). In the 4th century BC the first signs of its imminent decline and the vicissitudes of the Eleians appeared. In 191 BC they joined the Archaean Confederacy, while in 146 BC they were subjugated by the Romas, becoming part of the Roman province ar Achaea. During the period of Roman rule (27 BC - AD 250) the city of Elis expanded even more. Villas and thermae, which were particularly popular among the Romans, were built, some of them upon the ruins of Classical edifices.
  In Late Roman and Early Christian times (3rd - 5th century AD) habitation was confined to just one sector of the city, while in other part a large cemetary was founded, perhaps after the destruction by the Herulians in AD 267. Decadence came when the Emperor of Byzantium Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games, in AD 393, and life in the Sanctuary of Olympia ceased. The earthquake that struck the region in the 6th century AD dealt the final blow to the Eleian state.

Xeni Arapoyanni, ed.
Translation by: Alexandra Doumas
Cited Sep 2002, from the Municipality of Amaliada information pamphlet

Xeni Arapoyanni, ed.
Translation by: Alexandra Doumas
This text is cited Sep 2002 , from the information pamphlet of Amaliada Municipality


Kakovatos Community

KAKOVATOS (Village) ZACHARO
Tel: +30 26250 31138

Kalyvia Ilidas Community

KALYVIA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 41413

Kardamas Community

KARDAMAS (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 27135

Kentro Community

KENTRO (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 41640

Keramidia Community

KERAMIDIA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 94080

Kryonero Community

KRYONERO (Village) ILIA
Tel: +30 26220 94037

Lepreo Community

LEPREO (Village) OLYMPIA
Tel: +30 26250 61335

Monastery of Skafidia

MONI SKAFIDIAS (Monastery) ILIA
Tel: +30 26210 94273

Peristeri Community

PERISTERI (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 95251

Roviata Community

ROVIATA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 61293

Savalia Community

SAVALIA (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 61210

Sosti Community

SOSTI (Village) AMALIADA
Tel: +30 26220 41356

ZACHARO (Small town) ILIA
  Zacharo, the magic city that lies on the southwest coast of Ilia Ionian Sea side. The visitor can admire the natural beauty of the area and the longest sandy beach in Europe with crystal clear water. Escaping into the deep blue of the sea promises to water sports lovers (and not only them) the largest center of water sports in Peloponnisos.
  The unique Kaiafa lake with its thermal springs is included in the beautiful countryside. It also provides world class water ski installations.
  Archaeological sites, old fashioned villages with rare customs and traditional museums and also intense night life are amongst the highlights of municipality of Zacharo.
  Visitors can address municipality’s tourist office for their better service.
The text is cited March 2004 from the Municipality of Zacharo tourist pamphlet.

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